Louisiana couple arrested almost 30 years after newborn was found dead in trash bag behind pizzeria

PICAYUNE, Miss. (TCD) -- A Louisiana couple were arrested last week nearly 30 years after a farmer discovered a newborn baby deceased inside a trash bag.

According to the Picayune Police Department, on April 15, 1992, a man removed trash from a dumpster behind Mr. Gatti’s Pizza on Memorial Boulevard and brought the it home to feed his animals. When he opened it, he reportedly found the newborn in a trash bag and wrapped in a towel "with other items of trash."

The autopsy determined the child was born April 15 and most likely three weeks premature. The child was only alive for a few minutes before being smothered to death.

Picayune Police detectives reopened the case in 2021 and searched for where the child was buried. In May 2021, detectives located a grave at Lee’s Chapel Baptist Church with a headstone that said, "Heaven’s Angel April 15, 1992 — April 15, 1992."

A few months later, a Mississippi Bureau of Investigation special agent worked with Picayune Police to help fund genealogy testing from the evidence taken when the baby was found. Picayune Police contacted Louisiana State Police and paired up with them because the suspects, Inga Johansen Carriere and Andrew Carriere, lived in Louisiana.

Louisiana State Police officials collected DNA samples and concluded the child was killed in Louisiana. Inga and Andrew Carriere were arrested and booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Facility for first-degree murder. Picayune Police said they will be extradited to Mississippi.

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