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Cemetery Vandalized, Infant’s Body Pulled from Grave



Deputies in Clay County are trying to figure out who dug up an infant’s grave at the Fowler Cemetery, located at 4770 Witch Hazel Road in Middleburg, Florida. The graveyard is privately-owned.



The family found several headstones vandalized and the remains of Makayla Merriweather, who died before birth in May 2007, had been removed from the grave. The child’s uncle discovered the vandalism while he and his mother, Maude Burroughs Jackson, were visiting the graves of relatives. “I saw him crying,” Jackson told reporters. “He said, ‘I can’t look at it! I can’t look at it!’ I said, ‘Look at what? What’s going on?’ And he said, ‘Makayla is on the ground.’”



Fowler Cemetery is sacred ground for Jackson’s family. Her husband is buried there as are many other black residents of Middleburg’s Hill Top community.



In addition to the disinterment, vandals overturned several headstones and shattered some of the monuments. “I watched so many people today pass by and just cry,” Jackson continued.





At this point, authorities have not been able to determine if the child’s body was removed by the vandals or an animal. A spokesperson explained the grave was too shallow to determine who, or what, may have pulled the tiny corpse from its resting place. “I just hope whoever did this will be brave enough to stand up and say, ‘I made a mistake. I did it,’” Jackson added.



“The desecration of a grave is a second-degree felony and a personal offense to me as the Sheriff of our county,” Sheriff Darryl Daniels said, “I will exhaust every resource to find out who perpetrated this crime and will follow this case to its conclusion in court.”



Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Clay County Sheriff’s non-emergency line at (904) 264-6512.



Source: WJAX/WAWS, October 30, 2019.