PHOENIX –
It’s hard to believe we’ve been covering the case of a missing Glendale girl for almost a year now.
5-year-old Jhessye Shockley was reported missing last October.
After months of investigating and pouring over evidence, prosecutors believe they can prove that her own mother is responsible for the child’s death.
On Monday, Jerice Hunter is expected to respond to charges of murder and child abuse.
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Hunter’s arraignment is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Authorities say she was arrested on Sept. 6, based on the evidence they’ve been collecting for the past 11 months, but they’ve shared very few details about what they discovered.
Hunter told police Jhessye went missing on Oct. 11 while her other children were caring for her. She claims she left their apartment to run an errand and when she returned, the 5-year-old was gone.
In a court video from November, Hunter answered to child abuse charges. Court paperwork revealed that Jhessye’s siblings told police their sister looked “like a zombie” and that a closet Jhessye was put in “smelled like dead people.”
Hunter not guilty and she was seen leaving jail when those charges were dropped.
As a memorial grew near the girl’s home, the investigation continued with a 96 day search in the Butterfield Landfill.
“No 5-year-old should be left in a landfill,” said Brent Coombs of the Glendale Police Department.
Nearly 300 people dug through literally tons of trash. Prosecutors believe Hunter disposed of the child’s body days before filing a missing person’s report.
“Detectives with the Glendale Police Department arrested Jerice Hunter for the murder of her 5-year-old daughter Jhessye Shockley,” said GPD’s Deborah Black.
Hunter was taken into custody earlier this month. The arrest came as a shock to her attorney, Scott Maasen, who says his client is innocent.
“Now we’re going to see what the facts are, what their theory or what they think happened and whether they’ll be able to prove it,” he said.
Hunter has already served time in a California prison for abusing her older children.
A trial is expected to begin for this case sometime in the next two months. Prosecutors are confident they can convict Hunter, even though Jhessye’s body still hasn’t been found.
