4-year-old girl found buried in a Charlotte backyard was malnourished, autopsy says
A 4-year-old girl who was buried in the backyard of her family’s north Charlotte home for eight months was malnourished, but the cause of her death remains unknown, according to an autopsy report.
Miegellic “Jelli” Young, 4, was found in May at a home in the 3700 block of Braden Drive after Charlotte-Mecklenburg police responded to a welfare check call.
Her decomposed remains had been placed in multiple black plastic bags, according to the autopsy report from the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Forensic pathologist Dr. J. Michael Sullivan, in his report, ruled Miegellic’s death a homicide, but a cause of death is “undetermined.”
Miegellic also appeared malnourished, according the report.
“The child appears very thin, with scaphoid (sunken) abdomen, visible ribs ... with sunken appearance to eyes,” the report said.
Acetone and ethanol, both chemicals harmful to humans in high amounts, were found in a bloody fluid sample, likely due to decomposition, the report said.
Miegellic had to stand in the home’s laundry room for three days — without sitting or leaving — as punishment for “having a bowel movement in her pants,” a police search warrant obtained by the Observer said.
The autopsy also found signs of disordered eating and dehydration, including a “clump of hair within large bowel content.”
While there were no signs of physical abuse, Sullivan noted that CMPD reported evidence of physical abuse prior to when Miegellic was last known alive.
Miegellic’s mother, Malikah Bennett, was arrested and charged for felony child abuse, inflicting physical injury, felony concealing a death, and first-degree murder, according to arrest reports obtained by the Observer. Tammy Taylor Moffett, Miegellic’s grandmother, also has been charged with concealing the possible murder of her granddaughter after the fact.
Miegellic hadn’t been seen since September 2020, before she went to go visit with her mother, the Observer previously reported.
“It’s very difficult to understand how someone can kill their child, bury them and move on with their life as if nothing has happened,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Lt. Bryan Crum said during a news conference in May.
Miegellic lived in an “abusive environment” that ultimately resulted in her death, Crum said during the news conference.
