Bradenton, Florida -- A grand jury indicted Keishanna Thomas on first degree murder charges in the death of her daughter, Janiya Thomas, after convening for about three hours Tuesday morning.
Janiya Thomas was last seen alive by a child welfare worker in June 2014. Janiya was first discovered missing from her mother's home on Sept. 23 of this year when a Manatee County Sheriff's Office child protection investigator was called out to look into allegations Thomas had beaten her 12-year-old son.
Her body was found in a freezer at her grandmother's home on Oct. 18. Her grandmother told police Thomas and a male friend brought the freezer over four days earlier after she said she was being evicted from her apartment.
Thomas has been in custody at the Manatee County jail on charges of abuse, aggravated child abuse and abuse of a dead body.
She has a history with child welfare that dates back to March 2000. The family had 10 additional investigations for violence and abuse back to 2003.
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