KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man who beat a woman to death and critically injured her 4-year-old daughter was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in prison.
Jose Escalante-Corchado, 31, of Kansas City, Kansas, pleaded guilty in Jackson County Court to second degree murder and first degree assault, according to a news release from the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.
Police officers found Mackenzie Hopkins, 24, dead in a bathtub on Jan. 15, 2022, in a house in the 7300 block of Wabash Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri.
Hopkins suffered blunt force injuries to her head, according to a court document.
Officers found Hopkins's 4-year-old daughter on a bed with severe head injuries.
Investigators found several areas on the main floor of the house with large amounts of blood and evidence Hopkins's body had been moved, the court document states.
Crime scene investigators took pictures of a shoe pattern that included the word, 'ARIAT,' a popular cowboy boot manufacturer.
When detectives talked with a friend of Hopkins, they noticed a pair of cowboy boots near the door of the woman's KCK house.
The woman told police the boots belonged to her boyfriend, Escalante-Corchado, according to a court document.
Escalante was arrested a day after the murder and denied being involved in Hopkins's murder or the beating of her daughter.
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