Monica Mares, the sick mom who had an infamous incestuous relationship with her biological son, went on to become a homeless addict — with mugshots showing her terrifying physical decline.
The mom of seven was 36 when she was charged with incest in August 2016 for her disturbing relationship with then-19-year-old son Caleb Paterson — who has also had a string of arrests since their split.
In the 10 years since that arrest, the disgraced mom’s life spiralled — with a mugshot from a July 2020 arrest showing her gaunt face grimacing with a shaved head.
“She cut her hair. She is bald. I don’t know why,” Mares’ mother, Sadie Baker, 75, told the Daily Mail from her home in Albuquerque.
“She is mad at herself, I guess. She lost lots of weight now. She is now down to less than 100 pounds.”
Mares married another man, Joe Garza, in November 2018, but the marriage didn’t last long.
In 2020, she accidentally started a backyard fire while allegedly high on meth and was charged with negligent arson, according to a criminal complaint.
Mares told officers she was “coming down off a high from yellow meth,” and had been awake for several days, the complaint states.
Ultimately, the charges were dismissed after she was deemed unfit to stand trial.
Workers at a local homeless shelter say the mom is seen drifting in and out several times a week, wandering the streets in filthy clothes, and refusing food or shelter.
“She is always in the streets with old shoes. She is really [psychotic]. She never wants a clean outfit,” Debbie, from the Mission Lighthouse shelter, told the Daily Mail.
“I wish we can help her. I know her story. It is very sad. It is true it happened. She never knew him [her son]. She birthed him and he was gone. It is a tragic story,” Debbie added.
“He was birthed and then gone, and 18 years he shows up, finds his biological mother, and they fell in love, and that is what it is,” Debbie said.
Mares’ mother said she begged her daughter not to begin the incestuous relationship at the time, but insisted that her son had instigated the affair.
“Carlos [Caleb] was the one who made the first move. I told her it was crazy. I told her don’t do this. But they went ahead,” Baker said, adding that she wouldn’t allow Paterson into her house.
“I told him it was not right,” she said.
Mares and Paterson were found guilty of incest in March 2017 after entering no-contest pleas in a Curry County court.
They were sentenced to three years’ probation and banned from contacting one another, effectively ending the relationship.
When news of the relationship became public, Baker said her daughter began receiving threats.
“Everyone got mad at her,” she said, adding that after a family home was burned down in a suspected arson attack, Mares admitted she had made “a mistake” to her mother.
“She started crying, saying she didn’t know what to do. I told her, ‘You don’t listen to your mommy. I told you,’” Baker said.
“Thank god they don’t have no kids,” she added.
Paterson relocated to Pueblo, Colorado, where he appeared to be living with relatives and working as a handyman, and was in another relationship as recently as 2024, his social media suggests.
He has spent the past decade in and out of jail over offenses including two DUIs, driving on a revoked license, probation violations, and traffic charges, court records show.
On April 8 this year, Paterson was arrested on charges of criminal trespassing and criminal mischief and was being held on a $5 million bond, according to the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Department.
He also has an active warrant tied to a separate 2024 case out of Clovis, according to the reports.