Mom's boyfriend allegedly killed her 4-year-old and hid her decomposing body in garbage bags for weeks before they reported her missing, police say

A community is grieving after searching for a 4-year-old who was reported missing but later discovered to be a victim of a gruesome murder.

Police and community members searched for any sign of Sequoia Samuels after she was reported missing by her family from their apartment in Memphis, Tennessee.

Initially the child's 24-year-old mother, Brittney Jackson, told police that she awoke on Thursday morning to find her daughter missing and the door to their apartment left ajar.

After a daylong search, Samuels' remains were found in a garbage can near their apartment on Thursday.

Jackson changed her story to police and said that her 21-year-old boyfriend, Jaylon Hobson, had assaulted the girl numerous times before the final time when she became unresponsive.

She claimed that Hobson hid the remains of her deceased daughter for weeks before reporting her missing, according to police. Hobson allegedly put her remains in garbage bags before placing them in a garbage container at the apartment.

Jackson faces charges of aggravated child abuse, abuse of a corpse, and filing a false police report. Hobson is only charged with filing a false police report, but he may be charged with other offenses after the investigation is concluded.

Hobson is also facing charges of trespassing with prohibited weapons and drug possession from a separate and unrelated incident.

Jackson was given a bond of $500,000 while Hobson was given a bond of $50,000.

A member of the family sent a video of Samuels smiling and dancing to WMCA-TV and said that they called her "Smiley" because all she did was smile.

Memphis police said the investigation is ongoing and asked for any information from the public related to the case.

Here's a local news report about the incident:

Mother tells police missing girl was dead for weeks, body stored in bagswww.youtube.com

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!