Greenville police announce arrest of woman in homicide of infant known as Julie Valentine Brooke Graham, 53, charged with homicide by neglect

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WILL START TO HIT THE GROUND. MICHAEL: GOOD EVENING. CAROL: AND I’M CAROL CLARKE. BREAKING NEWS COLD CASE ARREST. GREENVILLE POLICE SAY DNA HELPED SOLVE THE DEATH OF THE INFANT KNOWN AS JULIE VALENTINE. MICHAEL: TONIGHT THE WOMAN BELIEVED TO BE THE CHILD’S MOTHER IS BEHIND BARS. JULIE VALENTINE WAS LEFT FOR DEAD IN A BOX, OFF VERDAE BOULEVARD BACK IN FEBRUARY 1990. POLICE CHIEF KEN MILLER HELD A , NEWS CONFERENCE THIS MORNING TELLING US THEY USED DNA TECHNOLOGY TO IDENTIFY THE BABY’S FATHER. THE FATHER TOLD DETECTIVES WHO HE BELIEVES IS THE MOTHER. 53-YEAR-OLD BROOK GRAHAM WAS ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH HOMICIDE BY CHILD ABUSE. THE CHIEF SAYS HER DNA HAS BEEN SENT OFF FOR TESTING >> IT IS A CASE THAT MANY IF NOT MOST PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY ARE FAMILIAR WITH. BEING ABLE TO BRING CLOSURE IS A BIG DEAL IN ANY CASE. YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE IMMENSE CLOSURE. MICHAEL: THE BABY WASN’T IDENTIFIED WHEN SHE WAS FOUND. DETECTIVES NAMED HER JULIE VALENTINE BECAUSE SHE WAS FOUND THE DAY BEFORE VALENTINE’S DAY. SHE WAS NAMED JULIE AFTER A VICTIM’S ADVOCATE IN THE CASE. SINCE THEN, JULIE VALENTINE HAS BECOME A SYMBOL OF HOPE IN THE COMMUNITY. THE CENTER THAT BEARS HER NAME HELPS VICTIMS OF CHILD ABUSE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT. WE’RE LEARNING MORE TONIGHT ABOUT THE ACCUSED MOTHER BROOK GRAHAM. MADELEINE HACKETT JOINS US FROM GREENVILLE COUNTY WITH WHAT WE KNOW TONIGHT. MADDELEINE: GRAHAM IS CURRENTLY BEING HELD HERE AT THE GREENVILLE DETENTION CENTER DENIED BOND. BUT AS WE LEARNED TODAY THIS ISN’T HER FIRST TIME BEHIND BARS. >> WE ARE VERY CONFIDENT THAT THE MOTHER IN THE CASE WOULD HAVE DISCARDED THE INFANT IMMEDIATELY AFTER BIRT MADELEINE: THAT ACCUSED MOTHER IS 53-YEAR-OLD BROOK GRAHAM. TODAY, FACING CHARGES OF HOMICIDE BY CHILD ABUSE IN THE DECADES OLD MURDER CASE OF THE INFANT KNOWN AS JULIE VALENTINE. BUT DOCUMENTS SHOW THIS WAS NOT GRAHAM’S FIRST RUN IN WITH THE LAW. HER CRIMINAL BACKGROUND IN SOU CAROLINA DATES BACK TO 1983 AND INCLUDES MULTIPLE ARRESTS FOR FRAUDULENT CHECKS, BREACH OF TRUST AND FORGERY. IN 2000 SHE WAS ACCUSED OF TAKING $6,000 FROM A PTA FUND AT BEREA ELEMENTERY SCHOOL FOR HER OWN PERSONAL USE. BUT IT WASN’T UNTIL TODAY, THAT THE WORD MURDER WAS ADDED TO HER RAP SHEET. >> IT WAS HERE ALONG HILTON STREET IN GREENVILLE WHERE POLICE SAY THE INFANT’S BODY WAS FOUND. GREENVILLE POLICE SAY AT THE TIME OF THE ABANDONMENT IN 1990. GRAHAM WAS LIVING LESS THAN ONE MILE FROM THAT AREA. YESTERDAY, SHE WAS ARRESTED LESS THAN TEN MILES FROM HILTON STREET AT THE MOSBY POINSETT APARTMENTS IN GREENVILLE. >> IT REALLY SURPRISED ME TO SEE THAT. MADELEINE: AS NEIGHBORS WATCHED ON IN CONFUSION AND SHOCK. >> IT WASN’T LIKE THERE WERE POLICE CARS AND FLASHING LIGHTS BUT THERE WERE LOTS OF BIG PICKUPS AND UNMARKED SUVS AND I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON BUT THEY LOOKED REALLY SERIOUS. MADELEINE: WYFF NEWS 4 INVESTIGATES SPOKE WITH THE MAN WHO WAS TOLD BY POLICE THAT HE WAS JULIE VALENTINE’S FATHER. HE SAID DETECTIVES CAME TO HIS HOME TWICE INCLUDING YESTERDAY TO LET HIM KNOW GRAHAM WAS GOING TO BE ARRESTED. POLICE STILL HAVE QUESTIONS OVER WHETHER HE KNEW ABOUT THE PREGNANCY. YOU CAN READ OUR CONVERSATION ON OUR WEBSITE, WYFF 4.COM. CAROL: WHEN BABY JULIE VALENTINE WAS FOUND THERE WAS NO SAFE HAVEN LAW ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY. THESE ARE LAWS THAT ALLOW PARENTS TO SURRENDER INFANTS. WYFF NEWS 4 INVESTIGATES WORKED TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH HAS CHANGED IN THE LAST 30 YEARS. THE FIRST SAFE HAVEN LAW WEN INTO PLACE IN 1999. SINCE THEN THE NATIONAL SAFE HAVEN ALLIANCE REPORTS MORE THAN NEWBORNS WERE TURNED OVER 3000 PROPERLY. OF THOSE WHO WEREN’T TURNED OVER 773 NEWBORNS WERE FOUND DEAD 462 OTHERS WERE FOUND ALIVE. ALL 50 STATES NOW HAVE THESE LAWS. IN SOUTH CAROLINA IT’S CALLED DANIEL’S LAW. INFANTS CAN BE SURRENDERED UP TO 60 DAYS AFTER BIRTH WITH IMMUNITY FROM CHARGES FOR THE PA

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