Mother accused in son's murder faces trial

HOUSTON -- A mother has been charged in the murder her two-month old son, accused of putting him face down in a muddy puddle and burying him.

That mother is now on trial and testimony is underway. The defense claims the mom is mentally ill.

"On April 21 of 2010 she woke up, she decided to kill Masih Golabbakhsh," Prosecutor Sunni Mitchell told jurors.

Mitchell wasted no time in telling the jury why she believes 32 year old Narjes Modarresi buried her newborn alive.

"Masih was her two-month-old baby -- a baby she never wanted, a baby she never loved, a baby who was in her way," she said.

The two-month-old boy died after being buried face down in the mud in the Buffalo Bayou. His mother, the defendant, originally told police two black men kidnapped her baby while she walked him in his stroller. But a neighbor testified she saw the defendant walking calmly then run before slamming the empty stroller against a curb.

"When they confronted her with what they knew ... the lies evolved, things changed," Mitchell said.

Mitchell told jurors it was only until police began questioning the defendants story, did she lead police to the exact spot where she buried her son.

Modarresi kept her head down, rarely looked up as the trial got underway. Her attorney George Parnham told the jury she has a long history of severe mental illness dating back to when she was 17 years old.

"But for the severe mental illness suffered by Narjes Modarresi, this tragedy would not have occurred," Parnham said.

Parnham went on to tell the jury he will share the defendants medical records, which detail her two attempts at suicide and an incident that occurred as she was flying back to Houston from a trip to her native country Iran.

"She has a psychotic episode on the plane, the plane has to make an emergency landing in Qatar and she is hospitalized for four days in psychiatric emergency care," he said.

An HPD officer later testified that he became suspicious of Modarresi after she kept asking him whether he believed her kidnapping story.

Prosecutors believe the trial will last about two weeks.