‘In under 12 hours, the investigation moved from uncertainty to an arrest’ cops said after a baby girl was found dead in a hearse parked at a funeral home e in Gadsden, Alabama over the weekend

One-year-old Blessence Pearl was discovered by an employee of West Gadsden Funeral Home in Alabama when he opened a hearse about 11.45am on Saturday

Child’s mother Terica Pearl, 29, was arrested and charged with Capital Murder that evening and booked into the Etowah County Jail without bond at 1.48am

Blessence’s death is being investigated as a homicide ‘until we can prove otherwise’ – police

At the age of 15 in Feb 2011, Pearl lost her four-week-old daughter Janaiha in a house fire

The blaze reportedly began in the room where the infant slept and spread throughout the home

The body of one-year-old Blessence Pearl was discovered by an employee of West Gadsden Funeral Home in Alabama when he opened a hearse on Saturday. Her 29-year-old mom has been charged with murder – Docs say she was strangled with a ‘thick robe string’

Withing hours of the finding the body of a toddler in the back of a hearse on Saturday August 9, authorities in Alabama have charged her mother with murder.
One-year-old Blessence Pearl was discovered by an employee of West Gadsden Funeral Home in Alabama when he opened the hearse about 11.45am on Saturday.
The little girl’s mother Terica Pearl, 29, was arrested that evening and booked into the Etowah County Jail without bond at 1.48am, charged with murder.
At the onset of investigation Gadsden Police Lieutenant Dusty Ford said, the death of Blessence was being investigated as a homicide ‘until we can prove otherwise’.
‘In under 12 hours, the investigation moved from uncertainty to an arrest,’ he said.
Documents emerging Monday show the mother is accused of intentionally causing the death of her daughter by strangulation with a “thick robe string.”

Terica Pearl, 29, was arrested on Saturday evening, hours after her toddler was found dead in the back of hearse. She’s charged with Capital Murder and booked into the Etowah County Jail without bond

Cause of death for the little girl and her body ended up in the hearse is unclear, but funeral director Dantez Robinson said it was usually left unlocked.
The employee who made the discovery, Carlos Blount, speaking at a vigil for Blessence on Sunday, explained how he found the body: ‘I got four girls of my own and I know how it feels. I couldn’t even work yesterday, because that could have been one of mine, or anybody else’s kids,’ he said.
Other members of Blessence’s family mourned her at the vigil, but did not speak publicly.
Robinson, who is also the Etowah County chief deputy coroner, explained the series of events that led to the body’s discovery.
In a video posted on his social media pages Robinson explained that he returned from the scene of a death about 8pm on Friday and left the hearse unlocked.
‘We’ve never had a problem with people going into our cars at the office. I laid the keys down where the keys go and out the door I went,’ he said.

An employee at at West Gadsden Funeral Home in Gadsden, Alabama, found the toddler dead in the back of this hearse on Saturday August 9

How Blessence died and how she ended up in the hearse is unclear. The funeral parlor management said ‘It’s pathetic. Whoever done this, whoever is behind it, turn yourselves in… We want justice for this baby. Babies do not ask to be here

Blount said he arrived about 11.30am and noticed what he thought was a doll in the back of the hearse as he was about to move it into the shed.
When he opened the hearse and took a closer look, he discovered to his horror that it was the toddler’s body.
‘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,’ Robinson said.
‘It’s pathetic. Whoever done this, whoever is behind it, turn yourselves in… We want justice for this baby. Babies do not ask to be here.
‘To do this… you’re sick in the head.

Blessence is not the first child Terica Pearl seen [photo], with her other children in January has lost. Back in February 2011 when Pearl was just 15, her four-week-old daughter Janaiha died in a house fire. Forensics indicated the blaze began in the room where Janaiha slept and spread throughout the home

‘I’ve walked into homes every day, I’ve walked up to car wreck every day, I walk into suicides throughout the year, I walk into homicides throughout the year, I have seen kids pass away.
‘But to see something like this really sent me into another level of shock.’
Robinson said he would make sure Blessence got a proper burial.
‘Whoever this family is, whoever done this, we’re going to bury this baby,’ he said.
‘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.’
Blessence is not the first child Pearl has lost. Back in February 2011 when Pearl was aged 15, her four-week-old daughter Janaiha died in a house fire. Forensics indicated the blaze began in the room where Janaiha slept and spread throughout the home.