Mother of 2 girls found in shallow graves in Cleveland charged with
murder
[March 06, 2026]
By MARK SCOLFORO and SUE OGROCKI
CLEVELAND
(AP) — The mother of two young girls found buried inside suitcases in
Cleveland was charged Thursday with two counts of aggravated murder,
police said.
Aliyah Henderson, 28, is accused of killing Mila Chatman and Amor
Wilson, whose remains were recovered after a dog walker led authorities
to the suitcases four days earlier. |
Nichelle Wilson, left, the grandmother of one of the girls whose bodies
were found earlier this week, Amor Wilson, stands with her friend Sharon
Hunter, right, at the site where a memorial is now, in Cleveland,
Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) |
|
Mila's father, DeShaun Chatman, said Thursday that he had been
looking for his daughter and pursuing custody for five years
before investigators told him late Wednesday she was dead.
Chatman said he repeatedly sought emergency custody and had
tried to locate Mila through a child welfare agency, but those
efforts were unsuccessful because he did not know where they
were living.
“It’s very much horrible,” Chatman said, adding that it turned
out Mila had been living within view of where their bodies were
found. He said he felt “useless — I couldn’t save my baby.”
Phone numbers linked to Henderson were no longer hers, and it
was unclear if she was represented by a lawyer.
A police case report said the two suitcases were found about 25
feet (8 meters) apart in the field near Ginn Academy in
Cleveland’s South Collinwood neighborhood.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the
names late Thursday and said DNA relationship testing helped
identify them. The office said Mila would have been 8 years old
and her half-sister Amor 10.
Sgt. Wilfredo Diaz said earlier Thursday that police detained
Henderson on Wednesday evening after detectives completed
initial interviews and examined evidence. A child, seemingly in
good health, was located inside a house that investigators
searched and placed in the custody of the Department of Children
and Family Services, police said.
Chatman, a restaurant cook, said he and Henderson were not
married but lived together for about a year after their daughter
was born. He last saw Mila in 2020, when she was 3 years old.
“Mila was happy-go-lucky, always smiling,” Chatman said.
“Favorite color was pink — she swore that she was a princess.
She was always happy. She was a kid's kid.”
He said authorities have not told him how the girls died.
“We are hoping to find answers,” Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy
Todd told reporters earlier this week. “This is a terrible,
tragic situation.”
___
Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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