Kenisha Pruitt & Antonio Cervantes Charged After Frozen Baby Corpse Found

[thehesbomb]

Two people were arrested Saturday afternoon after the discovery of an infant’s dead body Friday night in a freezer in the East Toledo house they formerly rented, police said.

Kenisha Pruitt, 20, now of 2631 Scottwood Ave., and Antonio Cervantes, 18, of 5324 Rector St., are charged with child endangerment and were booked into the Lucas County jail pending arraignments in Toledo Municipal Court Monday morning.

Sgt. Joe Heffernan, a Toledo police spokesman, said more charges were possible against the pair once an autopsy is performed on the female infant’s body.

Authorities said the landlord, identified in county records as Irene Gonzalez, was cleaning the house at 116 Paine Ave. after renters had moved out, and found the frozen corpse in a freezer. The woman reportedly called police immediately.

Officers were sent to the house at 8 p.m. Friday, and remained on the scene until about 3 a.m., a neighbor reported. Ms. Gonzalez, who was in the back yard at the house on Saturday afternoon, declined to comment.

Sergeant Heffernan said he did not know the infant’s approximate age, other than to describe her as “very young.”

According to the court affidavit signed by Toledo police Detective Lawrence Anderson, Ms. Pruitt and Mr. Cervantes had lived together at 116 Paine starting in November and “were currently in the process of moving out,” with no other adults known to have lived there during the ensuing time.

Family members told police Ms. Pruitt was believed in November to be pregnant, but no birth was ever reported, the detective wrote. The baby “appeared to have been a full-term birth,” the affidavit said.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Police-Fi...n-freezer.html

[VAS1326]

Oh my Gosh! Who puts the baby in the freezer? I sure hope the baby was already deceased before it was put in there.
It says they were in the process of moving out does that mean they were possibly coming back for the baby or did they just forget about it and leave it there? This is so messed up. How do you open your freezer for months and months and look at your baby like that and not feel anything? I don't get this shit.

[blacksheep]

Everytime I see an abandoned fridge/freezer/storage unit/safe/more than three buckets/ I brace myself before inspecting. It doesn't happen that often of course lol. My boyfriend found a big old rusted safe under a huge gum tree in his backyard. I hounded him till he found a way to cut it open and show me there was no body inside, Just alot of ants that attacked my fella.

This story has convinced me to add in-use appliances to that list. Can you imagine the horror?! Dare I say Meth? I blame almost everything on meth nowadays, seems.

[HeatherHabilatory]

Jeeeeez. That poor landlord.

[Tundratot]

Family members told police Ms. Pruitt was believed in November to be pregnant, but no birth was ever reported, the detective wrote. The baby “appeared to have been a full-term birth,” the affidavit said.

Then it should be possible to narrow down the time frame on the birth of the baby. I'm guessing birth and death were more or less simultaneous.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Update from original ink:

Dr. James Patrick, the Lucas County coroner, said an autopsy will be performed Monday, once the body has thawed out from refrigeration.

Dr. Patrick said that although freezing may distort some conditions that would be seen under a microscope, "most of your chemical stuff is preserved" if a body is frozen.

The coroner said the biggest challenge he may face is determining whether the child was born alive.

"Was this a live-born infant? That sometimes can be hard to determine, but we won't know until we do the autopsy," he said.

It's bad enough putting the baby in the freezer but to move out and leave it there takes it to a whole new level of disgusting.

[HeatherHabilatory]

It's bad enough putting the baby in the freezer but to move out and leave it there takes it to a whole new level of disgusting.

I was giving them the benefit of the doubt. Then I see their mugshots. Fuck em both.

[Valasca]

Stupid enough to put the baby in the freezer THEN stupid enough to leave her there.
Just shoot them both, seriously.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

The baby found in a freezer in an East Toledo house Friday was born alive, an autopsy showed.

According to a press release issued Wednesday by Dr. Cynthia Beisser, a deputy Lucas County coroner, the infant “is a baby boy that appears to be newborn, full-term, and born alive.”

The child’s identity has not been confirmed and must be determined by DNA analysis, Dr. Beisser said.

Toledo Police are investigating the case as a homicide, although the cause of death is awaiting results of toxicology and microscopic analysis.

http://www.toledoblade.com/local/201...orn-alive.html

Police say Kenisha Pruitt, 20, and Antonio Cervantes, 18, recently moved out of the home. The couple has a 14-month-old child together.

Both have been arrested in the case and remain in jail. They are set to face a judge again next week.

Depending on what else the autopsy uncovers, the couple could possibly face charges of murder or abuse of a corpse.

http://www.13abc.com/story/17525388/...d-in-a-freezer

[blacksheep]

I hate the charge, "Abuse of a corpse".

It's the biggest understatement ever.

[AngelFire]

Oh my Gosh! Who puts the baby in the freezer?

The same folks that will kill, rape, beat ad abandon their kids....

[Whisper]

Couple charged with murder after baby found in freezer

EAST TOLEDO -- After an autopsy report revealed that the baby found in an apartment freezer was born alive, the couple accused of endangering the child has now been charged with murder.

According to court documents, Kenisha Pruitt, 20, and Antonio Cervantes, 18, committed a violent offense that resulted in the baby's death.

Both were arrested and charged with child endangerment after their former landlord found the body while cleaning out the couple's old apartment on Paine Avenue almost two weeks ago.

Once the Lucas County coroner determined that the baby was born after a full-term pregnancy and was two days old before being placed in the freezer, the Toledo Police Department began a homicide investigation. The cause of death is still pending toxicology reports.
[...]

http://www.northwestohio.com/news/st...5#.T5bZWtn8KFI

[Whisper]

Woman charged with putting infant in freezer pleads not guilty

Kenisha Pruitt has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.

TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) - The woman charged in the death of an infant found in a freezer pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

Kenisha Pruitt, 20, is charged with aggravated murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Pruitt could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if found guilty. The three charges are in addition to charges of unspecified murder brought directly after the body was found. A child endangering charge against Pruitt has been dropped.

The judge set her bond at $1 million.

[..]
An autopsy revealed the child was born alive, but lived less than two days. Results of a DNA test to determine if the child belonged to Pruitt and Cervantes are still pending.
[...]

http://www.fox19.com/story/18245126/...ads-not-guilty

[Jerri Blank]

Ohio coroner: Infant in freezer had been strangled

An Ohio coroner says a newborn found dead in an apartment freezer had been strangled and dunked in water.

The ruling released Tuesday also says a man and woman charged in the infant's death were the mother and father of the child.

A landlord found the baby boy's body in April while cleaning out a rental property in Toledo. At the time, it wasn't clear how the baby died.

A judge has set an August trial date for the baby's mother. The coroner earlier ruled that the infant was born alive and lived no more than two days.

Twenty-year-old Kenisha Pruitt of Toledo is scheduled to face trial August 6 on charges of aggravated murder, corpse abuse and tampering with evidence. She has pleaded not guilty.

http://www.wdtimes.com/news/national...4dcc5d0dd.html

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Strangled and dunked in water? Not that I condone killing your kids but that seems so violent. It seems to me that suffocating the child would have been so much easier and easier on everyone involved.

[Tundratot]

Well, here's a baby that was only days old -- hours really. The violence in the manner of death suggests frustration or anger. It would have been easy to suffocate the baby, but this was much worse. I have my doubts the baby was the real cause of it, either, as in my experience newborns of that age really just sleep and suckle.

[Whisper]

TOLEDO -- A Toledo man has admitted to his role in the death of his newborn baby.

The infant boy's body was found in a freezer, by a landlord, at an East Toledo rental home on Paine Street last April.

On Monday, Antonio Cervantes pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse and endangering children.

The coroner said the newborn boy had been strangled and dunked in water and the child lived no more than two days.

The child's mother, Kenesha Pruitt was convicted last month for the child's death and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.
[..]

http://www.northwestohio.com/news/st...6#.UXauPcqC3Xk

A 19-year-old father will spend 15 years behind bars for his role in the death of his newborn baby.

Antonio Cervantes was sentenced in Lucas County Common Pleas court on Monday. He pleaded guilty last month to involuntary manslaughter, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse and endangering a child.

Last April, the body of Cervantes' baby boy was found inside a freezer by an East Toledo landlord. An autopsy report by the Lucas County coroner revealed the baby was strangled and submerged in water before he died. The coroner said he lived no more than two days.
[...]

http://www.northwestohio.com/news/st...5#.UXbKQ0pXpGh

[Annie]

How exactly does strangling and dunking a baby in water equal involuntary manslaughter? To me, that is not "admit[ting] to his role in the death of his newborn baby."