Mom intentionally drove into Trinity River and killed her baby, Fort Worth police conclude
A 1-year-old boy who two weeks ago died inside a car in the Trinity River was intentionally killed by his mother when she drove with him into the water, Fort Worth police have concluded.
Had Melanie Robinson survived, the 38-year-old mother would have been arrested on capital murder of a person under 10 years old in the death of her baby, Jonas Allen.
A Fort Worth police spokesperson declined on Thursday to say precisely how detectives determined that the boy’s death along Beach Street on March 22 was a homicide.
“We are not at liberty to say what family members, witnesses, and any possible medical history may have been shared” with detectives, the spokesperson said.
A fire department diver found the child’s body in the river the day after first responders rescued the mother from the water following the crash.
Robinson died in the ICU at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital three days after the killing.
When officers first spotted the car in the river, they jumped in, pulled Robinson out of the water and began performing lifesaving measures before she was taken to the hospital, authorities said.
A 911 caller reported a baby was in the car.
After Robinson was pulled from the river, a dive team continued searching the Trinity for the baby or other possible victims, but no one had been found when the car was lifted out of the water and the search was called off for the night.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office has not released the cause or manner of the deaths, conclusions that are in some cases informed by a police investigation.
After the crash but before Melanie Robinson died, Jasmine Robinson told a television station that she spoke with her sister a couple of hours before the crash when Melanie picked up Jonas from their mother’s house.
“She’s a great person, she loves her kids and she’s fighting for her life right now,” Jasmine told KTVT-TV. “I just want her to be OK.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2025 at 6:54 PM.
