Mother, brother charged after death of 10-month-old baby girl

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A Marietta mother and her brother are charged after a 10-month-old girl died.

Sadai Higgenbotham, 26, was charged with felony murder on Aug. 8. She also faces charges of aggravated assault and cruelty to children.

Officers were first called to an Urgent Care on Delk Road for a 10-month-old child brought there in distress.

“It was in reference to a child that was unconscious and CPR was in progress, the child identified as Laura Higgenbotham, was then transported to Scottish Rite in critical condition,” explained Alicia Chilton with the Cobb County Police Department.

With the child in the hospital, police went to the mother’s house on Whitlock Avenue and found a crime scene.

The child died a couple of days after that.

Investigators also arrested the mother’s brother, but not for hurting the child.

Sidrick Melancon faces two felony counts of influencing a witness. Police said he tried to concoct a story on how the 10-month-old had been hurt and tried to get the child’s mother and another woman to tell police that story.

Melancon, also wanted out of Louisiana, is being held without bond.

The medical examiner’s work on the child's body is not finished, but the cause of death listed as blunt-force trauma.

“We’re not sure what the instrument used was at this time, um, but it was a 10-month-old female so it is very difficult dealing with children, a 10-month-old in particular especially with something so severe,” Chilton explained.

Cox Media Group