Markham police announce charges related to 2017 death of infant
MARKHAM, Ill. (CBS) – The mother of an infant found dead inside a burning home in Markham in 2017 has been charged, but not with the baby's death.
Melody Townsend was charged with felony child endangerment and concealing and aiding a fugitive, Markham police said at a press conference on Thursday, though officials released few details about the charges.
The body of Townsend's daughter, Ana Marie Townsend, was found by first responders wrapped in plastic in the attic of the burned out, abandoned house in the 1500 block of Hamlin Avenue in Markham on July 3, 2017. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office ruled her death a homicide. It also took two years to identify the body.
The baby's parents, Melody Townsend and Rico Garrett, the baby's father, both vanished weeks after the fire.
Markham Police Chief Jack Genius said on Thursday while the case went cold in the two years after the baby was found, tips came in which led detectives to California where the baby's mother was located.
Markham Police Det. Sgt. Jessie Jones said an arrest warrant for Melody Townsend was issued in 2022. She waived her extradition rights and came back to Illinois this week. Jones declined to comment when asked about the father's whereabouts.
While Genius said at the beginning of the news conference that Melody Townsend would be charged with concealing a homicide, when Jones was later asked about that charge, city officials stepped away from the lectern for a few minutes before coming back to apparently correct themselves.
Genius said that within half an hour of the news conference, they had learned Melody Townsend was actually being charged with child endangerment and aiding a fugitive. Police declined to give many details about the nature of the charges.
Genius did say he believes there could be more charges announced in the future. He also showed photos of the clothing the baby was wearing when she was found in the home, a photo of the house she was found in, two photos of Melody Townsend and a police rendering of what the baby looked like.
"The purpose of this was to let the community know … that this baby is not forgotten," Genius said. "That we've had her in our minds for many years and have done a number of different things through the years to solve her death."
Still, Genius said for police, their ultimate goal is to find out how the child died.
Police added Melody Townsend was expected to appear in bond court on Friday.
