A Gwinnett County woman discovered hiding with her dead baby inside the walls of her home was charged Friday with killing the child.
Jessica Holcomb is accused of suffocating her daughter, 18-month-old Shyanne Nicole Holcomb, to death, authorities said.
Holcomb, arrested last Friday, was initially charged with first-degree child cruelty.
But an autopsy report released Friday by the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner's office showed that "the baby was deprived of oxygen during the incident," police spokesman Cpl. David Schiralli said.
Police were called to her unincorporated Lawrenceville home last week to check on a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old who reportedly were left at home alone.
Officers found Holcomb with the baby ducked inside a hiding space behind the wall of a closet, Schiralli said.
"It is believed that Ms. Holcomb knew that she had an outstanding warrant for her arrest and took the child into the crawl space in attempts to hide from authorities," he said.
The baby had no pulse, and although doctors were able to revive her, she died three days later at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital in Atlanta, Schiralli said.
The 3-year-old boy was unharmed, and was placed in the custody of his paternal grandparents, police said.
Holcomb remains at the Gwinnett County Detention Center without bond.
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