BREAKING: GBI identifies body ofmissing 7-year-old girl; father, girlfriend face charges
BREAKING NEWS:
East Point Police have confirmed to FOX 5 that the GBI has identified the body of a young girl found in Lake Allatoona as Kammarie Wash, 7. Police said more charges will be filed against the father and girlfriend in response to her death, but police would not specify the charges.
Police said father Michael Deon Wash, 27, and Lasherae Davis, 30, are in the Fulton County Jail and already face charges of aggravated assault, cruelty to children and concealing the death of a person, all while police conduct a homicide investigation into the death of a 7-year-old girl.
Police would not elaborate on how investigators decided on these charges, which include giving false statements and cruelty to children charges in the first and third degrees. More charges could be pending.
East Point Police: body in Lake Allatoona resembles 7-year-old girl Kamaire Wash reported missing @fox5atlanta pic.twitter.com/PpOzO4IQ3D
— Jaclyn Schultz FOX 5 (@jaclynFOX5ATL) June 30, 2016
East Point Police worked with Bartow County investigators and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to determine if the body pulled from Lake Allatoona on Wednesday may be that of the missing little girl.
Police said the body was in the water for 48 hours, and relied on DNA evidence to determine the body’s identity.
“Based on information from [the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office] along with information we received from interviews, we are confident Ms. Wash is deceased,” said Captain Cliff Chandler with East Point Police last week. “This individual fits the description of our missing person,” he said.
Kamaire Wash was reported missing Thursday morning. Her disappearance prompted a day-long search of the area around her McClelland Avenue apartment by police.
Police said the little girl’s father and his girlfriend initially told police that Kamaire was last seen Wednesday night when she was tucked into her bed, and wasn’t discovered missing until the next morning; police said that story was made up.
Investigators earlier stated there were “suspicious” circumstances surrounding the little girl’s disappearance.
Police said the family had just moved to the state from Wisconsin.
“She did love her father. She loved him. I trusted them enough to take care of my baby,” said Kashira Pettigrew, the little girl’s mother. FOX 5 spoke to her by phone, as she lives in Illinois.
She said the little girl lived with her father, though she did not know the couple had moved to Georgia, along with Kamaire and their three other children.
Family members also told FOX 5 they could not believe the charges, as they had known Wash since he was a child in Illinois.
“The last time I’m going to see her, I’m going to be burying my baby,” Pettigrew said.
The couple’s three other children have been placed with relatives.
