Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Mother accused in 7-year-old son’s death returned to Las Vegas

John

Wade Vandervort

A photo of Liam Husted, 7, is displayed during a press conference that named his mother, Samantha Moreno Rodriguez, as a suspect in his murder at Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Headquarters Monday, June 7, 2021.

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Samantha Moreno Rodriguez

A woman accused of killing her 7-year-old son, whose body was found last month near a hiking trail outside Las Vegas, has been extradited from Denver to Clark County.

Samantha Moreno Rodriguez, 35, was booked today at the Clark County Detention Center on a count of murder, jail logs show.

Moreno Rodriguez, who declined interview requests, was scheduled to appear before a judge Wednesday morning, Las Vegas Justice Court logs show.

Metro Police allege she killed Liam Husted and left his body in the desert off State Route 160, about 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas. A hiker found the boy’s body May 28.

Liam went unidentified for 10 days, until police in Northern California alerted Metro that the victim could be Liam, a boy with autism.

Four days before the body was found, Liam’s mother left with the boy from their home in San Jose, Calif., police said.

Their trip took them through Southern California, and they stayed at a Las Vegas hotel in the hours before Liam’s death, police said.

Moreno Rodriguez was tracked to the Denver area, where an FBI-led task force took her into custody on June 8, police said.