MACON, Ga. — People who live along Bishop Road in west Macon say they were woken up to the sound of police cars and flashing lights.
Jackie Matthews says when she heard what happened on her street, she was horrified.
"How can somebody do that to a baby? How?" says Matthews.
Matthews has lived on Bishop Road for about three years.
She says on Tuesday morning, she and her husband saw something that will haunt them forever.
"Somebody in an arm, could just carry it in an arm, with a white sheet over them, and we said, 'Oh, my God, that's just a little-bitty child'," she says.
Deputy coroner Lonnie Miley says 5-month-old Imir Kent was found dead around 6:30 a.m.
Several hours later, the Bibb County Sheriff's Office arrested mother Jalicia Kent and her boyfriend Quantious Hodges and charged them with murder.
"I said, 'Lord, what is wrong with these young people round here? They gonna leave a 5-month-old baby in a room with a space heater? Are they crazy?'" says Matthews.
The sheriff's office says it is still in the early stages of the investigation.
We asked the Bibb County Sheriff's Office why the couple was accused of murder rather than a manslaughter charge.
They did not explain, except to say the charge was based "on the action of the suspect."
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