UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Antoine Petty has been indicted for the killing of his 9-week-old son, and a judge has found probable cause that his wife, Geneice, helped him cover up the crime.
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks announced Wednesday that Antoine Petty, 32, had been indicted Tuesday for first-degree murder and first-degree child abuse resulting in death, as well as two counts of assault.
“To kill a child, especially your own child, is the worst thing someone can do,” Alsobrooks said in a statement. “We intend to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.”
In District Court on Wednesday, Judge Robert Heffron found probable cause to charge Geneice Petty, 34, with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.
During the hearing, Detective Joshua Malinowski testified that Geneice Petty initially lied about the whereabouts of their son, Antoine Petty Jr., saying he was with one of her husband’s relatives.
Geneice Petty eventually told detectives her husband had taken their crying son onto their Greenbelt apartment’s balcony on Sept. 21. Petty said she heard “several repetitive thuds,” at least five, before the baby was brought back inside, Malinowski told the court.
Soon afterward, the baby began breathing more shallowly, and eventually was unresponsive.
After leaving the baby in the back of Antoine Petty’s Lincoln Town Car hearse for at least 24 hours, the couple buried their son in a shallow grave behind Parkdale High School in Riverdale.
Almost a month later, on Oct. 19, Geneice Petty led police to the high school in the middle of the night. Soon afterward, her husband was brought to the scene, and he directed police to where their son was buried.
Antoine Petty will be held without bond until trial. His wife is being held in lieu of $120,000 bail.
