CROSS COUNTY, Ark. — The Cross County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Thursday they had arrested and charged the mother of stillborn twins found abandoned in a suitcase near Wynne last month.
A report from the Arkansas State Crime Lab confirmed the babies, a male and female approximately 32 to 34 weeks old, were born deceased in the womb.
Keysheonna Reed, 24, is charged with two felony counts of abuse of a corpse.
Her family told WREG she has three kids and they had no idea she was pregnant with the twins.
“No one knew that she was pregnant, and if I did, I would have encouraged her to go to the doctor,” said Reed’s grandmother Lillie Sanders.
Authorities said a passerby found the infants in a purple suitcase near a ditch along County Road 602 on February 16.
During the course of the investigation, investigators identified the owners of the suitcase, which they say led them to Reed.
Marrissa Toliver, who attended high school with Reed, said she spoke to her friend right around the time the stillborn twins were discovered.
“I didn’t know it was gonna be her, I was hoping it weren’t somebody that I knew, but, you know, things happen,” Toliver said.
Sanders urged people not to pass judgement on her granddaughter, who she described as a devoted mother.
“Keysheonna is a loving mother to her kids. Everybody makes mistakes,” Sanders said.
She later added, “God got the last say-so. So all you people that’s trying to judge my granddaughter, y’all don’t know nothing about her. Y’all don’t know what she was going through.”
“I’m just thinking maybe she was scared,” said Toliver.
No illegal substances were found in the babies’ system.
A bond amount has not been set for Reed, but the sheriff’s office confirmed that the charges against her would not be upgraded or amended.
