The father of 2-year-old J’Asiah Mitchell will face murder charges after the GBI positively identified the remains of the toddler found last week at a Fulton County solid waste facility.
East Point police Chief Shawn Buchanan said Friday afternoon he hoped taking out warrants against 23-year-old Artavious North, Mitchell’s father, would give a sense of closure to the child’s family and the officers who investigated the case.
“We would have liked the child to be alive,” Buchanan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It took a toll on the detectives. ... and a parent will always hope for the best because it’s their child. We don’t want people hoping in vain.”
The GBI notified East Point police Thursday that Mitchell’s identity had been confirmed, department spokesman Cpl. Iscah Njoku said in a statement. Police previously said they had collected DNA samples from Mitchell’s mother to help identify the remains of a toddler found Aug. 23.
The confirmation triggered a meeting between police and the Fulton District Attorney’s Office to file charges against North, Deputy Chief Russell Popham told the AJC. Police have now secured warrants charging North with murder, felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children and concealing the death of another, Buchanan said.
North was taken into custody in DeKalb County shortly after Mitchell was reported missing Aug. 16. He first said the boy had been abducted during an armed robbery, but investigators could not find any evidence to corroborate his story, police said.
North was booked into the DeKalb jail and charged with false report of a crime and making false statements. He remains there without bond, and Popham said it was not clear when he would be transferred to the Fulton jail to face the new charges.
Even before Mitchell’s identity was confirmed by the GBI, East Point police said there was a “high probability” the remains would turn out to be the missing 2-year-old.
Buchanan said the child’s body was left in a dumpster at the Leyland Pointe apartment complex in East Point before it was unknowingly taken to the solid waste transfer station where it was found.
The boy’s mother, Asia Mitchell, memorialized J’Asiah with a balloon release Aug. 25. She also started a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral expenses.
In an interview with Channel 2 Action News before the memorial event, Asia Mitchell described North as “evil.”
“I’m informing everyone that we found J’Asiah and we now have to lay him down to rest,” Mitchell wrote on her fundraising page. “I want to say thank you for all the support, prayers and donations. This was so, so unexpected. I never thought I would have to do this, but things happen for a reason. God’s plan.”
Buchanan said the warrants against North should deliver “some type of justice.”
“To give a family closure is not an insignificant matter,” Buchanan said. “At least they can start to attempt the healing process.”
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