taylorsmommy
03-30-2005, 01:27 PM
Remains Found Under Ben Franklin Bridge in 1994
Camden, NJ--Authorities on Tuesday announced they had solved the 11-year-old case of a boy whose body was found in a duffel bag in Philadelphia.
Two people, including the boy's mother, were charged with the killing.
For the first time, the name of the child -- now buried under a marker calling him an "unknown boy" -- was also made public: Jerell Willis died at the age of 4. His body was so badly beaten and decomposed, authorities had to create a bust working with what was left.
Alicia Willis Robinson, 32, was charged with murder. Also charged was Lawrence Robinson, 35. Authorities did not immediately explain the relationship of the suspects. Both are already incarcerated.
The boy's decaying body was found under the Ben Franklin Bridge in May 1994, wrapped in sheets and a towel inside a nylon bag. All that authorities knew about the boy was that his remains weighed 41 pounds and he was 38-inches tall.
For seven years, his remains were kept in a city morgue. Finally, a Philadelphia woman touched by his plight arranged for a burial. The headstone ordered by Mary Peck, then 70 and a mother of four, read: "God bless this grave of this unknown boy."
He was not forgotten, though. An uncle of the boy contacted police in Philadelphia in February and the case picked up steam.
This month, Philadelphia police arrested Alicia Robinson, of Philadelphia, and charged her with abusing a corpse and hindering arrest.
On the day she was arrested, prosecutors in New Jersey announced they were investigating the case and that a murder charge would be filed soon.
Lawrence Robinson has been jailed on unrelated charges.
Camden, NJ--Authorities on Tuesday announced they had solved the 11-year-old case of a boy whose body was found in a duffel bag in Philadelphia.
Two people, including the boy's mother, were charged with the killing.
For the first time, the name of the child -- now buried under a marker calling him an "unknown boy" -- was also made public: Jerell Willis died at the age of 4. His body was so badly beaten and decomposed, authorities had to create a bust working with what was left.
Alicia Willis Robinson, 32, was charged with murder. Also charged was Lawrence Robinson, 35. Authorities did not immediately explain the relationship of the suspects. Both are already incarcerated.
The boy's decaying body was found under the Ben Franklin Bridge in May 1994, wrapped in sheets and a towel inside a nylon bag. All that authorities knew about the boy was that his remains weighed 41 pounds and he was 38-inches tall.
For seven years, his remains were kept in a city morgue. Finally, a Philadelphia woman touched by his plight arranged for a burial. The headstone ordered by Mary Peck, then 70 and a mother of four, read: "God bless this grave of this unknown boy."
He was not forgotten, though. An uncle of the boy contacted police in Philadelphia in February and the case picked up steam.
This month, Philadelphia police arrested Alicia Robinson, of Philadelphia, and charged her with abusing a corpse and hindering arrest.
On the day she was arrested, prosecutors in New Jersey announced they were investigating the case and that a murder charge would be filed soon.
Lawrence Robinson has been jailed on unrelated charges.