Left inset: Terica Pearl being escorted into court by law enforcement in Etowah County, Ala. (WBRC). Right inset: Blessence Pearl (West Gadsden Funeral Home). Background: The vehicle at the West Gadsden Funeral Home in Gadsden, Ala., where Terica Pearl allegedly left 1-year-old Blessence Pearl (WBRC).
An Alabama mother charged with leaving her deceased 1-year-old daughter in a vehicle at a funeral home earlier this month reportedly cried out, “Oh my god, what have I done?!” while being questioned by police regarding the incident, according to prosecutors.
Terica Pearl, 29, from Gadsden, is charged with disposing of her daughter, Blessence Pearl, at the West Gadsden Funeral Home between Aug. 8 and Aug. 9, after reportedly strangling the young girl with a “thick robe string,” as stated by local authorities.
The director of the funeral home expressed that he felt a “level of shock” like never before upon discovering Blessence’s body in the vehicle. Law enforcement was alerted on that Saturday morning, Aug. 9, when a groundskeeper was moving the vehicle and found the child’s remains in the back, as reported by NBC affiliate WVTM. City officials and the funeral home’s director, Dantez Robinson, discussed the shocking find with AL.com and other media before Pearl was detained the next day.
The woman faced court on Aug. 22 in Etowah County on a capital murder charge, with prosecutors detailing the case against her, as reported by local Fox affiliate WBRC.
“You can see where the string was torn from the garment,” stated Gadsden Police Sgt. Nick Keener, the lead investigator, during Pearl’s preliminary hearing, referring to the robe string she allegedly used in the crime against Blessence.
Authorities allegedly recovered the robe and surveillance video that shows a woman — identified by prosecutors as Pearl — walking in the area around the West Gadsden Funeral Home the day Blessence was found, clutching a baby in her arms, WBRC reports, citing testimony from the Friday hearing. The footage allegedly shows Pearl walking southbound toward the funeral home at around 2:30 a.m. before she goes out of view. She is seen again about two and a half hours later, walking back without a child, according to cops and prosecutors.
Pearl was reportedly crying during the Friday proceedings as her daughter’s condition was described in court. Prosecutors alleged that Pearl strangled the girl with a robe string with the same thickness as a shoelace. Keener said Pearl allegedly told police that she felt “compelled” to walk to the funeral home that day, claiming she felt Blessence would be safe there, WBRC reports.
Pearl’s attorney, Shaun Malone, argued that there is insufficient evidence to prove her guilt. He requested that state records be released from the Alabama Department of Human Resources related to Blessence and Pearl, which he claimed would shed more light on what happened.
“Those records would be illuminous to how we all got here today,” Malone said, per WBRC.
Gadsden officials have told local outlets that the Pearl case has been “tough” for those involved, including officers.
“To do this,” Robinson told AL.com after Blessence was found, “you’re sick in the head.”
Robinson, who is also the area’s assistant coroner, said he has seen macabre and disturbing things over the years, but this rivals all of it. He plans to lay Blessence to rest using his own money and resources.
“To see something like this really sent me into another level of shock,” he told AL.com. “We want this baby to have justice.”
