Flint Parents Accused Of Killing Missing 3-Year-Old Girl, Burying Body
FLINT (WWJ) - Murder charges have been announced against the parents of a 3-year-old Flint girl who went missing months ago.
Police believe Kimora Simon was beaten to death by 27-year-old Erika Shantae Finley and 26-year-old Khairy Joshuawon Simon — and was then buried by the tracks near their Flint apartment building off Lippincott Blvd. earlier this year.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton says they looked for the young girl's body for three days, with no luck.
"We were unable to find the child," Leyon told WWJ's Zahra Huber. "We believe she was buried in a shallow grave and that animals probably got into the grave."
Simon and Finley are also charged with tampering with evidence, lying to police, and child abuse. Finley also faces one count of welfare fraud.
The case of missing came to the attention of Flint police when a teacher reported potential child abuse concerning a sibling. When officers went to the home, they realized that the 3-year-old girl was missing. When both parents gave conflicting reports of Kimora's whereabouts — and Simon's family, when question by detectives, reported that they hadn't seen Kimora in months.
"Anytime a child is missing, you would think that family members would want know where is child?" Leyton said. "So, yes, I'm perplexed by the fact that nobody came forward."
A 5 and 7-year-old boy in the home have been placed in temporary foster care.