[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A woman in West Jordan, Utah died in a totally suspicious manner — and her sister is NOT buying the husband’s version of events!
Back on January 13, one of 39-year-old Autumn Mercado‘s co-workers called the cops after she didn’t show up for her job as a nurse. Officers went to her home in West Jordan, Utah to figure out where she might have gone.
Related: Killer Claims His Girlfriend Actually Helped Him Abduct, Rape, & Murder 17-Year-Old Girl!
When they arrived there, they immediately encountered her husband — 47-year-old Carlos Mercado. As he opened the door, per multiple local news reports, he told cops that he was just about to call them. Why? Oh, because — he claimed — he just woke up to find his wife lying at the bottom of the stairs in their home. Per his arrest affidavit, he claimed he’d assumed she was merely SLEEPING there after a bout with vertigo amid some late-night drinking. So he left her alone. Stepped right over her, we guess he means? It was only hours later he learned she was actually DEAD! And he was just about to call 911, too.
Huh.
Carlos claimed the two of them had been drinking late into the night before. Then, when he say Autumn at the bottom of the stairs, he tried to wake her but couldn’t.
But here’s where this story gets even crazier: instead of, you know, trying to figure out what was wrong, Utah news outlet KLS News and others report that he told cops that he covered her with a blanket, left her there at the bottom of the stairs, and ordered a ride-share to go to a gas station and buy MORE BEER!!! Oh, and in doing so, he ALSO left the couple’s 4- and 1-year-old children home alone with their dead mother!
WHAT?!?!
According to multiple outlets, West Jordan Police Sergeant Andrew Hercules said in a police press conference that “the death appeared suspicious to responding officers.” Uh, yeah, no s**t! To us, too! From there, the original arrest affidavit continued:
“Officers could smell the odor of alcohol coming from Carlos’ breath and noticed he had a hard time maintaining his balance. Multiple open containers of alcohol were observed throughout the front room and kitchen area.”
Somehow even MORE tragically, Fox 13 News reports that the couple’s two young children were found by responding officers naked and standing near their mother’s body.
F**king awful…
As for Carlos, he was arrested and booked into Salt Lake County Jail on two felony counts of child abandonment and a misdemeanor count of failure to report a dead body. But he was NOT charged with murder, manslaughter, or any other crime in direct relation to his wife’s death! And according to TooFab on Thursday, Salt Lake County booking records indicate he’s no longer in custody! At all!
Now, as investigators in West Jordan continue to look into Autumn’s death, her grieving sister is speaking out.
Summer Christiansen-Ward (pictured above, during one of her interviews on the tragedy) spoke to NewsNation this week about her beloved sister’s suspicious passing. Summer didn’t mince words about how she doesn’t believe Carlos’ initial story about Autumn supposedly being asleep. She said:
“If you love them, how do you not pick them up? How do you not put them on a couch? How do you not cuddle them, put them back in bed? I don’t believe it.”
Right there with you, girl. Summer was also disturbed that Carlos would leave their children alone in the house with their mother’s corpse. She told host Ashleigh Banfield that it “made me want to throw up when I found out.” We honestly can’t even imagine…
And then there’s this. After Autumn’s death, her friends started coming forward with allegations about domestic violence that Autumn had endured in secret during her marriage to Carlos. According to Summer, Autumn would tell the family stories about how she supposedly got injured — which others close to her now claim were made up to spare Autumn’s family from the details of her apparently rough and violent marriage. Summer said this of Carlos:
“He didn’t protect her at all. We did not know it was to this degree. I mean, she was slashed with a knife. She got her teeth knocked out. We did not know.”
Then, when Banfield asked if Carlos had ever pushed his now-deceased wife down the stairs before, Summer claimed:
“The answer is yes. You start to hear certain things, and then you start to believe.”
FWIW, Carlos also has a documented history of domestic violence issues in West Jordan. Per TooFab, in 2019, he was found guilty of third degree felony aggravated assault against Autumn — who was his fiancée at the time.
Then, in 2021 he was charged with assault and domestic violence in the presence of a child, with the victim later identified by news reports as Autumn. That case was eventually dismissed. But in 2022, he was again charged with assault and domestic violence in the presence of a child in an incident involving Autumn. That time, he was found guilty.
WTF…
Summer has since created a GoFundMe fundraiser for Autumn’s children. In the fundraiser, which had taken in nearly $27,000 as of Thursday afternoon, she wrote:
“Our beloved sister, daughter, and mother (Autumn Mercado) tragically passed at just 39, leaving behind 3 children, 2 of whom now have nothing. We’re raising funds for her unexpected funeral costs and to support her children in rebuilding their lives. Any help means the world to us. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.”
You can visit that GoFundMe page HERE.
And you can also see more on this tragic case (below):
As well as Summer’s interview with NewsNation in which she shares her very frank skepticism about Carlos’ story:
And the family’s chat about the situation with Nancy Grace (below) as well:
Just tragic all around. And incredibly frustrating, too.
That poor woman — and her poor children. Our hearts are broken.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.
For more information on violence against women, go to https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-for-survivors.
[Image via Nancy Grace/YouTube]
