MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - The mother of a 7-week-old Memphis girl who was missing for five weeks before her body was found in a ditch was indicted Thursday in the baby’s death.
The Shelby County district attorney’s office said Andrea Walker was indicted on charges of first-degree murder in the perpetration of aggravated child abuse, neglect or endangerment. She also faces child abuse charges.
Walker has been in custody since her child, Aniston Walker, was reported missing Jan. 9 by the baby’s father. Police said Walker told investigators she left the baby with her 3-year-old brother in their home, and when she returned, Aniston was gone.
The girl’s body was found by a motorcyclist in a ditch near a road in Millington on Feb. 16.
A medical examiner ruled the death was a result of “homicidal violence,” but did not give an exact cause of death or detail what kind of violence was involved.
Walker’s lawyer, Leslie Ballin, is challenging the medical examiner’s ruling, saying it is based on a personal opinion, not a medical one.
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