William Micah Hester, 17, was arrested and is now facing murder charges for the death of his four-year-old half-sister Joanna J. Lockaby. The Greenville County Sheriff's Office believed that Hester suffocated this toddler sister and then dumped her body in a plastic bin behind their home. Police also learned that a one-year-old baby, Jojo Lockaby, also died in the family four years ago after the baby was left in the car.
As per Greenville County Sheriff's Office, officers responded to the home at around 2:20 p.m. after receiving a call that Lockaby was missing. Authorities then started looking for the missing toddler and found her at 2:45 p.m. in the wooded area behind the home. The toddler was pronounced dead on the scene. The Sun reports that Hester was arrested and transported to Greenville County Detention Center to wait for a bond hearing.
Case under investigation
According to the investigators, Hester suffocated the toddler, leading to her death. Her body was found inside a plastic bin behind the home where she lived with Hester.
The police said that they are still investigating the motive of the killing. As per Greenville County deputy Mike Ellis, they would treat the case as a "suspicious death," adding the toddler was killed sometime on Tuesday. The coroner's office is expected to perform an autopsy on the child.
Ellis said they found the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the child's body suspicious. He added that when they find a small child in a wooded area, they treat that as a suspicious death and work on it so they will not miss anything.
According to Fox Carolina, the Greenville County Coroner's Office also confirmed that Lockaby was the sister of Joe Lockaby, the one-year-old who died in Greenville County in 2018 after he was left in a hot car parked outside his grandmother's home. Janik Nix, the boy's grandmother, was charged with homicide by child abuse. The grandmother pleaded guilty to assault and battery. She was sentenced to ten years in prison and suspended to three years on probation.
Read Also: San Diego Teen Who Returned Purse to a Woman's Front Door Gets $17,000 Reward from Strangers.
A father's plea
Hester appeared in court on Wednesday afternoon with his father. He said Hester, who goes by the name "Micah," would not do "anything like this on purpose." He added that he knows his boy and can hold up his hand to the lord and testify that he is a good boy. The father pleaded for mercy on him, saying they had lost Joanna and did not want to lose their son. He said his son has never been in trouble and loves his sister. The judge, however, ruled to hold Hester without bail.
The mom, Krista Nix, did not speak on Wednesday, but she could be seen wiping away tears as Hester stood handcuffed in an all-yellow outfit, Daily Beast reports.
