Parents Yolanda Hunter and Herman Coleman are on the run. Just before Christmas Day, Mississippi police responded to a call from a man who found the body of an infant, unresponsive, on his doorstep. Now the cops have named the boy’s mother, Hunter, and boyfriend, Coleman, as suspects in his death.
Prodigy Hunter, 1 years old, was found with a massive amount of trauma and bruises to the body on Dec. 21, said Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade in a press conference. After being transferred to the hospital, he died upon succumbing to his injuries.
“The officer couldn’t even look me in the face when he was describing what this child looked like,” Wade said in a press conference. “It’s very traumatizing when you see stuff like that in our city.”
The chief said Hunter was brought to the station Thursday for questioning and charged with felony child abuse the following day but was released from jail after making bail.
Her boyfriend, Coleman, allegedly was found to be in possession or close proximity to Prodigy shortly before he went unconscious. Then Coleman allegedly brought the child to a neighbor to report he was having trouble breathing and eating. Eventually, the police said Coleman left the baby with the neighbor who called the police.
The Jackson Police Department issued warrants for Hunter and Coleman. They are facing capital murder and could be sentenced to death upon a conviction. Authorities said Coleman has been on the run since the day Prodigy died and Hunter has been MIA since bailing out.
Prodigy is one of Hunter’s five children, all of whom are in custody of the Mississippi Department of Child Protective Services. The chief said the department is investigating whether the others showed signs of being abused.
This is only the latest cruel and unusual death of a Black child. Another 1-year-old boy died in a Bronx daycare after being exposed to fentanyl. A 1-year-old girl died after being left in a scorching hot car while being transported to a daycare in Nebraska. Not to mention, many baby Jane and John Does have been identified recently after their remains were found mutilated and discarded.