An Alabama toddler was found dead in the back of a hearse at the West Gadsden Funeral Home. Now, a woman has been charged for the 1-year-old’s heartbreaking death, and her relationship with the child will make your heart drop.
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On Saturday (Aug. 9), Blessence Pearl was found deceased by a funeral home’s groundskeeper in Gadsden. Authorities were first called Saturday morning after a groundskeeper went to move the hearse, but made the gruesome discovery instead, which he initially thought was a doll of some sort, according to NBC affiliate WVTM.
“To do this,” Dantez Robinson, the funeral home director told AL.com. “You’re sick in the head.” Robinson claimed that when he parked the hearse the night prior, it was locked and empty. “It’s pathetic,” he continued to the outlet. “Whoever this family is, whoever done this, we’re going to bury this baby. We’re going to give this baby the proper burial. To have life taken so early, we’re going to stand up and bury this baby.”
Robinson recalled how “shocked” the employee who made the discovery was. “To see that and to see my employee in disbelief, I was lost for words when I put the call out to the police department,” he said.
Now, Terica Pearl of Gadsden, the girl’s very own mother, has been charged with capital murder. She was arrested early Sunday morning and brought to the James Hayes Etowah County Detention Center. She is accused of discarding her daughter after allegedly strangling her with a “thick robe string,” according to reports, sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning. The Gadsden Police Department says Pearl allegedly killed her toddler before placing her body inside a hearse exposed, and not inside a casket.
As of Sunday (Aug. 10), Pearl remains behind bars at the Etowah County Jail without bond.
“This was a tough case for everybody involved. I’m proud of the way our police department went after the truth and got it done,” Mayor Craig Ford said. “An arrest doesn’t take away the hurt, but it does mean we’re one step closer to justice for this child.”
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