Wish to live with mom put slain boy in harm's way Trusting and sweet to the end

Jonathan Foster's wish to live with his mom came true — and put him in harm's way

Mona Yvette Nelson, 44, appears in court Jan. 3, 2011, in Houston at the Harris County Criminal Courthouse. Mona Yvette Nelson, 44, appears in court Jan. 3, 2011, in Houston at the Harris County Criminal Courthouse. Photo: Eric Kayne, For The Chronicle Photo: Eric Kayne, For The Chronicle Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Wish to live with mom put slain boy in harm's way 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

When Jonathan Paul Foster is buried in South Park Cemetery in Pearland on Tuesday, he will be the first interred in a family plot that will someday hold his grandparents.

That Jonathan eventually will rest with his family offered a little solace to relatives of the 12-year-old boy killed on Christmas Eve, his remains charred and left in a drainage culvert in Houston.

By all accounts, it is an unspeakably sad end for a boy whose family members described him as deeply loving and affectionate. Even after bouncing from house to house in his 12 years — living with his mother, his grandmother and an uncle — he still had the trust of an innocent child.

"He was just so sweet and submissive, always looking for a hug," said Glenn Scrimsher, 33, Jonathan's uncle who raised him from the time he was 6 until a year ago, when his grandmother, Mary Gifford, sent for him in Channelview. "I bet he didn't even put up a fight."

Jonathan's grisly slaying touched even the most veteran homicide detectives, who said the little boy clung to his manners and trust in adults to the end. In the last phone call to his mother, Jonathan was overheard calling his suspected captor "ma'am."

A birthday wish nearly two months ago - that he return to his mother - placed Jonathan into an orbit that included shady characters in an impoverished pocket of Garden Oaks in northwest Houston. There, the forces of his tiny transient life appeared to doom him.

On Christmas Eve, just weeks after moving back with his mother for the first time since he was 6 years old, Jonathan spent the morning alone drinking milk, eating Tootsie Rolls, and playing computer games as TV cartoons droned on in the background.

By 6 p.m., a truck allegedly driven by Mona Yvette Nelson, a 44-year-old maintenance worker, was captured on a video camera dumping Jonathan's small, seared body next to a metal works plant.

But it would take four more days before police reconstructed Jonathan's last moments, before they concluded his body most likely was burned with welding torches at a northeast Houston apartment.

Family problems

Jonathan was born Nov. 9, 1998, in Corsicana. His mother, Angela Renee Davis, said that as a newborn, he pulled his little legs up to his chest, and straightened them out, like a little frog. His aunt gave him the nickname on the spot.

Davis' relationship with her then-husband, Richard Foster, quickly deteriorated to the point of divorce. The last time Jonathan saw his father he was 4 years old, Davis said. The last time he spoke with him Jonathan was 6, and his father said he didn't want anything to do with his son, she said.

After the divorce, she remarried and divorced several times, and was arrested on a minor drug charge and later a probation violation. Child Protective Services was called twice to investigate allegations into physical abuse and neglect of Jonathan and his half-sister, who is now 10. But CPS closed the cases after finding the children were not in her direct care because they were living with relatives.

"I ran into some bad problems at a younger age, and instead of being one of those mothers that let their kids watch them go downhill, I made sure my kids were safe," said Davis, 31. "I didn't want them to see it."

Jonathan spent much of his young life with his uncle and his five kids on a farm in Missouri, where the boy grew watermelon, rode dirt bikes and caught his first fish. He fell in love with his family's horse, Valentino, a Palomino. While he lived with his uncle, his mother visited once, Scrimsher said, but Jonathan saw his grandparents frequently.

In November 2009, his grandmother sent for him, and Scrimsher reluctantly let him go. By the time Jonathan asked his grandmother if he could go live with his mother in November in Houston, Davis was working a steady job and felt ready to take her son back.

"I work six days a week, over 60 hours a week," she said Wednesday, when she still had hope of seeing her son again. "I'm doing the best I can to raise my son."

Davis enrolled Jonathan at Durham Elementary School, where the principal said he was bright and sweet and quickly befriended a boy who didn't have any friends.

"He always was trying to help somebody. He felt like he was a man because he fixed a little girl's bicycle chain," Davis said. "He was full of life."

On Dec. 14, just weeks after moving in with his mother, his stepfather, David Davis, slapped him across the face, Angela Davis said. She said she immediately packed up Jonathan and moved into a cottage next to the apartment complex where her friend Sharon Ennamorato lived.

The home was a frequent stop for Nelson, who also was friends with Ennamorato.

Missed calls

Exactly why Nelson, who had served time for armed robbery, marijuana possession, immigrant smuggling and terroristic threats, came to Jonathan's door on Christmas Eve remains unclear.

On that Friday morning, both Davis and Ennamorato had to work. Jonathan's mother was to return by 2 p.m.

That morning at work, a colleague told Davis her son had called asking for "Aunt Sharon's" number.

After she missed that call, a woman called back, saying it was an emergency. By the time Davis made it to the phone, the line was dead.

Concerned, Davis called the house again and again as she drove to the cottage, she said. Someone picked up just minutes before she pulled up around 2 p.m.

Davis said a woman answered. She told the woman she was Jonathan's mom, Angela. She heard a woman say: "Is your mama's name Angela?"

And Davis heard Jonathan say: "Yes ma'am, my mama's name is Angela."

And then the phone went dead.

Davis said police initially questioned her about why her son was home alone, and suggested he'd run away on Christmas Eve.

Police said the investigation was complicated because family members changed their stories and gave conflicting statements on the day of his disappearance.

'I'm not a monster'

After a search that spanned four days across northwest Houston, investigators found Jonathan's body and followed leads from a security camera back to Nelson. Inside her two-story garage apartment on the city's northeast side, investigators said they found twine and burned carpet. Outside, in the glove compartment of her truck, detectives found a stun gun.

Houston police officer Mike Mil­ler said he has interviewed hundreds of suspects in 14 years on the homicide squad but saw something peculiar in Nelson's eyes. It was a "dead look."

"Anything but remorse …," he said. "Stone cold without a soul."

After her arrest, Nelson told Channel 13 that: "I'm not a monster. I have five grandkids and I love kids."

Jonathan's uncle said he can't understand how someone could hurt Jonathan, someone "so innocent. He has never hurt anybody."

"He didn't get to live his life," Scrimsher said. "She took his life for her own pleasure. I don't know how else to put it. I hope she finds it in her heart to ask the Lord to forgive her for what she has done."

Chronicle reporters Lindsay Wise, Ericka Mellon and Paige Hewitt contributed to this report.

susan.carroll@chron.com

terri.langford@chron.com