No charges for Carlena Walker after keeping miscarried remains in freezer for nearly a year
Police were investigating a shooting when authorities searched a home and discovered the remains of a woman’s miscarried pregnancy in a jar in the freezer. Despite being in there for nearly a year, the Las Vegas coroner says there is no crime because the fetus was not viable.
She and her friend headed back to court on Thursday to face official charges.
Carlena Walker, 25, was questioned about a shooting in her apartment complex when they discovered the human remains. She told police that she miscarried at eight weeks – last October.
“There is no evidence of a crime,” Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said. “The material is from the early stages of the first trimester and appears to be evidence of a miscarry.”
Nevada state law classifies a stillbirth as a birth after at least 20 weeks of gestation in which the child shows no evidence of life.
Walker and her friend Preston Caudle, 24, were arrested on suspicion of child abuse after police were met with a cloud of marijuana while conducting a “knock and ask” canvass of neighbors regarding the shooting, authorities said. There was a child in the apartment where they found a stolen handgun, drug paraphernalia and about a half-pound of marijuana hidden in and under a child’s bassinet in the home.
Officers booked Caudle on first-degree possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, first-degree child abuse/neglect, possession of stolen property and possession of a gun by a prohibit person. Walker was booked into Clark County Detention Center on first-degree child abuse/neglect.
photo JRLibby
