One-year-old girl found dead in hearse after 'being mistaken for doll' by funeral home staff
Staff at a funeral home made a shock discovery on Saturday after the body of a one-year-old girl was discovered in the back of a parked hearse.
Listen to this article
The dead child was discovered at around 11:45 am local time on Saturday at the Alabama funeral home, with the child now identified as one-year-old Blessence Pearl.
The corpse was discovered in the vehicle outside the West Gadsden Funeral Home after first being 'mistaken for a doll'.
The infant is said to have been strangled with a “thick robe string,” court records reveal.
The lifeless body of the child, which was not in a casket, was found lying in the back of the vehicle, according to police sources.
The child's mother, 29-year-old Terica Pearl, has since been arrested on suspicion of murder.
The child's death is now being investigated as part of a murder, the Gadsden Police Department has confirmed.
Funeral home staff returned from an appointment on Saturday to find the child's they noticed what initially appeared to be a doll in the hearse.
Upon closer inspection, funeral directors realised it was a small child, a witness told local news outlets.
“I got a call from one of my employees,” funeral home owner Dantez Robinson told WBRC 6 News.
“They were getting ready last night, we went out on a pickup and this morning we get back. He was getting ready to do some grounds work, and we got back to find an infant baby inside one of the hearses.”
The Gadsden Police Department said: "The memory of this child will remain with us, and we will continue to stand for justice in every case, no matter how difficult."
Lieutenant Dusty Ford added: “In under 12 hours, the investigation moved from uncertainty to an arrest".