A Texas homicide investigation moved through New York and Colorado before police arrested the victim’s son more than three years later.
EL PASO, Texas — A death investigation that began in one Northeast El Paso garage eventually stretched across three states, linking a New York tip, a Colorado arrest and a Texas murder charge. El Paso police now accuse Richard Praytor of killing his mother, Maria Praytor, in 2023 and making her death appear accidental.
The case began locally. At 4:26 a.m. on June 20, 2023, officers responded to the 4500 block of Sky Hawk after Praytor said he had found his mother beneath a vehicle, according to the El Paso Police Department. Special Traffic Investigations personnel examined the scene, and authorities initially determined that Maria Praytor had been accidentally run over. The department’s Sept. 29, 2026, release identified Maria Praytor as 79 and Richard Praytor as 49.
For more than three years, there was no public arrest in her death. The police department says the investigation continued, but its short release does not describe every step taken during that period. The public story changed in late August 2026, when a woman on Long Island told police that Praytor had admitted killing his mother, according to an arrest affidavit later reported by KTSM and Law&Crime. She said the two had met on Facebook and that he disclosed details she believed had not been made public. That New York report gave Texas investigators a lead that could be checked against the original El Paso file. The affidavit says investigators obtained a recorded phone conversation in which Praytor allegedly talked about the death and described his conduct when officers arrived at the house. He allegedly said he had performed for police to make his surprise look genuine. He also allegedly said he had told only one other person and had once tried to speak with a priest.
The investigation then moved west to Colorado. El Paso police said they worked with the Colorado Springs Police Department to locate and interview Praytor. The affidavit says he was found at a hotel on Sept. 14 and voluntarily spoke with detectives. According to police, that interview produced an admission that he had killed his mother. The El Paso department later arranged for his extradition to Texas, where he was charged with murder and booked into the county detention facility.
The alleged confession described a death far different from the accident officers first believed they were investigating. Police say Praytor told detectives he attacked his mother inside the home on June 19, 2023, and later moved her to the garage. The affidavit alleges that he took steps to alter the appearance of the scene, including changing and discarding clothing, positioning his mother by the vehicle and moving the car in a way intended to support an accidental-run-over explanation. It also alleges that he put his mother’s blood on his hands to confuse investigators. Those details have legal significance because the state’s case is built not only around the allegation of a killing but also around the claim that the scene was staged. The police department’s public release says investigators first determined that Maria Praytor had been accidentally run over and later concluded that Richard Praytor had intentionally killed her. Secondary reporting from the affidavit adds the alleged actions that prosecutors could use to explain why the original interpretation was different. Those allegations have not been proved at trial.
The medical record, as described in the affidavit, also reflects that change in interpretation. Law&Crime reported that Maria Praytor’s cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries and that the manner of death had initially been ruled accidental. The public sources reviewed do not include a later medical examiner report explaining whether or how the formal manner classification changed. They also do not include testimony from a medical examiner. That leaves the affidavit and police announcement as the main public descriptions of the shift from accident investigation to homicide case.
The investigation included another alleged piece of evidence: writing on Praytor’s computer. KTSM reported that Praytor told detectives he had a file titled “June 19th” containing specific details about his mother’s death. The Long Island woman had told police that he wrote about the killing in a novel, according to the affidavit. Authorities have not released the file in the material reviewed for this article, and its contents have not been independently verified here. Whether it becomes evidence in court will depend on authentication, admissibility and other legal questions. The affidavit also says Praytor offered a reason for the killing, telling detectives that his mother was sick and that he needed to return to his children in Colorado Springs. That statement is an allegation from the police account, not a proven motive. The El Paso Police Department’s own news release does not describe a motive, and no public court ruling reviewed for this article has adopted the statement as fact. Prosecutors would have to establish motive only to the extent it is legally relevant to their theory; they still bear the burden of proving the charged offense.
After Praytor was returned to Texas, jail records cited by KVIA showed a $1 million bond. Law&Crime reported the same amount on Oct. 1. The sources reviewed do not provide a later verified Texas court outcome, and they do not establish that Praytor has been convicted. He remains accused of murder based on the police investigation and the affidavit’s account. Any confession, recorded call, witness statement or computer evidence would be open to evidentiary challenges as the case moves through court.
The interstate path of the investigation is one of the clearest features of the case. New York authorities received the tip from the woman who said Praytor had confided in her. Texas detectives connected that information to a three-year-old death file. Colorado Springs officers assisted in locating and interviewing the suspect. El Paso then became the center of the prosecution after Praytor was extradited. Each jurisdiction played a different role, and the publicly available records do not suggest that the underlying alleged offense occurred outside Texas. The case also illustrates the difference between an initial scene assessment and a later criminal theory. Responding officers in 2023 had to work with what was visible at the home and what they were told at the time. By 2026, detectives had new statements, a tipster’s account, an alleged recorded conversation and an interview with Praytor. Police say that accumulation of information changed the case from a death treated as accidental to one resulting in a murder charge. A court, not police, will decide whether the evidence proves guilt.
Important parts of the record remain outside public view. The full investigative file has not been released in the sources reviewed, the alleged computer document is not public, and the precise chronology of every investigative step between 2023 and 2026 has not been disclosed. No later verified report reviewed for this article establishes a trial date or final disposition. The most recent confirmed status from the available reporting is that Praytor was in El Paso custody on a $1 million bond after extradition from Colorado. The next phase belongs to the Texas courts, where the multi-state investigation will be reduced to admissible evidence and tested against the murder charge.
Author note: Last updated Nov. 10, 2026.