Grandfather recalls morning toddler was allegedly killed by mother in Abilene
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – The last time 3.5-year-old Mirha saw her grandparents, she demanded a hug from them both – an unusual request her grandfather says they were happy to oblige.
Hours later, he would chase her mother, Abilene audiologist Anum Khan, to the Abilene Police Department, only to watch in horror as she tried to bring Mirha’s lifeless body inside.
When KTAB and KRBC knocked on the door of the Khan family home in south Abilene, the patriarch, who we’ll refer to as Nana (his grandfather name), initially turned our reporters away, but as they started to leave, he changed his mind and invited them in to hear his story about the last morning Mirha was alive.
Nana says he fell asleep Tuesday night on a living room pallet with both his grandkids by his side.
When he woke up around 4:00 a.m., he says he noticed a glow coming from their computer room and saw his daughter, Khan, looking at documents related to her divorce proceedings.
Khan filed for divorce from her husband in Taylor County last May, and public records show their case was settled by mediation in June of this year and was set to be finalized soon.
Next, Nana says he got his grandson ready for the first day of 1st Grade then took him to class, returning to find Khan at the end of their road alone. He says she saw him, came back to the house, then said “no, I’m not going to leave. Nevermind”.
Khan then told him she was taking Mirha to Walmart to “get some chocolate and toys” and said they were going to be gone for around an hour.
When they were late, Nana started to worry and began to search for Khan, initially using an app to track her location, but then it went offline.
It went back online around 2 hours after Khan initially left with Mirha and showed she was in a field, so Nana drove to her location. When he arrived, she began to drive away before he was even able to get out of his vehicle, initiating a brief pursuit.
Nana followed Khan, trying to get her to stop, and says he eventually cornered her at a car dealership on Southwest Drive, and that’s when Khan, for reasons unknown even to him, drove straight to the police station with Nana close behind.
He says she started circling the parking lot and he didn’t know what to do, so he rushed inside for help, accidentally running into the municipal court building, where employees directed him out and to the police station.
As he was headed back into the parking lot, Nana says Khan stopped in front of the police station and got out, carrying Mirha, who was suffering from severe injuries and was showing no signs of life.
Khan was then taken into custody, and her car, as well as the police station parking lot, was turned into an active crime scene.
Nana did not want to discuss certain details about what happened to Mirha, such as the nature of her death, but he felt it was important for the public to know his story.
Khan has been booked into the Taylor County Jail for Capital Murder of a Person Under 10 Years Old and is currently being held without bond.
Family members confirm Khan was a Doctor of Audiology at an Abilene clinic.
