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Mother charged after body of 6-month-old found in South Carolina landfill

Posted at 5:01 PM, Nov 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-29 17:01:29-05

HONEA PATH, S.C. – A Florida woman has been charged after officials said Thursday that a baby's body had been found in a South Carolina landfill, according to WHNS.

Thom Berry, a spokesman for the State Law Enforcement Division said teams were searching for the body of 6-month-old Anthony Frost from Johnston, a town in Edgefield County.

Berry said the baby's body was placed in a dumpster in Edgefield County area at some point over the weekend. The contents of that trash bin were then brought to the Greenville County landfill.

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Berry said Thursday that Vernita Jones, 25, from Clewiston, Fla., has been charged with homicide by child abuse in Edgefield County.

According to the arrest warrant, she admitted to suffocating and killing the baby boy on Nov. 24 in Edgefield County.

The search began on Wednesday. Greenville County deputies were also assisting in the search at the Twin Chimneys landfill off Augusta Road in Honea Path.

Berry said thanks to landfill records, the teams knew when the truck in question arrived, and what part of the landfill it emptied its contents, an area that was approximately 60 feet by 100 feet.

Teams carefully excavated that section of the landfill and Berry announced just after 10 a.m. that the baby had been recovered and the coroner had been called to the scene.

Jones, who according to SLED just recently came to South Carolina, has been interviewed numerous times since the investigation began. Right now she is currently being held at the Edgefield County Detention Center.