In Memphis, a 45-year-old individual has been recently detained and indicted on multiple counts following an incident involving the alleged disposal of a newborn. This case acknowledges the narrative expressed by a 16-year-old girl who identifies as being in a long-term relationship with the accused. Some hours after childbirth occurred in transit towards a medical facility, the girl was reportedly left alone by the man.
The charges pressed against the defendant were communicated after a recent weekend, succeeding one dismissed charge from the previous Friday. The dismissed charge, related to the abuse of a deceased body, sparked confusion amongst local residents due to a supposed lack of prosecution. Certain witnesses describe seeing the accused deposit a bag into a dumpster.
Following the incident, a newborn child was recovered from this same location by local emergency services personnel. The handler of the case emphasized that the dismissal of charges in the general session does not equate to an end in legal process. In fact, the pursuit of an indictment is viable as law enforcement continues to accumulate supporting evidence.
This incident led to five subsequent charges against the accused individual. These include two counts of human trafficking for commercial sexual purposes, one charge associating with the promotion of minor exploitation, one charge for repeated sexual abuse of a minor, and lastly one for severe statutory rape. Law enforcement has not entirely dismissed the possibility of pursuing an indictment relevant to the alleged abuse of the deceased body.
In response to an emergency call during the early morning hours of January 27, Memphis police officers reached the scene. Upon their arrival, they were waved down by a distressed 16-year-old girl. According to coverage by the NBC affiliate stationed locally, the girl named the accused albeit with just his first name.
Furthermore, she reported that she went through labor and subsequently gave birth, only two hours prior to encountering the police officers. Per the arrest affidavit, the narrative establishes the teen going into labor during their drive to the hospital. The childbirth took place within the vehicle before reaching the desired destination.
According to the teenager’s disclosures, she reported that the man removed the child from his vehicle, enclosed the newborn with a black plastic bag and discarded the bag into the trash bin contraption located behind a local Shell gas station. A contingent of firefighters later made it to the gas station, where they discovered the remains of the infant within the plastic bag roughly two and a half hours after the birth was executed.
Although the exact cause of death still remains unpublished by the authorities, the newborn was deemed to have been lifeless upon birth. The 16-year-old further informed the police about her three-year romantic liaison with the accused individual. As stated in the court documents, a nearby commercial establishment’s surveillance footage, reviewed by the local Fox affiliate, corroborated part of the claims.
The fortuitous video depicted a man closely resembling the description provided by the teen. The footage traced the man’s journey from a dark-colored SUV to the Shell gas station. Once there, he was seen depositing a black bag into the dumpster— the bag that was later identified to carry the deceased newborn.
The identification process, post-incident, connected the man to the dark-colored SUV that was present in the CCTV visuals. The massive piece of evidence that gave an edge to the police department’s case. The man has been apprehended and is currently being held in custody.
Upon identifying the accused, further investigations are still ongoing with bail set at an astounding $1.25 million bond. This unfortunate event has cast a dark cloud over the Memphis community, raising questions and demanding justice. As the court case progresses, the community holds its breath awaiting the court’s final deliberation.