Authorities in Georgia are investigating the tragic death of a 6-month-old boy who was found in a dumpster just days after being reported missing.
Police say baby Nnakai Pratt disappeared Sunday from an apartment complex in Riverdale, a suburb south of Atlanta. His body was discovered Tuesday inside a dumpster near the same complex, according to the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Investigators say the child’s father, Antonio Pearce, initially told police that he had been robbed at gunpoint and that the armed suspects had taken his baby before fleeing “in an unknown direction.” But as detectives pressed him for more details, his story started to fall apart. Police say there were “inconsistencies” in Pearce’s statements and “physical evidence that points to the existence of foul play.”
Pearce was first arrested Sunday on unrelated charges, including driving with a suspended license and a child restraint violation. As the investigation unfolded, police named him a suspect in Nnakai’s disappearance. He was later charged with murder after the baby’s body was found.
The discovery left residents of the Riverdale apartment complex devastated. Many told local news outlets they couldn’t believe something so horrific had happened so close to home.
“Heartbroken. These little ones, the families who live here, they do love their kids,” resident Tracy Karch told WANF. “This is a very family-oriented place. This is going to hurt the community really, really bad.”
Pearce appeared in court Wednesday, where he was formally arraigned. He also faces unrelated drug charges, according to court records. Judge Keisha Wright Hill read the long list of accusations against him, which include murder, making false statements, concealing a death, tampering with evidence, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, cruelty to children, and falsely reporting a crime.
“You’re also charged with false statements in that you did provide contradictory statements in the investigation of a missing child,” Judge Hill said during the hearing. “And when witness accounts verified your contradictory statements, as you admitted to concealing and falsifying material facts.”
Police have not yet revealed how Nnakai died, but the case has rattled the local community. Residents have been gathering near the apartment complex to leave flowers, stuffed animals, and candles in memory of the baby whose life ended too soon.
The investigation remains ongoing as detectives continue to piece together what happened in the days leading up to Nnakai’s disappearance and death.
For now, the community is left grieving and searching for answers. “He was just a baby,” one neighbor said quietly to reporters. “Nobody deserves that, especially not a child.”