Remains of a 4-Year-Old Girl Who Went Missing In September Found Buried in Their Backyard – Mother Charged

A little girl disappeared from her mother’s home late last year, and the police couldn’t find her. However, this month authorities made some headway in the case when they found the child’s body.

In September 2020, Migellic “Jellie” Young, 4, was last seen when she visited her mother, Malikah Diane Bennett’s home. No one saw the child alive again, as per the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).

Police officers ended up reaching out to the Missing Person’s Unit and were concerned that foul play might have been involved in the child’s case, according to CMPD Lieutenant Stephen Fischbach.

They couldn’t understand how Young could go unaccounted for so long. Detectives got to interview several people who voluntarily came forward, including the child’s mother, Bennett.

During a recent press conference, Fischbach gave an update on the case via a Facebook Live recording. He revealed how Young’s mother was recently arrested after the girl’s remains were found.

Last week, the little child’s body was found buried in the backyard of Bennett’s home in north Charlotte. The house was on Braden Drive, near Charlotte’s Firestone Park, and the body was found just outside it.

Shortly thereafter, Bennett was arrested and charged with inflicting physical injury, felony child abuse, first-degree murder, and felony concealing a death. A memorial was created on the spot the body was found.

Bennett also has three pending misdemeanor child abuse charges from February 2020, according to public records. Officers believed that an “abusive environment” eventually led to Young’s death.

In Delaware, Kristie Haas, 28, was charged with 2 counts of first-degree murder by neglect or abuse.

However, an official cause of death will only be released when the medical examiner completes their report. Shanetta Bunting, Bennett’s neighbor who is also a mother, found the whole case “tragic.”

Bunting noted how she would’ve lost her mind if her child had to go missing for just a day. CMPD’s Lt. Bryan Crum said the case had deeply disturbed him even though he’d worked homicide for ten years, adding:

"It's very difficult to understand how someone could do this to their child, kill their child and bury them and move on with their life as if nothing happened.”

During her court appearance, Bennett sat emotionless as her bail was denied. Her aunt, Kendra Wade, noted how she never saw a sad look on her niece's face and said Bennett didn’t care.

In Delaware, Kristie Haas, 28, was charged with first-degree murder by neglect or abuse after her 3-year-old daughter; Emma Grace Cole’s remains were found buried in a Smyrna softball field near the family's home.