A woman in Alabama was arrested after a dead baby girl was found inside a hearse at a funeral home, according to local police.
Terica Pearl, the mother of the 1-year-old girl found in the hearse, was arrested by police in Gadsen. She has been charged with murder.
The girl was identified as Blessence Pearl.
According to local law enforcement officials, the child's remains were located on Saturday at the West Gadsen Funeral Home.
Dantez Robinson, who owns the funeral home, told police that the facility's employees were returning from a different call when someone said they thought they saw a doll in the hearse. When they opened the door to retrieve it, they realized it was a human child, according to WSAW.
Robinson organized a vigil for the child.
“My heart fell to my feet,” he told WVTM. “I have young ones. I have two kids at the age of four and seven. To get the phone call, my heart was shattered, shattered into a million pieces.”
Ekra Tolbert, who described herself as a lifelong friend of the child's grandmother, told the broadcaster the woman was heartbroken.
“Her heart is completely torn up,” she said. “I couldn't sleep last night so I know she couldn't sleep last night cause she's the grandmother.”
The city's mayor, Craig Ford, said the situation shook the community.
“This was a tough case for everybody involved,” he said. “I’m proud of the way our police department went after the truth and got it done. An arrest doesn’t take away the hurt, but it does mean we’re one step closer to justice for this child.”
Gadsen police have requested that any members of the public with information that could assist their investigation to come forward.
“If anyone’s got any kind of information that could help us wrap this case up, help us give some justice to a victim and be able to bring peace back to the community, because there (are) a lot of questions to be had from this,” Lieutenant Dusty Ford of the Gadsen Police told WVTM. “There’s a lot of people looking for answers, and we want to be able to give those to them. But until someone comes forward and helps us, you know, there’s only so much we can work with.”
Pearl is being held in the Etowah County Jail without bond.
