After Georgia Mom Is Charged With Murder for Dropping Baby, More Charges Could Follow

Friend charged in the case speaks on mother's behalf

Police tape in a stock photo. Carl Ballou/Shutterstock

A Georgia woman who is friends with the mother who dropped her baby, killing the child, has spoken out. Meanwhile, a local district attorney said more charges could follow.

In an interview with WALB, Carneata Clark, 26, who was charged with making false statements and obstruction charges, said that there is more to the incident.

Karen Lashun Harrison, 26, was charged with felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children, second-degree cruelty to children, simple battery, and fighting in an incident where she dropped the child on the pavement, which was also captured on video.

In the surveillance video, Harrison is seen holding her 3-month-old baby when another woman smacks her in the head with a grocery bag before Harrison swings at the woman and drops her child. She then keeps fighting, ABC News reported.

Harrison first told officials that family friend dropped the baby. Clark, who wasn’t involved in the incident, repeated the same alleged false statement to police. However, police then discovered the footage.

The other woman involved in the melee hasn’t yet been identified.

After posting bond, Clark got of out jail, and she told WALB that people “don’t even know the whole story.”

“She strong though, she real strong. Karen real strong,” Clark told the news outlet.

“People on the outside looking in, they don’t even know the whole story, you feel me. I feel like, free Karen, all the way,” said Clark.

“If y’all know Karen, she takes care of her kids, y’all know how she feel about her kids, y’all know what she’ll do for her kids, y’all know that she is not no bad person,” added Clark.

Officials told WALB that more charges could follow in the case, including for the woman involved in the fight with Harrison.

“Preliminary information indicates that the baby died as a result of medical attention not being sought and based upon that, the warrant was issued for felony murder,” said District Attorney Brad Shealy.

“No charges at this time, doesn’t mean some couldn’t come out in the future, based upon the evidence,” added Shealy.

Regarding the charges, “We investigated the incident and determined the baby did not receive his injuries how it was reported,” Lt. Freddie Williams, with the Moultrie Police Department, told reporters.

“It was reported to us that the baby had fallen from the caregiver’s arms and received the injuries, then we got information that there was a fight,” he added.

Harrison was denied bond, while Clark was released from jail on a $5,000 bond.

The infant’s body is scheduled to undergo an autopsy and authorities said the investigation is ongoing.

Facts About Crime in the US

Violent crime in the United States has fallen sharply over the past 25 years, according to both the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).

The rate of violent crimes fell by 49 percent between 1993 and 2017, according to the FBI’s UCR, which only reflects crimes reported to the police.

The violent crime rate dropped by 74 percent between 1993 and 2017, according to the BJS’s NCVS, which takes into account both crimes that have been reported to the police and those that have not.

From 1993 to 2017, the rate of violent victimization declined 74 percent, from 79.8 to 20.6 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older,” the U.S. Department of Justice stated.

Both studies are based on data collected up to and including 2017, the most recent year for which complete figures are available.

The FBI recently released preliminary data for 2018. According to the Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, January to June 2018, violent crime rates in the United States dropped by 4.3 percent compared to the same six-month period in 2017.

Epoch Times reporter Justin Morgan contributed to this article.