Alabama woman faces murder charge after toddler found strangled in funeral home hearse

Authorities in Gadsden, Alabama, are investigating a chilling case after the body of a one-year-old girl was discovered inside a hearse at a local funeral home, with prosecutors now accusing the child’s mother of murder.

According to investigators, surveillance cameras allegedly show 29-year-old Terica Pearl walking towards the West Gadsden Funeral Home at approximately 2.30am on August 9.

Ms Pearl appears to be carrying her 21-month-old daughter, Blessence, with the footage reportedly depicting the child is alive and moving her head as her mother walks past.

When Ms Pearl is next captured on video at around 5am she is no longer holding the toddler.

A groundskeeper found the child’s body in a hearse on the funeral home property later that morning.

Prosecutors say the vehicle had been secured and was empty the previous night.

It is reported that Ms Pearl was arrested the following day and formally charged with murder on Sunday, August 10 and is being held without bail, according to WVTM..

Funeral home director Dantez Robinson, who also serves as assistant coroner for the area, said staff were stunned by what they found.

“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,” Mr Robinson said.

He added the funeral home would ensure Blessence received a burial.

“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.”

Police believe that the child died from strangulation, although a final autopsy report has not yet been released.

In a hearing on August 22, Pearl appeared before Etowah County Court, where witnesses described her as emotional and at times tearful as prosecutors outlined the case. They alleged that the makeshift ligature came from clothing Ms Pearl wore that night.

Sgt. Nick Keener of the Gadsden Police Department, the lead investigator, testified that video surveillance showed Ms Pearl in a robe during the early hours, walking outside with Blessence alive in her arms.

After the time captured on surveillance, Ms Pearl is alleged to have returned to her car and driven more than 90 miles to Huntsville (144km) away. Staff at a hotel there told police they believed she was under the influence and directed her to a nearby recovery centre.

It was then, at that facility, where officers located and arrested Ms Pearl, interviewing her about the events that night.

When questioned about her walk to the funeral home, Ms Pearl allegedly responded that she felt “compelled to.”

Investigators testified that during the interview, she was asked if she had spoken to her daughter as they walked. Ms Pearl reportedly said she asked the child if she “felt safe.”

Detectives said she later broke down, screaming, “Oh my god, what have I done?”.

Ms Pearl’s defence has pushed back against the allegations, arguing that the state has not presented sufficient proof that she murdered her daughter.

Her attorney, Shaun Malone, urged the release of records from the Department of Human Resources related to both mother and child, saying, “Those records would be illuminating to how we all got here today.”

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