Father Charged With Attempted Capitol Murder After Dumping Son on Highway Near Sweetwater

A man accused of dumping his 4 year old son on the side of a highway has now been charged with attempted capital murder. Carlos Rico allegedly attempted to strangle his son to death, and after thinking he was dead, threw his body out of his vehicle into a cactus-covered ditch along I-20 near Sweetwater. A Sweetwater basketball coach found the boy about three hours later and rushed him to a hospital, where doctors removed over 500 cactus needles from the boy’s body.

The accused father was driving to the Fort Worth suburb of Saginaw from Lubbock, where the boy’s stepmother lives. Rico was taken into custody after showing up at his cousin’s house in Saginaw without the child. The cousin notified authorities after Rico admitted to leaving the boy for dead on the highway. He is currently being held in the Nolan County Jail under $500,000 bond.