A 15-month-old Tennessee girl who was found dead in a backyard was buried alive by her mom after being suffocated with a blanket and aluminum foil – then shoved upside down in a trash can, authorities said.
Evelyn Boswell — who went missing in December 2019 but was only reported missing two months later — was discovered in a trash can on her grandfather’s property, Crime Online reported.
“It was my belief (the can was) placed there recently,” Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Brian Fraley told a court Friday.
“I observed a leg (with) a foot attached … on top of the trash. It was consistent with an infant of the described age of the missing victim.”
Her mom, Megan Boswell, faces a slew of charges, including two counts of capital murder, aggravated child abuse and neglect, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse and making false reports.
Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan, the chief medical examiner for Knox and Anderson counties, told the court that the death was a homicide caused by asphyxia in four places, WJHL reported.
The forensic pathologist said Evelyn was still alive when she was placed inside the trash can – wrapped tightly with a blanket and aluminum foil.
“The disposal of this child was remarkable,” Mileusnic-Polchan reportedly testified.
“She was sort of compressed in the can … (in an) accordion-like position. There was a severe overextension of her head and neck … an extreme extension,” she said.
“(The blanket) was not just haphazardly placed (around her body). It was tightly wrapped (to) prevent her from breathing … The blanket left imprints on (Evelyn’s skin),” Mileusnic-Polchan added.
Fraley, the TBI special agent, previously testified that Boswell also had claimed that her daughter died accidentally while co-sleeping with her and her then-boyfriend, according to WJHL.
On Friday, Mileusnic-Polchan said the girl was too old to have died in such a manner.
“This was not an accidental asphyxia. The manner of death was a homicide,” she said, adding that “this was not a child dying in her sleep.”
She added that decomposition and the infestation of maggots prevented investigators from determining if blunt force trauma was a factor in the death, but that the skeleton did not show damage, WJHL reported.
The hearing was held to discuss which images could be used as evidence after the suspect’s attorney, Brad Sproles, argued that some were too graphic and would possibly sway the jury.
District Attorney General Barry Staubus argued that the photos do not show open wounds, blood or facial expressions and are important for the case.
Judge James Goodwin examined each photo and omitted one after saying there was something that “absolutely bothers” him, making him worry about the jurors. He also disallowed several others, WJHL reported.
The child’s mother allegedly lied about the disappearance several times.
“Every time we talk to her, her story changes,” Sullivan County Sheriff Jack Cassidy said previously, according to Crime Online.
On Feb. 18, 2020, when an AMBER Alert was issued, Boswell reportedly told authorities that Evelyn’s dad, Ethan Perry, had the child and she planned to pick her up, the news outlet said.
But investigators determined said that Perry, a military member stationed in Louisiana, did not have the child.
Boswell has continued to maintain her innocence in the shocking case.
She was previously charged with lying to authorities about the disappearance.