In one of the most depraved acts to come along in some time, a Louisiana mother and her accomplice have been charged with first-degree murder in the brutal death by immolation of the woman’s 6-month-old son.
According to the Miami Herald, the mother, 23-year-old Hanna Barker, called 911 around 9 p.m. on July 17 to report that two kidnappers had taken her child from her home in Natchitoches. In reality, the mother had arranged with a friend, 26-year-old Felicia Marie-Nicole Smith, to pick up the baby at her trailer park home, drive him a mile away, and kill him. It is still unclear whether the gruesome nature of the execution — Smith poured gasoline over him, then ignited it — was Smith’s “innovation” or something the two women had agreed upon.
In any case, after torching the child, Smith drove straight to the IHOP where she walked and began her evening shift.
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The child was discovered by police around 10:30, badly burned but clinging to life. He was airlifted to a hospital where he died of his injuries. A criminal indictment reveals the baby had second- and third-degree burns over 90% of his body.
The indictment also affirmed that when police arrived at Barker’s home, she “told them an elaborate story: Two individuals banged on her trailer door, then sprayed her with mace when she opened it. … That’s when Barker fled her home. … But when she returned, her 6-month old son, Levi Ellerbe, had vanished. …”
The two women are now being held without bail.
