SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Around 11 a.m. this morning the Syracuse Police Department (SPD) found the remains of five-year-old Nefertiti Harris.
SPD had been investigating the whereabouts of Harris since March 23rd after extended family had contacted police after not seeing Nefertiti in several months.
“A foster mother for this child and the grandmother of the child, biological grandmother,” said Syracuse Police Chief Joe Cecile. “They were talking back and forth ‘I thought you had Neffe [Nefertiti]’ ‘Oh I thought you had Neffe’. Then they realized that neither one of them [had Nefertiti] Then made other phone calls to other family members that no one had seen Nefertiti for upwards of three months.
On Monday, March 25th, 29-year-old Latasha Mott, Nefertiti’s mother, was arraigned on charges of manslaughter and disposal of a corpse. After the arraignment, Mott cooperated with police and instructed them on where she concealed her daughter’s body.
The search focused in a wooded area behind an apartment building off of Salt Springs Road. State troopers, K9’s, and drones were deployed to assist in the search.
The recent snowfall over the weekend complicated the search, according to police. However, warmer temperatures Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning aided the police in finding the remains.
“If the cause of death is consistent with the defense’s story then we will evaluate whether or not to up the charges,” said Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick. “If the cause of death is inconsistent with the defense’s story and it appears to be more of an intentional homicide then obviously the charges will be upgraded.”
The District Attorney was present at the scene multiple times on Tuesday. Once just before noon after the body had been discovered and again after 4 p.m..
Mott confessed to hitting Nefertiti multiple times with a belt which led to her death back on January 6th, according to court documents. The mother then took steps to conceal the body in the wooded area on Salt Springs Road.
“At the present time, although I won’t name anybody, we do not believe that the defendant disposed of the body by herself,” said Fitzpatrick. “The Syracuse Police Department is actively investigating at least one other individual’s role and perhaps more in disposing of this precious little girl’s body.”
The District Attorney added that the next step is for the Medical Examiner to carefully retrieve the remains from the ground.
“After 40 years of being on this job, is that this little girl likely went to her grave thinking she was the problem, that it was her fault, that she deserved this, that she was a bad child, and this is what happens to bad children…that this is how it’s supposed to be. And can you imagine that being a child’s last thought,” said Chief Cecile. “So, I just want to say this, this is not how it’s supposed to be. This was not your fault. You did not deserve this. You should be in kindergarten playing with crayons and making friends and laughing. And that’s how it’s supposed to be.
