THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 22, 1996 TAG: 9608220419
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 84 lines
The mother of a baby left alone on North Battlefield Boulevard this week was found dead Wednesday in Prince George County.
A male acquaintance, Malcolm T. Ruffin, was being held in Prince George County in connection with the death of Antitca Monquie Hurt, Chesapeake police said. Charges were pending.
Hurt's body was found about 6:30 p.m. after authorities interviewed Ruffin in Prince George County. The investigation is now being handled jointly by the Chesapeake police and Prince George County Sheriff's Department.
Authorities believe Hurt was killed in Prince George County. The cause of death is unknown pending an autopsy. Police would provide no other details. They said it was unclear why the baby, identified as 1-year-old Jaliyuah Hurt, was discovered in Chesapeake, and it was unclear whether Hurt had been here.
``The bizarre twist is, why was the baby found here?'' said Chesapeake Detective Richard Black. ``And that's the question we need to answer.''
The child was identified Wednesday by relatives who saw her picture on a news report in Petersburg, where the child lives. The police investigation then shifted to the whereabouts of Hurt, who they feared may have been the victim of foul play.
``It's one of the scenarios we had thought about, but we didn't want to dwell on it,'' Black said.
Hurt, 20, was almost nine months pregnant.
Early Wednesday, family members told police that Hurt had left Petersburg on Monday with Ruffin. She had told relatives they were going to Chesapeake to shop for baby clothes. A relative of Hurt said Ruffin was the father of her unborn baby.
Ruffin and Hurt apparently had known each other for about a year, a family member said.
Officials declined to elaborate on their interviews with Ruffin.
The mystery began about 4 a.m. Tuesday when a Hardee's employee found baby Jaliyuah beside Essex Street in the Essex Meadows neighborhood when the employee stopped at a convenience store on her way to work.
The child seemed poised to crawl across Essex Street near the heavily traveled 1000 block of N. Battlefield Blvd. Lisa Parker, the Hardee's employee, picked up the baby, and a convenience store clerk called police.
The baby was suffering from a mild case of hypothermia, but otherwise was healthy. Doctors estimated that she could have been outside for as long as two hours before she was found.
Over her baby clothes, the little girl wore an adult-size T-shirt turned inside out. On the T-shirt was a picture of the Bible and the message: ``When all else fails . . . read the instructions.''
Early Wednesday, about a half-dozen relatives, including the baby's father, and family friends drove to the Chesapeake Police Department from the Petersburg area to try to help solve the mystery.
Beatrice Hyman, Hurt's aunt, said the family became aware of the situation when a family member saw a picture of the baby on the television news in Petersburg. Hyman received a phone call from her sister at 1 a.m. Wednesday.
After the family contacted Chesapeake police and verified that the baby found Tuesday morning was Jaliyuah, they drove here.
``It was a terrible shock,'' Hyman, who lives in Richmond, said Wednesday morning before Ruffin was taken into custody. ``It was awful. Just thinking about her being out there by the side of the road even for a minute, is terrible.''
Before Antitca's body was discovered, Hyman told reporters that her niece would never leave a baby unattended.
Hyman declined to say much about Ruffin, but said Ruffin and Hurt had become acquainted because they were neighbors.
Hyman said she last saw Hurt on Sunday when relatives got together in Petersburg. Nothing seemed amiss.
While at police headquarters Wednesday, relatives reviewed tapes police obtained from the nearby 7-Eleven Store in hopes of recognizing customers in the store.
Child Protective Services workers have begun determining where to place Jaliyuah. That process can be completed in a few hours or take a matter of days, authorities said. The baby has been with a foster family since shortly after she was found. MEMO: Chesapeake police are asking anyone with information about the
case to call 382-6251, Detective Lori Eanes at 382-8239 or Crime Line at
487-1234. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Antitca Monquie Hurt, 20, left, the mother of 1-year-old Jaliyuah
Hurt, right, was found dead in Prince George County on Wednesday.
KEYWORDS: MURDER ABANDONED BABY by CNB