Jonesboro, Georgia– JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) — A suburban Atlanta man has been charged with murder in the death of his six-month-old son after he initially told police the child had been kidnapped during an armed robbery.
Antonio Pierce told police on Sunday that his son, Nakai Prat, had been kidnapped by thieves. Clayton County police said Pierce told them that two armed men dressed in black stole $6,500 in cash and 3 pounds (1.36 kilograms) of marijuana from an apartment he was using as a hideout in Riverdale, about 11 miles (18 kilometers) south of Atlanta. He told them that the men had kidnapped his son, who was in the car seat, and fled.
Searchers found Nanakai’s body in a nearby forest on Tuesday evening after two days of searching. Police had already arrested Pierce on Sunday, charging him with marijuana possession and traffic violations. They later added a false statement charge because he kept changing his story.
Pierce was charged Wednesday with Nanakai’s murder, court records show. He was also charged with concealment of a death, tampering with evidence, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, cruelty to a child, and false reporting of a crime.
No attorney for Pierce is listed in court records.
The judge denied him bail during a hearing on Wednesday on the false statements charge.
“You made contradictory statements in the investigation of a missing child, and when witness accounts verified your contradictory statements, you admitted to concealing and falsifying material facts,” Clayton County District Judge Keisha Hale-Wright told Pierce on Wednesday.
The infant was a twin and his surviving sibling is in the care of their mother, who has not been charged.