"The death of a 19-year-old female from New Iberia, La., has been connected to a 29-year-old man she met online. Sheryl M. Turner was last seen by her family on Dec. 31, 2023, before traveling to the West Monroe home of Anthony Pierce Holland Jr., the Catahoula Parish Sheriff's Department explained in a press release on Wednesday, April 24. The two "engaged in a romantic relationship over text message," and Turner told her family that she was going to stay with him before leaving home, the West Monroe Police Department, which collaborated with Catahoula authorities in the investigation, explained in a separate press release. According to KLFY-TV, Turner's phone was connected to wifi near Holland Jr.'s phone before it stopped transmitting on the night of Jan. 2. Her twin sister Sherry explained in a GoFundMe campaign that Turner was reported missing on Jan. 3, expressing that "as the days went by we knew something was wrong." Nearly three weeks later, on Jan. 24, the Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Office received a call about a body floating in the Ouachita River. "Deputies recovered the body, and the remains were found to be only a torso. There was no head or extremities connected to the body. The remains were sent for an autopsy and the findings led to the case being listed as a homicide," the West Monroe Police Department shared in its release." - People

Indianapolis mother walks free after admitting to smothering her 2-month-old baby to death between two couch cushions while high on meth. Judge Mark Stoner found Dacia Lacey not guilty of neglect resulting in death. Lacey confessed that she wanted her daughter to stop crying and just be quiet so she could get some sleep. The mother, who was high on meth, smothered her daughter in the couch cushions. Judge Stoner said that prosecutors didn’t do enough to prove she intentionally harmed her baby. Lacey was facing 20 to 40 years in prison. She now walks free.