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Texas mom was notified soldier son was AWOL
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AUSTIN, Texas - An Austin woman found shot to death had been notified that her son was absent without leave from a Georgia base, even though he told her he was on leave.

Pvt. Travis Wayne Baczewski (buh-SHOO'-skee) of Austin is charged with capital murder for killing his mother, 54-year-old Violetta Baczewski. He remained in the Travis County Jail on Thursday on $1.1 million bail. Electronic court records did not indicate that he had an attorney.

According to an affidavit, Violetta Baczewski received a letter on July 23 from the Army that her son was AWOL, not on leave as he told her. After her son visited her the weekend of July 11, she noticed items missing from her home, including guns.

The Austin American-Statesman reported Thursday that the woman called her son to ask about the items, and he denied taking them.

Violetta Baczewski was found shot to death in her bed on Sunday.

The 22-year-old soldier, who worked as a mechanic in Fort Benning, Ga., allegedly took his father's vehicle to drive to South Texas. Police found a television and jewelry, believed taken from the home, in the vehicle outside a hotel in Alamo, a town near the Mexican border. The affidavit said the stolen guns were pawned in McAllen and Laredo.

Baczewski was initially arrested Monday night on a charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.


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