A mother has been charged after her 10-month-old daughter’s body was discovered in a cardboard box inside her Milwaukee apartment.
On Aug. 13, a neighbor reported “a foul smell” coming from Shyanna Brothers’ home. When authorities arrived, Brothers, 28, told police the odor was from old food, according to WISN and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Police entered the apartment and found the body of Brothers’ daughter, Rayne Taylor, in a large cardboard box in a locked bedroom, the criminal complaint obtained by the outlets stated.
Brothers claimed she was a victim of domestic violence and said an unidentified man forced her to hide her daughter. “He has me hiding her in there,” she told police, pointing to the bedroom, WISN and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
According to the complaint, Taylor’s body was in “an advanced state of decomposition,” with flies and maggots surrounding the cardboard box.
Mother charged after baby’s decomposing body found in cardboard box in apartment
Shyanna Brothers’ home.
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Autopsy records obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed Taylor suffered a frontal-parietal skull fracture consistent with blunt force trauma. The official cause of death remains under investigation.
In a police interview, Brothers denied killing her daughter, stating she “had no control over how she died,” WISN reported.
Police noted Brothers’ statements were inconsistent and that she sometimes spoke incoherently, as if “talking to someone else,” according to WISN.
A neighbor told the local outlet they “never saw her with a baby” and that Brothers often spent time outside. The neighbor also noted Brothers had previously complained about odors inside the apartment.
Defense attorney Stephen Sargent raised concerns about Brothers’ mental health during her court appearance on Aug. 17, when a doctor’s evaluation was ordered, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
No other suspects are currently being questioned in connection with Taylor’s death.
The Milwaukee County Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday, Aug. 23. It is unclear whether Brothers has legal representation to comment on her behalf.
