Two parents face murder and child cruelty charges after their unresponsive 9-month-old son was discovered last weekend in an RV parked outside a Middle Georgia convenience store, officials said.
Officers responded to the Buc-ee’s in Warner Robins just before 10 p.m. Sunday after receiving a call about an unconscious baby, the police department said in a Facebook post. One of the parents told first responders they dropped the child while bathing him inside their parked RV, investigators said.
The boy was taken to a Macon hospital before being airlifted to a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta location. Authorities said doctors found injuries on the child — “past and present” — that were consistent with abuse.
The child’s parents, 40-year-old Christopher Scott Palmer and 26-year-old Shelly Deanna Rooks, were arrested on child cruelty charges. Two other children were turned over to the Division of Family & Children Services.
The parents’ charges were upgraded early Friday after police were notified the 9-month-old died, the department said. Palmer now faces additional charges of felony murder and aggravated battery, and Rooks is charged with second-degree murder.
The child’s name was not released. Both parents are being held at the Peach County Jail, records show.
The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information about the child cruelty case is asked to call detectives at 478-302-5380.
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