WARE COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has announced an arrest in one of the state’s oldest cold cases.
The body of a five-year-old girl was found wrapped in a baby blanket, placed in a gym bag inside a cement-filled suitcase, which was then hidden in a TV console cabinet in Ware County in 1988.
“Finally after almost 35 years not only were we able to identify Baby Jane Doe, but we are able to make an arrest for those responsible for her death,” agents said at a news conference Monday.
The GBI said they’ve identified the child as Kenyatta Odom.
The GBI has arrested and charged the childs mother Evelyn Odom, also known as Zmecca Luciana, age 56, of Albany, GA, and Ulyster Sanders, age 61, of Albany, GA, with felony murder, cruelty to children in the first degree, aggravated battery – family violence, concealing the death of another person, and conspiracy to conceal the death of another person.
Special Agent Jason Seacrist said that a tipster provided information in January of this year that led to Kenyatta’s identification, as well as the arrest of the child’s mother and stepfather.
According to the indictment, Odom and Sanders put the child in hot water, seriously disfiguring her legs and feet, which ultimately caused her death. They then conspired to cover up her death by encasing her in concrete and putting her in a TV console that was dumped in the woods about two hours away from their home in Albany.
LIVE NOW: Ware County Baby Jane Doe Announcement pic.twitter.com/mLPTTent3e
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) November 13, 2023
WSB-TV’s Allie Goolrick contributed to this report.