Family of mother murdered during carjacking speaks-out

UPDATE: August 11, 2009: Breaking News: Tina Davila murder suspect arrested

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(July 2, 2008) Heart-wrenching.  That may best describe this morning’s Today Show live interview with two children and the ex-husband of Tina Davila (please see video below).

Davila’s teenage children struggled to find the right words. At times, no words came out.  But these were moments that told so much about the pain still fresh on this family’s doorstep.

Host Meredith Vieira even seemed to have difficulty holding back tears near the end of the interview.

Who can blame her?

Tina Davila was murdered as she walked up to a Houston-area cell phone store to pay her bill.  Someone wanted her car.

But Davila’s 4-month-old baby was inside that car.

And as surveillance video featured in the Today Show story clearly demonstrates, Davila fought and died while protecting her child.

The man suspected of stabbing Davila to death has yet to be found.  A spokesperson for the Harris County Sheriff’s Department says 24-year-old Timoteo Rios might be in Mexico.

Investigators say Rios is an illegal immigrant (archive.org link, slow loading) with a criminal record.

Anyone with information about this case can call Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS.