Fort Worth man appeared to have died naturally. Autopsy showed he was suffocated
A woman placed a pillow over her boyfriend’s face last week, killing the man — who was two decades older — as he yelled for help inside his Fort Worth bedroom, police have concluded.
At 60, Maurice Hudson was in poor health. He was unable to use his left arm and got around in a wheelchair.
It appeared to the authorities who arrived at the house in the Como neighborhood in response to a 911 call of a man not breathing that Maurice may have died of an innocuous, natural cause.
After hours of hearing arguing inside his bedroom early on May 26, another person who was inside the house in the 5300 block of Bonnell Avenue kicked open the locked door and found Maurice naked and unresponsive on the floor. His girlfriend, Tierston Hudson, 40, was lying on top of him, according to the account of the witness that is described in an arrest warrant affidavit.
The next day, a forensic pathologist at the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on Maurice. The physician reported to a detective that Maurice had blunt force trauma to the head, evidence of strangulation and possible suffocation. The physician, Dr. Mark Shelly, determined that the death was caused by more than one method of asphyxia and blunt force injuries.
In an interview with Fort Worth Police Department Homicide Unit Detectives Kyle Sullivan and Matt Anderson, Tierston Hudson said she is three months pregnant with Maurice’s child.
Tierston said on the night Maurice died, she was with him in his room, according to the affidavit.
Tierston said they were arguing, and Maurice pulled a gun on her.
Tierston denied punching Maurice but said she scratched his face, according to the affidavit.
Tierston said she placed her forearm on Maurice’s throat while he was lying on the bed and eventually placed a pillow over Maurice’s face, according to the affidavit. He was yelling for help.
Tierston said she did not believe that she caused Maurice’s death.
She was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of murder.
This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 9:37 PM.
