In a tragic turn of events, a young woman from Texas is set to spend her life in prison following the brutal murder of her infant daughter in a moment of uncontrolled anger.

Olivia Munoz, aged 22, recently confessed to charges of murdering her 7-month-old daughter, Hazel Munoz, under 10 years of age, and inflicting severe bodily harm with intent. This grim admission was confirmed by both the San Patricio County District Clerk’s Office and the San Patricio County District Attorney’s Office last week.

The heartbreaking sequence of events reached its apex on December 19, 2023. At approximately 6:30 a.m., Munoz placed a desperate call to authorities from her residence on South Marigold Street in Mathis, a quaint town about 35 miles from Corpus Christi. Upon arrival, Mathis Police Department officers discovered the baby unresponsive and without breath.

Emergency medical services quickly arrived, attempting to resuscitate Hazel through CPR before transporting her to ER 24/7 Northwest, located in the Calallen area of Corpus Christi, about 22 miles away. Despite these efforts, the attempt to save the child was in vain, and Hazel was declared dead shortly after reaching the medical facility, according to sources from the police department as reported by Corpus Christi’s NBC affiliate KRIS.

In short order, EMS personnel arrived and did their best to revive the little girl with CPR before rushing her to ER 24/7 Northwest in the Calallen neighborhood of Corpus Christi – a hospital located some 22 miles southeast. But it was too late and ultimately for naught; Hazel was pronounced dead shortly after arriving, according to police department sources cited by Corpus Christi-based NBC affiliate KRIS.

Mathis Police Chief Guillermo “Willie” Figueroa told the TV station that someone in the house called 911 after Munoz woke up to find her daughter unresponsive. The police chief went on to explain that Munoz told her own mother her child was not breathing, prompting the baby girl’s grandmother to have another family member dial 911.

Fast-forward to just after the child’s death – that’s when hospital officials reached out to police to describe the child’s host of injuries.

Officers then questioned the defendant, who allegedly readily admitted to injuring her girl during three separate incidents – and never seeking medical attention for Hazel after the fact.

“At the time, Munoz was pregnant and the mother of another daughter, a year and five months old,” the police chief told KRIS. “The older child did not have injuries.”

On Dec. 20, Munoz was initially arrested on two counts of injury to a child. Figueroa said two of the three admitted injuries were charged.

Then, the child’s autopsy was performed – outlining the extent of the prolonged abuse Hazel suffered during her short life.

The child had several fractures in her arms, ribs, and skull.

In January 2024, the autopsy results were turned over to law enforcement. Hazel’s death was determined to be a homicide. Local police then upgraded Munoz’s charges to include murder.

The defendant, by then, was allegedly voluble about why she did what she did to the helpless little girl, according to the police chief.

“She admitted she had a lot of anger towards the 7-month-old baby due to problems she had with the baby’s father,” Figueroa told KRIS. “She told officers that her three children shared the same biological father.”

Then, the Texas Rangers stepped in.

Munoz was formally indicted on three charges in March 2024, according to court records obtained by Law&Crime. She was charged with two counts of capital murder and one count of injury to a child in the first degree in the Lone Star State’s 343rd District Court.

The legal process churned slowly. A psychiatric evaluation was called for, along with a motion for an insanity defense, records show. A sealed copy of those results was filed in late September.

In mid-October, the parties announced a plea decision.

On Oct. 24, in exchange for the state dropping one of the murder charges and taking the capital murder charge down to a lesser-included murder offense, Munoz pleaded guilty to the two remaining charges.

Under the contours of her plea deal, she will be sentenced to life in prison for both counts, records show.

The defendant’s formal sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled, San Patricio County officials told Law&Crime.