What happened to 16-year-old pregnant teen Mia Campos?

Sixteen-year-old Mia Campos was described by her family as a “happy girl,” which is the impression one gets from her smiling photos. With a little over a month left until she was due to give birth to a baby boy she named Sebastian, Mia, having the full support of her loving family, could not have been more excited.

Unfortunately, it appears that not everyone shared the teen and her family’s enthusiasm for welcoming the baby. Two days after Mia’s body was found in a wooded area just around the corner from her home, the child’s father, Jesus Monroy, 20, was arrested for lying to authorities. He would eventually be charged with felony and malice murder, feticide, and aggravated assault. In addition, the family is now pursuing the charge of statutory rape against their daughter’s ex.

What happened that Sunday night?

On July 14, at around 10:30 pm, 16-year-old Mia Campos left her home and was picked up by Jesus Monroy to grab some snacks at a convenience store. Her last known footage from a Ring doorbell camera shows Mia leaving the house, seemingly too relaxed to have suspected that anything would go awry.

It was not unusual for Mia to leave her home to meet Monroy, so the family did not suspect the worst at first. However, when nearly 30 minutes passed and Mia had not returned home, her family began to worry. Her parents, Edward and Miriam, and her older brother, Alexis, tried to contact her multiple times but to no avail.

The family acted swiftly. Using an app on her phone to see her whereabouts, they noticed Mia’s activity had stopped mere minutes before 11 pm. With this app’s help, the family found the teenager a mile away from home, lying face down and unresponsive. Although Edward attempted CPR, it was too late, Mia and her 7-month-old unborn baby were deceased. Her cause of death was later ruled as asphyxiation.

It was past midnight when authorities were called to the scene. Alexis said in an interview with Court TV that Monroy, who had helped them look for Mia, asked him not to tell police that he was the child’s father. In response, Alexis rightfully pointed out that, at that moment, those details were of no importance.

The law caught up with Monroy on July 17, when he was arrested for having made misleading statements to police, such as alleging not to have seen Mia the night she passed. On July 23 his charges were upgraded. Monroy is being held without bond and is expected to appear at his preliminary court hearing on Aug. 23.

Mia’s family has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for the funeral proceedings.