The mother of a five-year-old girl who died of blunt force trauma last month in Monroe County south of Atlanta has been charged with murder, along with the mother’s boyfriend, the GBI said today.
Authorities in Monroe County initially charged Amanda Hendrickson, 33, and her 34-year-old boyfriend, Roderick Buckner with felony first-degree child cruelty after the May 20th death of Hendrickson's daughter, Heaven Woods.
The GBI was called in on the case, and “warrants were obtained Friday charging both with felony murder and aggravated battery (felony),” GBI spokeswoman Sherry Lang told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an email this morning.
An autopsy of the girl’s body at the GBI Crime Lab in Atlanta revealed she died of blunt force trauma to the abdomen.
Heaven died after Monroe County 911 received two calls for an unresponsive child. Police went to the Forsyth home of Buckner, where Heaven and her mother had been living since early this month, according to the GBI.
First responders performed CPR on the girl and told police Heaven’s body had visible evidence of possible abuse. The young girl was transported to Monroe County Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The autopsy on the child revealed both new injuries and older ones that had healed, Lang said.
Hendrickson has a “history” with the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services in Rome, the GBI said.
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