Homicide ruling in death of Texas girl found in refrigerator

HOUSTON -- The death of a 9-year-old Houston girl found in a refrigerator has been ruled a homicide, reports CBS affiliate KHOU.

Ayahana Comb, 9, allegedly died in January, but her death wasn't reported to authorities until June, when her 5-year-old sister found Ayahana's body wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a refrigerator drawer.

The girl alerted a neighbor, who called the police.

Investigators said Ayahana had cerebral palsy and weighed just 17 pounds when she died. Ayahana needed a wheelchair to get around and was bottle fed, according to family members.

Her mother, Amber Keys, told police that one night in January Ayahana just stopped breathing. Keys said she performed CPR, but it was too late.

Police said Keys told them she didn't know what to do with her daughter's body. Keyes turned herself in to police, but was released and has not been charged with a crime.

The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office says Ayahana's cause of death was malnutrition and dehydration complicated by cerebral palsy and ulcers, which extended down to her bones, infecting them.