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Brianne Miles, 20, died of a drug overdose in Northampton County last year, but her boyfriend, Franklyn P. Hutchison IV, allegedly failed to report her deaths for days, leading to abuse of corpse charges against the boyfriend.

(via LehighValleyLive.com)

Brianne Miles, 20, died of a drug overdose in Northampton County last year, but her boyfriend allegedly failed to report her deaths for days, leading to abuse of corpse charges against the boyfriend.

Franklyn P. Hutchison IV stands accused of abuse of corpse charges for allegedly remaining in the apartment with his dead girlfriend for at least two days -- until a neighbor finally complained about a strong odor coming from the address, according to our sister website, LehighValleyLive.com.

A Northampton County judge this week has upheld the abuse of corpse charges in the July 10th discovery of Miles' body in the West Easton apartment she shared with Hutchison.

Brianne Miles, 20, died of a drug overdose in Northampton County last year, but her boyfriend, Franklyn P. Hutchison IV, allegedly failed to report her deaths for days, leading to abuse of corpse charges against the boyfriend.

After Miles' death, Hutchison allegedly sent a text message from Miles' phone to her grandfather on July 8 in order to make it appear she was still alive, the news website reports, adding that he also allegedly told his landlord on July 9 that Miles was sleeping.

By the time her corpse was discovered by police, Miles face had turned black and her body was bloated, according to prosecutors.

However, Defense attorney Chris Shipman argued that Hutchison shouldn't be charged with abusing the corpse because did nothing to physically abuse the corpse, but rather just didn't report the death.