Mother charged after missing 11-month-old found dead in Chesterfield County

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, SC (FOX 46 WJZY) - The mother of a missing 11-month-old girl has been taken into custody after the child was found dead Tuesday afternoon, according to the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office.

Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, the child's mother, Breanna Lewis, 19, said that she was walking to check her mailbox at her home in the 200 block of Daisy Lewis Ln. off of Jackson Rd. East when a tan and gold colored SUV stopped in the middle of the road.

She said a white man about 6'2" wearing a black coat, toboggan and a black glove got out of the car, punched her in the head several times, grabbed her 11-month-old daughter, Harlee Lane Lewis, and sped away. Lewis said she had never seen the suspect before.

An Amber Alert was issued just after 4 p.m., around the same time that the child's remains were found hidden inside a plastic bag in a plastic container about 1,000 yards from the home.

Investigators told FOX 46 that Lewis admitted that she made the story up about the abduction, but she will not tell investigators how the baby came to be in the plastic bin. Officials said she is the primary suspect in this case.

The Sheriff said Lewis has been charged with filing a false police report on Tuesday, and remains in custody while deputies work to learn how the baby died. She could face other charges after an autopsy is complete, as the cause of death is still unclear.

The Sheriff also told FOX 46 that the child's father had recently committed suicide and his family had been working to get custody of the child.

SLED and the FBI are also participating in the investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office at (843) 623-2101.

This story has been updated to reflect the accurate gender of the child.