DOTHAN, Ala. - Police arrested two people in connection to an infant whose body was found in a freezer in a south Alabama hotel.
Police in Dothan, Ala. said 28-year-old Carlton James Mathis of Gainesville, Ga., and 36-year-old Amanda Gail Oakes of Murrayville, Ga., have been charged in connection with the death of their 6-month-old son Carlton James Oakes.
The infant's body was found in a freezer in the south Alabama city late last week.
The body of the infant was transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science in Montgomery for an autopsy.
Dothan Police investigators said they had initially received information from the Hall County Sheriff's Department regarding a possible infant death. The information from Hall County indicated that the infant was possibly dead inside an apartment.
Investigators there were able to determine that the couple might have moved on to Florida.
On Monday, June 6, officers in Bronson, Fla., found the couple in an apartment complex. When deputies approached Mathis, he pulled a handgun and tried to get away.
A SWAT team member shot Mathis four times as he tried to escape.
Mathis was reported to be in stable condition at a Florida hospital in the custody of the Levy County, Fla., Sheriff's Department. He is being held there on a parole violation warrant from Gainesville, Ga., on unrelated burglary charges.
Police were able to determine that the couple had stayed at an extended stay hotel in Dothan, where investigators were able to locate the body of the 6-month-old. They said it appears to have been in the freezer for about five to six days.
Investigators said they believe the infant was dead prior to being placed in the freezer, but they said autopsy results would provide confirmation of the cause of death.
"With an infant, especially seven months old, there is no way for an infant to defend itself. That infant is completely dependent on his parents," said Dothan Police Lt. Lynn Watkins. "And in this case, this infant was failed by his parents."
Mathis and Oakes have been both been charged with one count of abuse of a corpse and each has a bond amount of $15,000. Oakes was extradited from Levy County, Fla., to Dothan, Ala. and has been charged with manslaughter which is in addition to her previous charge of abuse of a corpse.
An autopsy is being done on the baby.
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