Man charged after allegedly placing toddler's body in Marietta woods
Man facing charges in Marietta 2-year-old's death
Dairon Keith, 23, faces felony charges of concealing the death of another and making false statements after 2-year-old Messiah Harris was found dead following his reported disappearance.
MARIETTA, Ga. - A man is now facing charges in connection with the death investigation of a 2-year-old found near a Marietta apartment complex after he was reported missing Friday.
Man charged in toddler's death
What we know:
Dairon Keith, 23, of Kennesaw, the boyfriend of Messiah Harris' mother, is facing felony charges of concealing the death of another and making false statements.
Marietta police confirmed Keith made the 911 call on Friday that sparked the investigation into a missing toddler who was later found dead. The toddler's mother was not home at the time, and officers initially stated the child was being watched by a caregiver who said Messiah was last seen at 1:30 p.m. at the apartment.
Keith was denied bond on Sunday.
How the investigation unfolded
When officers arrived on scene around 2 p.m., they immediately noticed inconsistencies in the caregiver's statements.
"The statements that were made just didn't make sense or weren't consistent, causing investigators to be concerned," Marietta Police Department Public Information Officer Chuck McPhilamy said. "Anytime a child goes missing, people's anxieties run really high. So we had a task to determine what exactly took place, what was fact, and where we would go from there."
Detectives later determined Keith lied to both dispatchers and responding officers before placing the 2-year-old’s body in the woods behind the apartment complex and loosely covering him with dirt and vegetation.
Marietta police coordinated with multiple law enforcement agencies, executing an hours-long search for a missing child before finding Messiah's body.
"Right now, this is just a tragic end to an active search that's been going on for hours here within our city," McPhilamy added. "... This is the worst ending that we possibly could have asked for."
Keith was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, where he is being held without bond.\
Community reacts
What they're saying:
Altimar Williams, who lives in the apartment complex, said it is devastating to hear the boy is gone.
"That’s horrible that baby is defenseless," Williams said. "That is a very unfortunate thing. I know I've seen them go to the pool a few times, you never expect something like that to happen."
Williams added that the complex is normally quiet, but he knew something terrible had happened when he saw the massive law enforcement presence.
"My heart dropped immediately because I have nieces and nephews in there and I didn’t know what happened," Williams said. "We saw investigator van over here it was like 80 cops and more kept coming and they taped off all the dumpsters."
Williams said he hopes authorities can get to the bottom of what happened to the child.
"The only thing I want to know is what happened we need get justice, that baby didn’t deserve that," Williams said.
Police said additional charges may be filed based on the outcome of the ongoing investigation.
"This is an incredibly tragic ending, this is the worst ending any of us could have possibly asked for," said Chuck McPhilamy, public information officer for the Marietta Police Department.
What we don't know:
Authorities have not confirmed how Messiah died at this time. The medical examiner must complete an investigation to determine the exact cause and timeline of death.
Authorities have not detailed what specific statements or inconsistencies that Keith gave that raised concern for investigators when the child was first reported missing.
The incident is still under investigation.
The Source: The information in this story comes from a press release from the Marietta Police Department, an interview with Officer Chuck McPhilamy and an interview with a Altimar Williams, who lives at the apartment complex.