Man arrested for beating, strangling, stabbing mother of Richland toddler who died
A Grandview man is accused of brutally beating, stabbing and strangling the woman whose child was found dead in the backyard of a Richland home earlier this week.
The attack happened at a Richland hotel a day after the 18-month-old child was found unresponsive, with bruising on his face in a tent the adults and toddler had been sleeping in.
After police and medics responded to the call on the 2300 block of Camden Street, they began searching for Francisco Estrada, 37.
He was later detained while walking south on Wright Avenue. Richland police have not said whether he is a suspect in the child’s death.
The mother said she did not know what happened to the child, according to conversations between police and dispatchers Tuesday.
It is unclear when Estrada was released from police custody after being questioned about the death. No information has been released by officials on how the toddler died.
The department used its Community Care Fund to pay for a room at the Motel 6 on Fowler Street for the mother. She was supposed to be the only occupant, according to court documents.
Hotel room attack
Early Wednesday morning, officers were called to the hotel for a disturbance involving Estrada. They told officers they had been drinking, and it was just a verbal altercation.
When the mother came into the Richland Police Department later on Wednesday for a follow-up interview about the child’s death, she told them that Estrada had been accusing her of infidelity after she texted her ex, who may be the child’s father.
That upset Estrada, and he began accusing her of cheating and talking to other men. She tried to ignore him, but he jumped on the bed, leaned across her and pressed the back of his forearm into her neck until she lost consciousness, according to court documents filed in Benton County.
When she came to, he was standing over her laughing, said the court documents.
After that, she tried to go into the bathroom, and he followed her in and strangled her until she passed out again, she said.
When she woke up, she tried to lock the bathroom door, but Estrada managed to get in.
He continued yelling at her, and she threatened to call the police, which made him angrier, according to the documents.
He responded by telling her, “No, you aren’t,” taking her phone away. He then blocked her from leaving the hotel room.
While she was trying to get away from him, Estrada cornered her and poured a bottle of tequila over her head.
Afterward, she took a shower and Estrada left at some point. He took her phone, keys, cards and the room’s key card.
She locked him out of the room, and he got angry and broke in using the key card to open the door before breaking the chain lock.
He later admitted to breaking into the room using a screwdriver, but claimed he didn’t break the chain, the documents said.
The woman said that after he got into the room, she saw the screwdriver and said “something to the effect of, ‘What are you gonna do, stab me?’”
He pressed the screwdriver into her upper thigh hard enough to break the skin and leave an indent of the Phillips screwdriver head, said court documents.
As he was doing this, she told detectives she said, “Just do it, let me be with my son.” She told investigators there was blood on the bedsheets from the stabbing.
The documents do not say when or where Estrada was arrested, but jail records show he was booked into the Benton County jail about 10 p.m. on Wednesday.
Estrada refused to appear in Benton County Superior Court for a preliminary hearing on both Thursday afternoon and Friday due to illness, his court-appointed attorney told the judge. He is due back in court Monday.
He is being held without bond on suspicion of domestic violence assault with strangulation, assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful imprisonment and interfering with reporting of domestic violence. Investigators have also asked prosecutors to consider a burglary charge for breaking into the hotel room.
Court records show he has a lengthy criminal history that includes convictions for assault, drug possession, malicious mischief and other crimes in Yakima County.
This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 12:50 PM.
