Kamaire Wash was wearing polka-dot pajamas when she was tucked into bed Wednesday night, her father said. But the next morning, the 7-year-old was gone, and the front door of her family’s apartment was open, Michael Wash told East Point police.
After searching for Kamaire for about an hour, Wash reported his oldest child missing Thursday morning. Later that day, the case shifted from a search for a missing child to a homicide investigation, according to Capt. Cliff Chandler. And by Friday afternoon, Wash and his live-in girlfriend had been arrested and charged with first-degree child cruelty and concealing the girl’s death.
But one piece of the puzzle was still missing: How was Kamaire killed and where was she? Investigators suspect that by the time Kamaire was reported missing, her body had already been pulled from Lake Allatoona, 45 miles away.
Wednesday afternoon, fishermen spotted a body while on the water in Bartow County and called 911. The body of a young girl was pulled from the water near an I-75 overpass, just off 3rd Army Road, Bartow Coroner Joel Guyton said. The remains were sent to the GBI Crime Lab for an autopsy, which remained underway Friday, an agency spokeswoman said.
“The GBI Medical Examiner’s office is exploring all options to identify the body including forensic dentistry, fingerprints, and DNA,” Nelly Miles, GBI spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement. “At this time, we don’t know which option will be utilized; however, the most viable option will be selected.”
But even without the positive identification on the body found in the lake, East Point police charged both Wash and his girlfriend, Lasherae Davis.
The city's police did not return repeated calls and emails on Friday.
Wash and Davis were each charged with two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, cruelty to children in the third degree, making false statements and concealing the death of another. Additionally, Wash was charged with aggravated assault and Davis was charged with being a party to the crime of aggravated assault.
In an interview with Channel 2 Action News, Kamaire’s mother said she wants to know what happened to her daughter.
“I want to know what happened to my baby,” Kashira Pettigrew, who lives in Illinois, told Channel 2. “Why is no one telling me anything and what’s going on?”
Pettigrew said she was co-parenting with Wash, who has three other children with Davis.
“Nothing happened to those babies, but for some reason my baby, my baby, she’s missing,” Pettigrew said. “It just doesn’t add up to me. All I want is justice.”
The case remained under investigation late Friday.
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