Mother found bludgeoned to death in her bath, her daughter unconscious hours after she called 911

A 24-year-old mother was found bludgeoned to death in her bathtub, and her daughter, 4, beaten unconscious in her bed nearly 12 hours after a 911 call was placed from her phone last week Saturday – and the boyfriend of a friend who used her as a fake ‘cover story’ so she could go on a night out has been arrested. 

The body of Mackenzie Hopkins was found submerged in a bathtub at her home in Kansas City, Missouri, just before 6pm on January 15 with blunt force trauma injuries to her face and head. 

Her father found her body after requesting a welfare check, according to a press release from Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. 

Hopkins’ daughter, whose name was withheld, was found lying on her own bed suffering from severe head trauma. She remains hospitalized in critical condition. 

Jose Escalante-Corchado, 28 – the boyfriend of a friend who used her as a cover story so that she could go on a night out the evening before – has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bond. 

Police said that a 911 call was placed from Hopkins’ phone around 6am that morning where the operator could hear people arguing, although no one spoke. It’s not clear whether police were dispatched to her home.

Bloody shoe prints found throughout the home were traced to a specific brand of cowboy boots owned by Escalante-Corchado and his van was seen in on surveillance footage near Hopkins’ home around the time of her murder.

Mackenzie Hopkins, 24, was found dead in her bathtub and her 4-year-old daughter was found in a bedroom suffering from head trauma hours after a call was placed to 911. A friend’s boyfriend has been arrested in her murder 

Jose Escalante-Corchado, 28, faces a slew of charges, including murder, after Hopkins was found Saturday submerged in a bathtub at her home

DailyMail.com obtained a police report that states that around 6am on Saturday morning, a 911 call – referred to as a disturbance in the documents – was placed from Hopkins’ phone where the operator heard ‘parties fighting.’ Police would not confirm whether or not officers responded to the early morning call.         

When officers arrived for the welfare check 12 hours later, Hopkins’ father attempted to use a key to open the front door, and it swung open to a grisly scene. 

‘There were several spots on the floor inside the main floor of the residence where large amounts of blood had pooled and there were apparent drag marks in blood where it appeared the victim had been moved,’ the police affidavit stated. ‘In different locations there were shoe impressions in blood.’  

Bloody shoe prints throughout the house were later determined by police to be the print of a specific brand and style of cowboy boot made by ‘ARIAT.’

The next day, detectives met with one of the victim’s friends and while there, they saw a pair of cowboy boots which which matched the brand and style of the bloody prints at Hopkins home, according to the affidavit. 

When detectives asked the friend about the boots, the friend stated that the boots belonged to her boyfriend, Escalante-Corchado. The friend’s name is redacted from the affidavit. 

The friend also told police that she had told Escalante-Corchado that she was visiting Hopkins the night before her murder, but said that it was a cover story so that she could go out.

Mackenzie Hopkins was discovered dead in her bathtub by her father 12 hours after a 911 call was placed from her phone. Pictured: A police cordon outside the home

Hopkins’ body was found Saturday submerged in a bathtub at her home in Kansas City, Missouri. Her ‘ 4-year-old daughter was found lying on her own bed suffering from severe head trauma. She remains hospitalized in critical condition

Detectives also discovered Escalante-Corchado’s truck was in the area of the crime scene on the day of the murder. Witnesses told detectives that a person matching his description was seen coming and going from the home and spent about two hours in the area. 

Surveillance video obtained by police showed a man matching his description running from the victim’s home, then getting into a white truck that is seen pulling into a gas station moments later.  

He told detectives that it was him at the gas station. He also acknowledged that he knew Hopkins and her daughter.

Escalante-Corchado has denied any involvement in the murder of Hopkins and the assault of her daughter, but has no reasonable explanation for being in the area of the victim’s house in his truck for over two hours, according to the affidavit. 

Hopkins’ devastated family said they are shocked by the tragedy.  

‘It’s just shocking to everybody. I don’t think anybody wants to believe these things can happen, especially to somebody and affecting somebody you know,’ Michelle Bishop, Hopkins’ aunt, told FOX4.  

Her sister-in-law, Shawna Hopkins has set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral and medical expenses.

‘It’s something I could never imagine. It hurts as her sister. It hurts as her friend. She was one of the most positive forces in my life,’ Shawna Hopkins told FOX4. ‘Nothing can make this right, but justice must be served.’  

Escalante-Corchado is charged with first-degree murder, assault, two counts of armed criminal action and endangering the welfare of a child. He is currently being held at the Wyandotte County Jail on no bond.  

‘Nothing makes this right,’ Shawn Hopkins said. ‘All we can hope is we get to hold and love on her daughter for her and on her behalf to the best of our ability.’