The vagrant teen charged with murdering dance student Haruka Weisner was forced to leave home because of his grandmother's 'religious beliefs', court documents show.
Meechaiel Criner, 17, was arrested a week ago and charged with killing the Portland ballerina who was in the first year of her studies at the University of Texas in Austin.
But new court documents show that, in August last year, he was forced out of the home he shared with grandmother Mary Wadley, 63, because she believed people his age should 'make their own way in the world.'
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Meechaiel Criner (left), 17, claims he was kicked out of the home he shared with grandmother Mary Wadley, 62 (right) last August because her 'religious beliefs' meant it was time for him 'to make his way in the world'
Haruka Weiser (pictured) was found dead in a creek on University of Texas at Austin campus last Tuesday. Criner, who is believed to have been living in a derelic building nearby, is suspected of killing her
The teen had been living with his grandmother after being removed from his mother Vivian Lafrance Criner, a drug addict and prostitute, aged just two.
Criner told police that he then hitchhiked and walked the 300-plus miles from Wadley's home in Texarkana, along the Texas-Arkansas border, to Austin.
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ShareWadley reported her grandson as a runaway that same month, but admitted to authorities that it was only so she wouldn't be held responsible when he didn't show up for school.
It is not known what exactly became of Criner between the time he arrived in Austin and the time he is accused of killing Weiser, though he is thought to have been squatting in a derelict building close to the University of Texas campus.
Weiser was seen on CCTV heading towards her dorm on her phone when a man believed to be Criner began following her with a 'shiny rigid' object
Criner's family had an 'extensive history' with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, according to records filed by the agency in August, when the state asked a judge to take over his care and separate the teenager from relatives.
The state had investigated various allegations of abuse and neglect involving members of his family over the years.
Files seen by Dailymail.com shed light on Criner's chaotic and violent upbringing in – which included a 2009 incident where he was left with both eyes swollen shut after being attacked by Wadley.
The same document also lists Criner medical needs, saying he suffers from schizophrenia and depression, and has autism.
In May 2009 Wadley was arrested and charged with injuring Criner after a neighbor spotted her beating him with a belt outside their home.
When police arrived, they found Criner, then aged ten, with two black eyes – Wadley claimed he had turned unexpectedly, causing her to hit him in the face with the garment.
According to the case report filed by Texarkana police department, the child's eyes were left so swollen, he was unable to open them without using his fingers.
He also had bruising on the right side of his face.
Although his grandmother claimed to be disciplining the boy, when asked why he was being punished, Criner appeared not to know.
The police file, seen by Daily Mail Online, adds: 'Criner spoke as if he were mentally handicapped and 'slower' than normal children. At no time was he taken for medical treatment.'
Criner's grandmother, although initially booked into the local jail, was later freed with a warning and a $2,000 fine.
A further incident came in November 2013 – with the 62-year-old this time accused of attacking one of his sisters.
This time, Criner was listed as a witness in the police report in which Wadley is claimed to have pushed and pulled the hair of 26-year-old Lawellai Criner.
However, neighbors who witnessed the disturbance said the intended victim was Criner himself, with the boy set upon by his sister.
On that occasion, no charges were pressed.
Criner's mother wanted to take him back in 2011, according to an affidavit from a child welfare investigator, but when Criner refused his mother allegedly threatened him.
'I am going to make sure you go to foster care,' Vivian Criner told her son, according to the affidavit.
More recent files concern Criner's multiple attempts to run away from home, the first time in January 2015.
According to his grandmother's statement, she and the teenager had had an argument and she had asked him to leave the house to calm down.
When she went to look for her grandson, the boy, who was wearing nothing more than a pair of black and grey pajamas, had gone.
Although Wadley told police she thought he might have gone to California, where his mother was then living, Criner instead went to the home of his 23-year-old sister Ariana in Houston.
Wadley (left) was previously accused of beating Criner, who also suffers from depression and schizophrenia, and has autism, according to public records
Criner had been living with Wadley in her Texarkana home (pictured) since age two after being taken away from his drug-addict mother Vivian Lafrance Criner
Returned to his grandmother after being picked up by police, Criner went missing for a second time on August 16 2015, when Criner claims he was forced to leave.
She also told the officer that she had no idea of her grandson's height and weight but revealed that he had been arrested in Seagoville – a small town just south of Dallas – the day before.
According to Seagoville police records, Criner was released after telling officers that he was planning to head for Austin, where he is now in jail.
When informed of his plans, Wadley was apparently mystified and told police that he knew nobody in the city.
Wadley, who made no further effort to find her grandson, has also been speaking to the media about Criner and, in an interview on KSLA yesterday, claimed he had a 'violent' temper.
'He would get along until you made him mad and then he snapped. His temper...he snapped real fast,' she said.
'He's real intelligent, but he has a problem. He talks to himself and he walks back and forth like he's fighting.'
It was at the Medical Arts Street address that he was picked up by police on Monday and again on Thursday – following a call from the fire department who were putting out a small blaze.
When Daily Mail Online visited on Saturday, traces of human habitation could still be seen within, while locals said Criner is thought to have smashed the lock before moving in.
Criner (pictured being arrested last week) refused to go back into his mother's care in 2011 and she allegedly threatened him and said she was going to make sure he ended up in a foster home
Tributes to Haruka Weiser near the wooded area of Waller Creek by the Alumni Center on the University of Texas campus in Austin
It is there that he is thought to have burned some of Weiser's possessions, although some of her things – including part of one of her Doc Marten shoes – were found intact.
He then spent the following three days at the Lifeworks Center; a local shelter that specializes in helping troubled, homeless children.
Director Susan McDowell said that his arrest, in front of other occupants of the home, proved a 'severely traumatic experience' for all concerned.
She added: 'The youth at the Center are grieving for Haruka and counsellors are working with the children involved.
'For many of them, this has brought back traumatic memories.'
Criner is now in jail and has subsequently been charged with the first degree murder of dance student Weiser.
Video footage of the night she was killed appears to show him brandishing a 'sharp silver object', although Austin police have refused to confirm whether or not she was stabbed.
The stretch of Waller Creek behind the University of Texas Alumni Center, where Weiser's body was found, remains cordoned off and an autopsy is expected to be completed next week.
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