Mom Charged in Death of 7-Year-Old

A South Carolina woman who told police that a carjacker smothered her seven-year-old son with a pillow has been arrested and charged with the boy's murder. Amanda Reagan Smith was arrested almost three months after she reported the alleged carjacking incident to Greenville police.

Smith, 27, told police that a carjacker with a knife forced her to drive to a wooded area near Greenville, locked the car doors, put a pillow over the boy's face to smother him and fled into the woods.

After she reported the death, police searched the wooded area using helicopters and police dogs. A sketch of the alleged assailant was made and distributed throughout the area. Smith showed police a scratch on her arm which she received by fighting with the carjacker, she said.

Greenville County Sheriff Steve Loftis said investigators had "our doubts and suspicions" about Smith's story from the beginning, but he would not say what caused him to finally charge Smith with the crime.

"We are confident that we have the suspect in jail now," Loftis told reporters.

See Also:
Police Arrest S.C. Mom in Son's Death

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^{Photo: Mug Shot}