‘Nomadic’ pair passing through Georgia in RV charged with murder in baby’s ‘abuse’ death
The parents of a 9-month-old boy were charged with murder Friday in connection with the baby’s death, which Warner Robins police said appeared to have been the result of abuse.
The parents, along with two of the boy’s young siblings, were passing through Middle Georgia in their RV the night of Jan. 30 when they wheeled into the Buc-ee’s gas-and-food emporium along Interstate 75 at Russell Parkway.
Police Chief John Wagner said Friday that rescuers were dispatched there to check on a report of a child not breathing.
One of the boy’s parent’s reportedly told officers that the boy had been dropped while he was being bathed inside the RV while it was parked at Buc-ee’s. The baby was taken to an Atlanta hospital for treatment but he died Friday.
Wagner said investigators later learned that the boy’s injuries, “past and present, were consistent with abuse.”
“It’s terribly sad,” Wagner added.
The child’s name was being withheld, but his parents, Christopher Scott Palmer, 40, of New York, and Shelly Deanna Rooks, 26, of Waynesville, which is near Brunswick, were both jailed in Peach County on charges that include murder, aggravated battery and cruelty to children.
The police chief said Friday that the couple’s two other young children were in the care of child-protective services.
Asked where the family may have been headed the night the baby was hospitalized, Wagner said, “I think they’re pretty nomadic. ... I think they just drive.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 2:59 PM.