Mansfield woman charged with capital murder in 9-year-old niece’s death

A Mansfield woman has been charged with capital murder after her 9-year-old niece died Saturday, police said.

Mercia Sneed, 40, was arrested Saturday on a charge of injury to a child, according to Tarrant County court records. But after gathering additional information Wednesday, police said, the charge was upgraded to capital murder.

Melodi Sneed died at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Mansfield Methodist Hospital, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office said. The office has ruled her death a homicide, but the cause has not been released.

Mansfield officers and medics responded to a report of a cardiac arrest at a home in the 4200 block of Eagle Drive on Saturday afternoon, police said. They performed CPR, trying to revive the girl, before she was transported to Mansfield Methodist Hospital.

She was later pronounced dead, police said.

Police and the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office began a death investigation.

A police log of crimes refers to the case as a capital murder of a person under 10 that occurred between 2 a.m. and 12:38 p.m., the time when authorities were called to the house.

A sign on the door of the house where Melodi lived referred questions to police. A neighbor said new residents had moved into the house in the last week.

The death investigation is ongoing.

This story was originally published July 31, 2019 at 5:15 PM.