‘It was an exorcism’: Fort Worth man beat his mother to death, police say
When Fort Worth police officers arrived outside his house about a week ago, Alexander Valdez answered the door.
It looked like the 23-year-old had blood on his face, neck, chest, torso, hands and feet.
He had a Bible in his hand.
“It was an exorcism,” Valdez said as he walked out of the far west Fort Worth house and sat on a chair on the front porch about 1:30 a.m. on April 18, according to a police detective’s affidavit supporting Valdez’s arrest warrant for murder.
An officer asked Valdez about the blood.
“I was doing witchcraft to kill my mom,” Valdez said, according to the affidavit. The document was written by homicide unit Detective Christopher Martin.
The officer asked if anyone else was in the house in the 9900 block of Farmers Branch Street, west of Loop 820.
“There is a dead body in there. It’s my mom,” Valdez said.
Police allege that Valdez killed Teresita Sayson, 58, by hitting her multiple times in the face and upper body with an object that they suggest in the affidavit is a wooden jewelry box.
Inside the master bedroom where Sayson’s body was found, police said they also located a broken jewelry box in which hair was wedged.
Blunt force head injuries caused Sayson’s death, a Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office forensic pathologist concluded.
After bludgeoning his mother, Valdez sent to friends in a group chat on Snapchat a photo of her body, according to the affidavit. A dead dog also was in the photo.
The image showed blood on the wall, carpet and Sayson’s body.
One of the friends called 911, described the photo and gave Valdez’s address.
Valdez declined to answer detectives’ questions when they requested a formal interview, and he asked for an attorney.
This story was originally published April 21, 2025 at 1:15 PM.
