Antonio Pearce appeared in a Clayton County, Georgia courtroom on Wednesday after his 6-month-old son’s body was found in a wooded area near the apartment complex on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
Reports previously stated Nnakai Pratt’s body was found in a dumpster near his family’s apartment complex.
Nnakai was reported missing on Sunday, Oct. 12.
Clayton County police arrested Pearce on unrelated charges on Monday, Oct. 13, WXIA reported.
Pearce was booked into the Clayton County jail around 4 a.m. on two charges of driving while license suspended/revoked, possession of marijuana, and driving with baby Nnakai or his twin sister without proper child restraints.
Nnakai’s twin sister is safe with her mother.
Pearce’s charges were upgraded Wednesday to malice murder, cruelty to children, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, concealing a death, tampering with evidence and more, according to court records obtained by Channel 2 News.
A judge denied bond for Pearce on Wednesday, citing out-of-state criminal history in his decision.
Pearce told detectives Nnakai was taken from the family’s apartment on the 100 block of Valley Hill Road by unknown suspects who headed in an unknown direction.
He said the kidnappers robbed him at gunpoint, and took his son around 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
But police suspected Pearce was involved in his son’s disappearance because of inconsistencies in his story. Police also found evidence of foul play.
A woman who lived with Pearce was taken in for questioning. She told Channel 2 News that she did not know he had any children.
Their home was searched and a vehicle was towed away from the residence they shared.
A neighbor, Chanetta Harris, told Channel 2 she thought police waited too long to take the woman into custody.
“She’s in the same residence as him, so they should have confiscated the vehicle yesterday,” Harris said. “They gave her too much time to clean it.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is assisting the Clayton County Police Department with the case.
