Mother accused of lethally overdosing her 6-year-old son for insurance payout: ‘She was thirsty for money,’ boy’s dad says

A Texas mom allegedly killed her 6-year-old son for the life insurance money by overdosing him on lethal amounts of medicine and street drugs, police said.

Jason Xavier Sanchez-Marks would show signs of distress after his mother, Ashley Marks, 25, visited him at his grandfather’s Tanglewood home in Houston, KTRK reported.

“The grandfather noted that each time she came over and gave medication the victim started to experience weird side-effects, like hallucinations, agitation, [and] he became non-responsive, which are side-effects of large doses of Nyquil as well as methamphetamine,” Gilbert Sawtelle, Chief Prosecutor in the Child Fatality Section of the Harris County D.A.’s Office, told the station. 

On June 27, 2020, the little boy passed away.

Prosecutors claimed Marks, a licensed insurance agent, bought two policies totaling $100,000 one month before her son’s death.

Officials alleged Marks then overdosed the boy on Nyquil and meth in an effort to kill him and make it appear as if it were the grandfather's fault so she could get the insurance payout, prosecutors alleged, according to KTRK.

On April 1, police arrested Marks and charged her with capital murder.

“She will pay for what she did to our son,” the child’s father, Mario Sanchez, told KTRK. “She was thirsty for money.”

An online obituary describes Sanchez-Marks as “a smart, caring child who loved to play with toy cars and dress up as a cowboy.” 

He had just graduated first grade with “an excellent report card” before he died and dreamed of someday working at the rodeo or as a firefighter, the tribute reads.