Understanding brutal and violent crimes is always a challenge, but some of the most baffling happen when we can’t find a clear motive. That disbelief gets even more exasperating when it happens at the hands of an unlikely dynamic, like a young teen and their mother. A community in Tennessee has been left reeling trying to make sense of just that after a son allegedly brutally beat his own mother with a baseball bat and burned her body in the yard as his stepfather watched. As a mom of a young boy, I cannot even imagine what her last moments were like knowing who was guilty of the crime.
On October 28, 2025, authorities went to the Grayville home of Silvia Vilchez, 50, who was reported missing, according to People. Originally her son Gabriel Vilchez, 18, and her husband, David Gardiner, 64, told them his wife was in her native home of Costa Rica, ABC 7 reported via a cited arrest report. After becoming suspicious of her disappearance, authorities conducted a search of the property on October 30. While there, they uncovered red/brown stains and blood splatter on the office room’s walls, printer, and desk. Later, they found charred human remains that were determined to be that of Silvia Vilchez in the backyard.
Police claim Gabriel confessed in a second interview, owning up to the fact that he beat her with a bat and noted that Gardiner not only watched as he did it but jumped in to assist with beatings. Gabriel then claimed the two decided to drag her body to the fire pit and burn it. Gardiner adamantly denies this and says he was asleep during the killing.
Silvia Vilchez, who was affectionately known as “Gaby,” is mourned greatly by her church community. “If you ever got to know her a little bit, your life was always enriched,” Lewis Chapel Church of God Pastor Jeff Smith, told Local 3 News. “She was the type of person who doesn’t leave you the same or empty whenever you see her the next time. It’s a joy.”
“If you knew Gaby, you were blessed, and if you didn’t know her, I wish you had,” another friend Treva Farley, told Local 3 News.
Both Gabriel and Gardiner have been charged with murder and abuse of a corpse, but police have not yet released an official motive.
“She raised him and gave him everything,” her nephew Olman Mena told the Tico Times. He went on to claim that Gabriel had a history of being aggressive in school and cited a rough relationship he and his father in Costa Rica had.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of domestic abuse, you can find help and support at DVIS.org, the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or by contacting your local women’s shelter (domesticshelters.org).
