HORRIFIC

Parents Charged With Murder After Crowdfunding for Child’s Funeral

At just 21 days old, the girl is the youngest alleged homicide victim in Atlanta this year.

The parents of a baby who died at just three weeks old have been charged with murder and cruelty to children after an autopsy revealed the little girl was killed by inflicted trauma, police say. Officers found Journee Byrd unresponsive in her Atlanta home on August 10, and doctors were unable to save her after she was rushed to a hospital. “Further investigation revealed the child sustained injuries consistent with inflicted trauma,” police said in a social media post. At just 21-days-old, investigators said Journee is the youngest homicide victim in Atlanta this year. Cops returned to the house on August 18 and arrested Zion Kendrick Byrd, 23, and Deshan Turner, 20. Before her arrest, Turner had created a GoFundMe page saying she’d found her baby unresponsive in her crib, and that her older 1-year-old daughter had been taken into custody earlier in the same day. “This whole process is very complicated for me and is an unimaginable pain,” Turner wrote. “My daughters changed the entire meaning of life for me. They gave me purpose. These funds would be used to help me with funeral costs and also to help me get my daughter back. Anything is greatly appreciated.”