Evelyn Odom, also known as Zmecca Luciana (Cook County Sheriff’s Office) and Kenyatta Odom (Georgia Bureau of Investigation)
A 5-year-old girl in Georgia found more than three decades ago entombed in a cemented trunk that had been tossed off of a bridge has been identified, leading to the arrests of her mother and her mother’s then-live-in boyfriend. Evelyn Odom, also known as Zmecca Luciana, and Ulyster Sanders were taken into custody last week and charged with felony murder for the 1988 slaying of young Kenyatta Odom, known for decades as “Baby Jane Doe,” authorities announced.
In addition to the murder charge, authorities also charged the duo with one count each of first-degree cruelty to children, aggravated battery — family violence, conspiracy to commit murder, and concealing the death of another.
Road workers in Millwood, Georgia, on Dec. 21, 1988, discovered Kenyatta’s remains at an illegal dump site located off Duncan Mill Road. The child was found “inside of an old TV cabinet, wrapped up in a blanket, inside of a duffel bag, inside of a trunk that had been encased in concrete,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Special Agent in Charge Jason Seacrist said during a Monday afternoon news conference.
“This was a dump site,” Seacrist said as he unveiled a photograph of the crime scene. “There is an old desk, there’s other trash that just been thrown out where they threw out this child.”
The medical examiner determined that the child’s death was a homicide and that she was likely killed at least three months before the discovery of her body. Over the first few years, investigators made many attempts to try to identify the “Baby Jane Doe,” but the case eventually went cold.
Investigators returned to the case in 2019 and submitted the victim’s DNA for genome sequencing, hoping new technology would lead to a break in the case. The results of DNA analysis in 2022 confirmed a family connection between the victim and a family in Albany, Georgia, Seacrist said. Investigators then began comparing Baby Jane Doe’s DNA to members of that family.
The GBI also put out a news release on Dec. 21, 2022 — the anniversary of when Baby Jane’s body was found — seeking the public’s help in identifying the victim. In January 2023, a tipster contacted the GBI with information about a little girl who had gone missing at about that time. The tipster said the girl’s mother — later identified as Odom — told others that her daughter had gone to live with her father. The tipster told investigators that they never believed the story about the child’s whereabouts.
That lead led investigators back to Odom and Sanders, who were both arrested without incident on Nov. 9, authorities said.
“Finally after almost 35 years not only were we able to identify her remains, but we are able to make an arrest for those responsible for her death,” Seacrist said during a news conference.
Seacrist also thanked an anonymous donor who put up a $5,000 reward for information leading to the identification of the victim now known to be Kenyatta.
Watch the GBI news conference below.
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