Update: Cleveland police charged Aliyah Henderson in the deaths of her 2 daughters after their bodies were found buried in 2 suitcases near a Cleveland school on March 2.
Family members identified the half-sisters as Amor Wilson, 10, and Mila Chatman, 8. The 2 suitcases were found buried about 25 feet apart near Ginn Academy in Cleveland’s South Collinwood neighborhood.
Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Jeffrey Johnson set a $2 million bond during Henderson’s arraignment on Friday, March 6.
The judge cited “concern for public safety” as the reason for the $2 million bond.
Henderson was surrounded by half a dozen police officers in Cleveland Municipal Court on Friday. She was in court for only a few minutes.
Family members shared a photograph online that shows the half-sisters smiling with their mother and grandmother during a doctor’s appointment in 2019.
The two girls were not reported missing.
DeShaun Chatman, the father of Mila Chatman, had searched for his daughter for weeks.
For 5 years, he tried to get custody of Mila. He was informed on Wednesday that she was deceased.
Chatman is seen in a photo at the site where there is now a growing memorial of flowers and toys for the girls.
“Mila was happy-go-lucky, always smiling,” Chatman told a reporter. He said Mila’s “favorite color is pink” and she “swore that she was a princess. She was always happy. She was a kid’s kid.”
Police removed a child from a residence in the 700 block of East 162nd Street, where Henderson was arrested on Wednesday. The child appeared to be in good health and is in the custody of The Department of Children and Family Services.
“It’s alleged in this matter the defendant did cause the death of her two daughters, 8 and 10-years-old,” Cuyahoga County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kristine Travaglini said in open court on Friday. “The badly decomposed bodies of the two little girls were found in shallow graves in Cleveland in suitcases,” Travaglini added.
A local man walking his dog on Monday evening found a suitcase in a shallow grave at a playground.
Phillip Donaldson said his dog pulled him towards a mound of dirt. He saw a suitcase half buried in the pile of dirt. He lifted the bag out of the loose dirt, unzipped it and discovered a head.
“She stopped, it was like a pile of dirt, and she stopped to sniff … and she was taking too long. So, I went back and looked, and it was a suitcase that was half buried and I pulled it up and looked in it, and it was a head. Somebody’s head in it,” Donaldson told a reporter.
NEW?: Man out walking his dog stumbles on a suitcase with human remains inside. Turns out two bodies—two young girls, sources say—found in separate suitcases, partially buried near Ginn Academy in Cleveland's South Collinwood. Homicide detectives on it.
Cleveland PD says “no… pic.twitter.com/uKLkW0WIcx
— Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) March 3, 2026
Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said Tuesday she did not know how the girls died. Their bodies had been buried for some time.
“These were two young lives with their entire futures ahead of them,” Todd said. “Our detectives worked tirelessly and with great care to identify those responsible. Investigations of this nature require patience, precision and discretion. Unlike what is often portrayed on television, every detail cannot be shared publicly.”
“This is a traumatic event for our officers and for the community,” Todd added. “This is just such a tragic incident.”
