HOUSTON – A 24-year-old woman is behind bars at the Harris County Jail after admitting she lied about what happened the day her child died last year, according to the Houston Police Department.
Hannah Elizabeth Funk is charged with tampering with evidence, in this case, a human corpse.
Her 23-month-old son, Oliver, died Nov. 15, 2018.
At the time, Funk told investigators the boy disappeared while she was using the bathroom at their Lakeside Terrace home near Lake Houston.
She said she found his body by the lake less than an hour later.
But the autopsy report from the medical examiner's office showed the toddler had "some blunt impact injuries" to his head and upper and lower extremities.
And in a follow-up interview with Houston Police Department investigators Monday, Funk changed her story, saying that Oliver was "acting up" so she "swatted him," according to court documents.
She said she fell asleep and that when she woke up, she found her son dead on the floor inside of the house.
She told detectives she panicked "because it made her look guilty" so she took Oliver's body and put it by the lake, according to court documents.
Oliver's cause and manner of death remained "undetermined," according to the medical examiner's office.
Funk is being held on $100,000 bond. In court, prosecutors argued she was a flight risk and that she was suicidal.
She is due back in court Monday.
Houston police said their investigation is ongoing.