Autopsy cannot explain cause of death of toddler found stuffed in a drawer
An autopsy of the remains of Oaklee Snow, a one-year-old girl found dead in the drawer of an abandoned house in Indiana, has ruled her death a homicide of “unspecified means.”
The Morgan County Coroner’s Office completed the autopsy and made a report ruling that the means by which the child died could not be determined.
The girl’s mother, Madison Marshall, and her boyfriend, Roan Waters, have been accused of abducting the girl and her baby brother Coleton from their father’s home in Cromwell, Oklahoma, according to WBIW.
The couple reportedly abandoned the girl’s seven-month-old brother at an Indianapolis house used by drug abusers. He was eventually recovered by family members and reported the couple to the Indiana Department of Child Services.
Witnesses speaking to investigators said they saw the couple leaving the abandoned house in Indianapolis with “what looked like a child wrapped in a blanket.” They noted that the child did not appear to be moving, talking, or crying.
Mr Waters reportedly told his family that Oaklee had suffered a fall, and said they were taking the girl to a hospital for treatment.
However, Ms Marshall told investigators that Mr Waters killed the girl after she woke him up with her cries. She claims that Mr Waters threw the girl to the ground, and that hours later they found the girl unresponsive and struggling to breathe.
She accused Mr Waters of previously beating and choking the child for things as minor as “holding a fork wrong.” Ms Marshall said the girl became so scared of Mr Waters that she would not eat when he was around. The mother said when she tried to stop him, he would beat her as well.
Madison Marshall, 22, was arrested in connection to the death of her 1-year-old daughter, Oaklee Snow, in Indiana
(Marion County Jail)
Roan Waters, 25, was arrested in Colorado and has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend’s daughter, one-year-old Oaklee Snow
(Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Department)
Ms Marshall said when she found the girl struggling to breathe she tried to call 911, but accused Mr Waters of slapping the phone out of her hand.
The couple then allegedly took the girl to an abandoned house wrapped in a blanket and hid her body in a drawer.
Ms Marshall was arrested and taken into custody. She is being held on a $200,000 bond. She led investigators to the house where the body was found. She is facing two felony counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, and has also been charged with neglect resulting in serious injury.
Mr Waters was arrested later after he traveled to North Carolina. He is facing a single count of murder along with two counts of neglect leading to death, and other charges, according to court records.
