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Mother accused of leaving dead baby in motel freezer pleads not guilty

Police believe the child’s body had been in the freezer for five or six days before it was found.

DOTHAN, Ala. — A woman accused of leaving her dead infant in a motel freezer has pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, abusing a corpse and felony chemical endangerment of a child.

Amanda Gail Oakes of Murrayville, Georgia, waived her arraignment hearing on Monday and entered a not guilty plea in Houston County, Alabama, the Clerk of Courts Office confirmed.

The child’s father, Carlton James Mathis from Gainesville, Georgia has also been charged in the child’s death, after he was shot in a standoff with Florida police in June.

Carlton James Mathis, 28, of Gainesville, Ga. (left), and Amanda Gail Oakes, 36, of Murraysville, Ga., have been charged in connection with the death of their 6-month-old son Carlton James Oakes. The infant was found in a freezer in Dothan, Ala.

RELATED: Infant found in hotel freezer leads to arrest of Hall Co. couple in Florida

The body of 6-month-old Carlton James Oakes was found in a freezer in Dothan, a town in southern Alabama. Police believe the child’s body had been in the freezer for up to six days before it was found. Dothan Police said they initially received a tip about a possible infant death from the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities learned the couple moved to Florida after the child’s death, and they were found in an apartment complex on June 6 in Bronson. When police approached Mathis, he pulled out a handgun and tried to get away. A SWAT team member shot him before he could escape.

RELATED: Tip to police ends in SWAT shootout with parents of infant found in freezer

Mathis is facing charges for an unrelated burglary charge in Gainesville. Oakes was extradited from Levy County, Florida to Dothan to face charges in her baby's death. 

Investigators believe the infant was dead before he was placed in the freezer, but autopsy results will confirm his cause of death. The body was taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science in Montgomery for the autopsy.

Oakes' jury trial is scheduled to start on March 4, 2019.

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