Colin
- Mackenzie Hopkins, 24, was found dead on January 15 2022 in her home
- Shannon Hopkins said he ‘collapsed’ when he found her body
- Jose E. Escalante-Corchado, 32, pleaded guilty to her murder
The father of a woman who was brutally murdered in her bathtub has described how he ‘collapsed in the front yard’ after finding her body.
Mackenzie Hopkins, 24, was found dead on January 15 2022 in her home in KansasCity by her father, Shannon Hopkins, sister Hazel, and police.
Shannon told KMBC: ‘I got a few feet inside her home, and [police] pulled me out. There was a lot of blood. I collapsed in the front yard.’
Jose E. Escalante-Corchado, 32, pleaded guilty to her murder and to first-degree assault on her then-four-year-old daughter Bella who was seriously injured in the attack but survived.
He was sentenced on Tuesday to 30 years in prison.
A day after Hopkins’ body was found, her friend told police that she had told her boyfriend, Escalante-Corchado, that she was visiting Hopkins (pictured) the night before her murder, but said that it was a cover story so that she could go out
Mackenzie Hopkins, 24, was found bludgeoned to death in the bathtub at her Kanas City, Missouri home, and her daughter, 4, was found beaten unconscious in her bed nearly 12 hours after a 911 call was placed from the mom’s phone
![Her father, Shannon Hopkins, said: 'I got a few feet inside her home, and [police] pulled me out. There was a lot of blood. I collapsed in the front yard.'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/25/10/82839183-13233509-Her_father_Shannon_Hopkins_said_I_got_a_few_feet_inside_her_home-a-20_1711364024354.jpg)
Her father, Shannon Hopkins, said: ‘I got a few feet inside her home, and [police] pulled me out. There was a lot of blood. I collapsed in the front yard.’
Jose Escalante-Corchado has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder and assault
Hopkins was working as a nurse when she had Bella and her father said she ‘came into her own’ when she had a baby.
She was found beaten to death in her bath, submerged in water, with her daughter beaten unconscious in her bed.
Hopkins had called 911 12 hours earlier and police said people could be heard arguing on the phone but no one spoke.
But her body was not found until that evening, when her father requested police carry out a welfare check.
Her father said: ‘It’s impossible that this happened this way. She was caring. She was the most loving person.’
Hopkins’ daughter, now six, is living in Puerto Rico with her father.
Bloody shoe prints found throughout the home were traced to a specific brand of cowboy boots owned by Escalante-Corchado and his van was seen in surveillance footage near her home around the time of her murder.
It emerged that Escalante-Corchado’s then-girlfriend had used Hopkins as a ‘cover story’ so she could go on a night out.
DailyMail.com obtained a police report that states that around 6am on the Saturday morning, a 911 call – referred to as a disturbance in the documents – was placed from Hopkins’ phone where the operator heard ‘parties fighting’. Police would not confirm whether or not officers responded to the early morning call.
When officers arrived for the welfare check 12 hours later, Hopkins’ father attempted to use a key to open the front door, and it swung open to a grisly scene.
‘There were several spots on the floor inside the main floor of the residence where large amounts of blood had pooled and there were apparent drag marks in blood where it appeared the victim had been moved,’ the police affidavit stated. ‘In different locations there were shoe impressions in blood.’
Police responded to a 911 call for a welfare check at Hopkins home in Kansas City where they found a grisly scene. Pictured: A police cordon outside the home
Hopkins’ 4-year-old daughter (pictured with her mom) was found lying on her own bed suffering from severe head trauma. She remains hospitalized in critical condition
Bloody shoe prints throughout the house were later determined by police to be the print of a specific brand and style of cowboy boot made by ‘ARIAT.’
The next day, detectives met with one of the victim’s friends and while there, they saw a pair of cowboy boots which matched the brand and style of the bloody prints at Hopkins home, according to the affidavit.
When detectives asked the friend about the boots, the friend stated that the boots belonged to her boyfriend, Escalante-Corchado. The friend’s name is redacted from the affidavit.
The friend also told police that she had told Escalante-Corchado that she was visiting Hopkins the night before her murder, but said that it was a cover story so that she could go out.
Detectives also discovered Escalante-Corchado’s truck was in the area of the crime scene on the day of the murder. Witnesses told detectives that a person matching his description was seen coming and going from the home and spent about two hours in the area.
Surveillance video obtained by police showed a man matching his description running from the victim’s home, then getting into a white truck that is seen pulling into a gas station moments later.
He told detectives that it was him at the gas station. He also acknowledged that he knew Hopkins and her daughter.
Escalante-Corchado had denied any involvement in the murder of Hopkins and the assault of her daughter, but had no reasonable explanation for being in the area of the victim’s house in his truck for over two hours, according to the affidavit.
Hopkins’ family is devastated by the tragedy, her aunt says, ‘I don’t think anybody wants to believe these things can happen, especially to somebody and affecting somebody you know’
Hopkins’ sister-in-law, Shawna Hopkins, set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral and medical expenses and says, ‘all we can hope is we get to hold and love on her daughter for her and on her behalf to the best of our ability’
Hopkins’ devastated family said at the time that they were shocked by the tragedy.
‘It’s just shocking to everybody. I don’t think anybody wants to believe these things can happen, especially to somebody and affecting somebody you know,’ Michelle Bishop, Hopkins’ aunt, told FOX4.
Her sister-in-law, Shawna Hopkins set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral and medical expenses.
‘It’s something I could never imagine. It hurts as her sister. It hurts as her friend. She was one of the most positive forces in my life,’ Shawna Hopkins told FOX4. ‘Nothing can make this right, but justice must be served.’
Escalante-Corchado was charged with first-degree murder, assault, two counts of armed criminal action and endangering the welfare of a child.
Last week he reached a plea deal that found him guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree assault.
‘Nothing makes this right,’ Shawn Hopkins said. ‘All we can hope is we get to hold and love on her daughter for her and on her behalf to the best of our ability.’
