TITUSVILLE, Fla. -- A babysitter who led Titusville police to the body of a missing 7-month-old baby boy who was found inside a cooler in the backyard of a home on S. Deleon Avenue (see map) Monday, has been charged in connection to the case.
Police said the investigation is now being called a homicide.
The babysitter, 40-year-old Carolyn Renee Miller, told police where to find the body. She led investigators to the home being rented by her boyfriend, and in the backyard police found Ja-Von Brushan dead inside an Igloo cooler.
Ja-Veon Brushan
Titusville residents watched in disbelief as police lifted a small blue tarp behind the home.
"She said she gave the baby back to the mom and the mom said she didn't. And you get a real bad feeling in your stomach," said Titusville Police Chief Tony Bollinger.
The baby's mother, Janelle Richardson, was questioned Monday afternoon by Titusville police. She told investigators she allowed Miller to babysit on Tuesday. Friends told WFTV Graham was celebrating her 21st birthday.
On Thursday, relatives told WFTV Miller made a stop for diapers and milk. But later, when Graham tried to reach Miller to get her son, she couldn't be found. Brushan was reported missing on Sunday.
Richardson's cousin, Latanya Burch, spotted Miller Monday morning without her cousin's baby.
"I said, 'Where's the baby?' And she kept telling different lies. Nothing added up," Burch said.
When Burch pointed Miller out to police, they began asking their own questions. They said Miller told them she fell asleep and when she woke up, she found the baby dead. She then disposed of the body.
But some relatives aren't buying that story.
"I think it's a damn shame to kill a baby like that," Burch said.
wftv.com
