Disturbing Details Emerge in Mount Vernon Homicide Case

Mount Vernon, WA – New details are emerging in a disturbing homicide case that Mount Vernon Police Detectives are working on.

*Warning, viewer discretion is advised, as details of the case are disturbing and may be upsetting.* 

According to probable cause affidavits of arrest obtained by SkagitBreaking.com through a public disclosure request, Mount Vernon Police Officers were dispatched to a weapons offense in the 1200 block of  North 18th Street around 12:35 p.m. on August 26th, 2018.  The reporting party told dispatchers that they had arrived home from church and found their son’s girlfriend in a bedroom with her head removed from her body. Mount Vernon Officers quickly arrived on scene and located the deceased woman in a bedroom inside the home. The Officers confirmed the woman had been decapitated. The woman was later identified by family members through a GoFundMe page, as 27-year old Vanessa Cons of Mount Vernon.

 

During the course of their investigation, Officers learned that the suspect, 32-year old Timothy Hernandez of Mount Vernon, was in a relationship with the victim and had left the residence in a vehicle with their 3-year old child.   Police tracked the suspect to the area of the Cascade Mall in Burlington. Burlington Police Officers quickly located the suspects unoccupied vehicle in the Cascade Mall Parking Lot.

Officers from the Burlington Police Department, Mount Vernon Police Department, Sedro-Woolley Police Department, Skagit County Sheriff’s Office and  Washington State Patrol responded to the Cascade Mall and set up a perimeter around the mall to ensure the suspect would be taken into custody without leaving the mall.

A Police K-9 also responded to the scene to track the suspect.

Approximately 45-minutes later, the suspect, 32-year old Timothy Hernandez, exited the mall with the child and Officers took him into custody without incident.

SkagitBreaking.com was on scene and captured photos of the arrest.

The child was not injured and was taken into protective custody by Officers on scene.  Hernandez was transported to the Mount Vernon Police Department for questioning.

Court Documents show that post Miranda, Hernandez advised Detectives that he had spoken with God, who told him to strike down his girlfriend because she did not repent. Hernandez stated that he struck her down, and caused her head to be removed from her body.  He then quoted two bible verses to Investigators, from Timothy Chapter 2 and the book of Revelations. Each of the verses that were quoted had passages in them that spoke about women who did not follow God’s word, so God struck them down.

Hernandez told Investigators that in the morning, God told him to strike her down. He also advised investigators that he had given CONS a chance to repent, but she did not. According to court documents, Hernandez told Investigators that he had to pray for forgiveness because he initially questioned God’s decision for him to strike her down. Hernandez stated that “God works in mysterious ways and that he has to believe and not question God’s Will.”

Detectives and Washington State Patrol Crime Scene technicians processed the house where the homicide took place. Investigators located a large butcher knife in the kitchen sink. Court documents show that the knife blade itself had been cleaned off but the handle had blood and human hair on it. The victim had multiple stab wounds on her back and the back of her head before having her head removed from her body. WSP Crime lab technicians found bloody footprints around the body that led into the kitchen to the sink where the knife was located.

Investigators spoke with the 3-year old child, who advised them that she saw Daddy cut mommy. She told investigators she heard mommy scream during this and said Daddy then walked around a lot before telling her that she needed to say goodbye to mommy. The child told detectives that she did not know why mommy had her eyes closed and blood on her face.

Hernandez then told Detectives that he had taken his daughter to the Cascade Mall before being contacted by Police. Hernandez stated “he was not crazy and stated that a crazy person would not tell the truth.”

Hernandez was booked into the Skagit County Community Justice Center where he is being held in lieu of $1,000,000.00 bail for suspicion of MURDER 2 and MURDER 1 PREMEDITATED.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family with Funeral related expenses for Vanessa Cons. Cons has two daughters, a 3-year old and a 5-year old. Click here to view the GoFundMe page.