After the discovery of a child’s body in a duffle bag in an empty lot in West Philadelphia on Monday, police are working to determine if the decomposing remains belong to a 4-year-old boy who disappeared in December.
Damari Carter’s mother, 28-year-old Dominique Bailey, and her boyfriend, 30-year-old Kevin Spencer, were charged with multiple counts, including murder, endangering the welfare of a child, false reports, and abuse of a corpse, in January, as CrimeOnline reported. Family members said Bailey initially told them the boy had been struck and killed by a car, but they were unable to find any report of the accident, and there were no services for the boy. Police were also unable to corroborate the report that the child was hit by a car.
Family members reported Carter missing from West Philadelphia on December 30 but said they hadn’t seen him in weeks.
The boy’s body was not found. But this week, city workers cleaning a lot in the Mantua neighborhood found a body in a duffle bag. Police said the child appeared to be between 4 and 7 years old, but investigators have not determined a gender.
Police sources told KYW they were investigating to see if the body is that of Carter.
