Mother of girl found in freezer charged with murder
BRADENTON, Fla. -- A grand jury has indicted the mother of a Bradenton, Florida girl whose body was found in a freezer, reports CBS affiliate WTSP.
Keishanna Thomas was charged Tuesday with first degree murder in the death of her daughter, Janiya Thomas. Janiya was first discovered to be missing from her mother's home on Sept. 23, when a Manatee County Sheriff's Office child protection investigator was called out to look into allegations that Thomas had beaten her 12-year-old son.
Janiya's body was found in a freezer at her grandmother's home on Oct. 18. The girl's grandmother told police Thomas and a male friend left the freezer there because Thomas said she was being evicted from her apartment.
Janiya was last seen alive by a child welfare worker in June 2014. It is not clear when she died.
Thomas has been in custody at the Manatee County jail on charges of abuse, aggravated child abuse and abuse of a dead body. The state child welfare agency has investigated the family for abuse 10 times since 2003.