‘Baby Jane Doe’ found in 1988 identified as 5-year-old Kenyatta Odom; mother charged in her murder

WARE COUNTY, Ga. — The little girl whose body was found at an illegal dump site in Ware County in 1988 has been identified and her mother and the mother’s live-in boyfriend at the time are facing charges in the child’s murder.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Monday that DNA genome sequencing led to investigators identifying the girl, known for decades as “Baby Jane Doe,” as 5-year-old Kenyatta Odom, who was also known as “Keke.”

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Evelyn Odom, 56, Kenyatta’s mother (who is also known as Zmecca Luciana) and Ulyster Sanders Sr., 61, are facing the following charges:

• Felony murder
• Cruelty to children - 1st degree
• Aggravated battery - family violence
• Conspiracy to commit a crime
• Concealing death of another

Since the girl’s body was found on Dec. 21, 1988, the GBI and the Ware County Sheriff’s Office had working on the investigation together, looking at other local, state, and national missing persons cases to see if there was any connection to Baby Jane Doe.

Ware County Sheriff Carl James, who responded to the initial call reporting the discovery of the body in 1988, said the child was found in a wooded area a short distance from a roadway.

“I was really not prepared for what we were about to find — that is the body of a little girl, who we now know is Kenyatta Odom,” he said.

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GBI Special Agent in Charge Jason Seacrist said in 2019, Special Agent Taylor Hundley joined the GBI. Hundley is from Waycross and had grown up hearing about the little girl whose body was found off Duncan Bridge Road in Millwood, which is north of Waycross.

The girl later identified as Kenyatta was found in a brown baby blanket placed in a gym bag that was in a cement-filled suitcase that was stuffed into a TV console cabinet at an illegal dump site.

Seacrist said Hundley specifically asked to take on the case.

2017: New images of baby ‘Jane Doe’ released 29 years after body was found in cement-filled suitcase

From there, DNA genome sequencing took place and a family connection was made to Albany, Ga., Seacrist said. Investigators believed previously that the girl had a connection to Albany because a newspaper clipping from the Albany Herald was found near the TV cabinet.

Investigators began comparing DNA from family members in Albany to that of DNA extracted from Baby Jane Doe, Seacrist said.

Action News Jax told you in December when the GBI made a renewed push for information in the case.

GBI said in December the little girl had pierced ears and was found wearing thermal bottoms and a white pullover sweater with a pink pony emblem.

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After that push for information and a $5,000 reward that was anonymously donated, GBI received a tip from a woman who said she knew who this child may be. Seacrist said the child’s mother, later identified as Evelyn Odom, told the tipster that the child went to live with her father and she had never really believed that.

In June, investigators confirmed that Baby Jane Doe was Kenyatta Odom, Seacrist said. On Nov. 1, GBI secured a true bill grand jury indictment for Evelyn Odom and Ulyster Sanders Sr.

Both were arrested without incident; Evelyn Odom in Cook County, Ga., and Sanders in Dougherty County, Ga.

Seacrist said it has been working with both the Waycross District Attorney’s Office, as well as the Dougherty District Attorney’s Office after it was determined that Kenyatta’s death happened in Dougherty County.

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James said the case showed the work that authorities put into solving long-running investigations.

“Where unsolved cold cases are concerned, investigators are always working on these cases,” James said Monday. “Even though the public might not see any progress for months, or even years, they’re still being investigated and worked on.”

In addition to the Ware County Sheriff’s Office, the GBI also thanked the following organizations for assistance in the investigation: the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), University of North Texas, Gene by Gene, Othram, Inc., and Innovative Forensic Investigations.

Anyone with any additional information is asked to call the GBI Tip Line at 1-800-597-8477. Tips can also be sent in through the GBI’s website or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.

Photos: Ware County ‘Baby Jane Doe’ found in 1988 identified as 5-year-old Kenyatta Odom

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"Baby Jane Doe" in Ware County identified GBI Special Agent in Charge Jason Seacrist (right) and Ware County Sheriff Carl James (middle) announce that a "Baby Jane Doe" whose body was found in 1988 has been identified as 5-year-old Kenyatta Odom. (Georgia Bureau of Investigation)

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