Mother charged with son's murder after his remains were found in her trunk, 10 years after he was last seen

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) -- A Richmond woman has been charged with the second-degree murder of her son.

Back in June 2015, Virginia State Police say the medical examiner identified the remains found in Tonya Slaton's car as those of her son, Quincy Davis.

SEE ALSO: Police: Suspect in Zionsville double homicide shoots, kills himself in hotel room

Slaton was indicted by a grand jury on Feb. 1 and arrested on Feb. 5. She is due in court later this month. Slaton was previously charged with concealment of a dead body in relation to the death of her son, but those charges were dropped Tuesday.

Police said no one had seen Quincy Davis since about 2004. Quincy was enrolled at Virginia Beach Middle School in September of 2001 and withdrew two years later, according to public school officials. Police said he was last seen when he was in the seventh grade.

Richmond and Hampton search warrant affidavits and other court records showed how a simple traffic stop along I-64 revealed a badly decomposed body stashed in the trunk of a Slaton's car.

A subsequent inquiry revealed the car "was not registered in Virginia and the license plates on the vehicle were not found on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles," according to the affidavit.

The trooper began impounding the vehicle.

"During the inventory of the vehicle, Trooper . . . discovered a black trash bag in the trunk . . . There was a strong odor of rotting flesh permeating from the bag." The body in the trunk was double-bagged and sealed with duct tape.

Slaton allegedly threw some clothes on top of the bag, saying the bag contained just clothes. The trooper also noticed a large white stain located on the floorboard behind the driver's seat. "When questioned, (she) explained that she spilled some bleach."

After getting a search warrant, court documents show troopers found Quincy's body in two plastic bags wrapped in duct tape hidden in the trunk.

Quincy Davis is not Slaton's only child, State Police say she also has an adult son.

Court documents show that Slaton has lived at 111 Foushee Street for at least the past two years, but she did have a former address in Virginia Beach.

Court and news records also showed Slaton had been in serious trouble before.

In October 2007, Hampton Police were looking for her and her black Mustang after she fired four shots through her boyfriend's front door.

She had become angry when he tried to break up with her and went and got a gun out of her car, saying "neither one of them were going to leave alive," according to a report about the affidavit in that case.

The boyfriend escaped by climbing out of a window, cutting himself.

Slaton eventually turned herself in and wound up serving the better part of four years of a 15-year sentence for shooting into an occupied dwelling and attempted maiming.

More news:
Parents of 12-year-old who committed suicide say he was bullied
Police find classmate gave gun to Arizona girls in murder-suicide
Suspect in DC mansion killings indicted on 20 felony counts