By Christin Coyne
ccoyne@mineralwellsindex.com
Graford resident Chester “Cuatro” Marion Bell IV, 25, was arrested Sunday on a warrant for capital murder.
Bell is accused of killing a 2-year-old child, Buck McCoy Jr., last week.
Mineral Wells EMS responded to a 911 call Wednesday afternoon reporting a choking child at Bell’s residence in the 16000 block of State Highway 254, according to Palo Pinto County Sheriff Ira Mercer.
Buck was under the care of Bell, who was in a relationship with the toddler's mother, at the time of the alleged incident, according to Mercer.
The child was not responsive upon paramedics' arrival and was taken to Palo Pinto General Hospital, where his injuries were found to be inconsistent with the described incident, Mercer said.
He was then taken to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, where a care team evaluated the child and found injuries on the head and body consistent with blunt force trauma, according to Mercer.
Buck was removed from life support and declared deceased around 5 p.m Thursday evening.
A warrant for Bell’s arrest was issued after the preliminary results from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office ruled the death homicide by traumatic head injury.
Bell turned himself in at the Palo Pinto County Sheriff’s office and was booked into jail at approximately 9 p.m. Sunday night. Bell’s bond has been set at $750,000.
“I am absolutely devastated,” Lauren Crnkovic, Buck’s mother, said. “It felt like the world was over.”
“He is so perfect,” Crnkovic said of her son. “He makes everybody so happy.”
Buck loved tractors, going outside, playing in the dirt and chasing the cats, his mother said.
“He wanted to be a cowboy,” Crnkovic said. “He wore spurs. He loved the clinking sound they made.”
Crnkovic said Buck went outside with Bell when Bell returned home early from work.
Buck had known Bell for about five or six months, Crnkovic said.
Crnkovic said Bell told her Buck was choking and called 911 while she worked on him.
“I tried to resuscitate him,” Crnkovic said. “I tried. I never lost his heartbeat. I never stopped, not once.”
When they reached Cooks, she was told her son was brain dead, Crnkovic said.
“We prayed and prayed,” Crnkovic said. “I told him we loved him.”
“Cuatro is an absolute monster, absolute pure evil to hurt him,” Crnkovic said. “I just can’t understand … [Buck’s] so pure and innocent.”
The funeral for Buck McCoy was conducted this morning in Graford.
Bell's arrest comes just slightly more than a month since a Palo Pinto County grand jury convicted Mark McLaughlin of capital murder for the death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old son, Cayson Mosley. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Local News
Related Photos
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Chester Marion Bell IV, who goes by the nickname 'Cuatro,' has been charged with capital murder in the death of 2-year-old Buck McCoy Jr. PPCSO/Courtesy
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Buck McCoy Jr.
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