Relatives who could not reach Dyna Sorto de Malik prompted the Sept. 1 search that led deputies to her home.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A welfare check requested by worried relatives led deputies to the body of a woman inside her west Harris County home, launching an investigation that resulted a week later in a murder charge against her 34-year-old son.
The investigation began after family members said they had been unable to reach Dyna Sorto de Malik for several days. Deputies went to a home on Valley Knoll Drive about 10 p.m. Sept. 1 and entered after receiving no response. Inside, investigators said they found her son, Arman Alexander Malik, asleep in one bedroom and later discovered Dyna Malik’s body concealed in another room.
The welfare check is central to the chronology of the case because authorities had not initially arrived at the home responding to a reported assault or homicide. Relatives’ inability to contact Dyna Malik instead prompted deputies to investigate her well-being. What they encountered inside shifted the call into a death investigation and eventually a homicide case.
According to court records, a deputy noticed an odor associated with decomposition while checking another bedroom. Investigators then found a large duffel bag beneath a blood-stained sheet and determined that a human body was inside. Officials later identified the woman as Dyna Malik, who was reported to be in her 70s.
Investigators documented additional evidence in the room, including blood on the carpet beneath the bag and blood spatter on nearby furniture. Detectives also reported apparent changes to security cameras at the house. Court records said some cameras appeared to have been moved or disabled, details that investigators considered while examining whether evidence had been altered or concealed.
Arman Malik was taken from the home after authorities said he appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance. Officials said he later lost consciousness and was transported to a hospital. Detectives reported observing scratches on his hands and what appeared to be dried blood beneath his fingernails. Those observations form part of the investigative record and do not by themselves establish criminal responsibility.
Malik was arrested after his release from the hospital and was initially accused of tampering with physical evidence involving his mother’s body. The case changed Tuesday when a Harris County District Clerk record showed a murder charge had been filed against him. Court records cited by ABC13 allege he caused serious bodily injury to his mother by striking her in the head with his hands.
The new filing moves the focus of the case beyond allegations that a body was concealed. Prosecutors are now alleging that Malik was responsible for Dyna Malik’s death. The charge remains an allegation, and no motive has been publicly established. Authorities also have not publicly provided a complete account of what happened before relatives lost contact with Dyna Malik.
Neighbors and relatives told ABC13 that Malik had recently moved into his mother’s home. A neighbor described Dyna Malik as an active woman who regularly worked in her yard. Family members also said she had expressed concern about her son moving in, though authorities have not said whether those concerns were connected to the circumstances of her death.
An earlier report said the Harris County medical examiner had not yet announced an official cause of death. The murder filing now alleges fatal violence, but the prosecution’s charging theory and a medical examiner’s formal findings serve different purposes. Investigators have not publicly released a final reconstruction of the events inside the home.
Malik’s total bond was later set at $500,000, according to court records cited by ABC13. The case remains pending as authorities continue investigating Dyna Malik’s death and the evidence recovered from the Valley Knoll Drive home.
Author note: Last updated September 8, 2026.