Baby sitter charged with murder in 9-year-old Indiana girl's death
(CBS/AP) FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Prosecutors charged an Indiana baby sitter with murder and two other felonies Friday after police say he confessed to bludgeoning and dismembering a 9-year-old girl just days before Christmas.
Michael Plumadore, 39, was charged in Fort Wayne with murder, abuse of a corpse and removing a dead body from the scene in the killing of Aliahna Maroney-Lemmon.
Authorities say Plumadore says he killed Aliahna in the early hours of Dec. 22. The 9-year-old was reported missing Friday night.
Plumadore had been looking after the girl and her two younger sisters because their mother was sick. He had looked after Aliahna's dying grandfather and her family had considered him a trusted friend and neighbor.
Plumadore is jailed without bond.
Danielle Edenfield, the Allen County prosecutor's office chief investigator, said Friday the charges would be read to him in jail. An initial court hearing on the formal charges is scheduled for Wednesday.
Allen County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Mike McAlexander told The News-Sentinel Friday that his office "has not precluded" the possibility of seeking the death penalty against Plumadore.
The standard prison sentence for a murder conviction in Indiana is 45 years to 65 years. The other charges each carry maximum sentences of three years in prison.
According to court documents, Plumadore told police he hit the girl repeatedly in the head with a brick. He then put the girl's body inside trash bags and stuffed it inside a freezer in the trailer where he had lived with her grandfather. Plumadore told authorities that he later used a hack saw to dismember her body.
Police arrested him Monday, two days after more than 100 emergency workers searched the rundown trailer park in the north of Fort Wayne where he and Aliahna's family lived.
Police said Plumadore told them he had hidden Aliahna's head, feet and hands at the trailer and discarded her other remains at a nearby business. Police obtained a warrant to search the trailer on Monday and found the body parts.
Plumadore has a criminal record in Florida and North Carolina that includes convictions for trespassing and assault, and an Indiana conviction for forgery.
More on Crimesider
December 29, 2011 - Father of slain Indiana girl Aliahna Lemmon says he's overcome with grief
December 27, 2011 - Police: Babysitter beat, dismembered Indiana girl Aliahna Lemmon
December 27, 2011- Missing Indiana girl found dead, babysitter arrested