Mom Googled 'Alligator Ponds,' 'Fatal Bridge' Before Staging Murdered Child's Accidental Death

A Jacksonville mother will be serving a life in prison term after pleading guilty to the 2017 murder of her 11-year-old daughter, who was the victim of years of abuse.

According to her arrest warrant, Erica T. Newsome, 41, was accused of strangling and beating her daughter, Kaye–lea Plummer, resulting in the child's death on Aug. 4, 2017, reported First Coast News.

Two days later, authorities retrieved the body of the victim under a blanket when Newsome crashed her pickup truck against a guardrail early Aug. 6 on U.S. 250 in Thornwood, West Virginia, aiming to stage the murdered child's death as accidental.

However, the initial examination would determine that Kaye-lea had been deceased for at least 24 hours prior to the crash, according to Law and Crime.

Investigators then noted that a couple from New York City, who were behind Newsome when she hit the guardrail on the Allegheny Mountain, reported seeing her remove a body wrapped in a blanket from the truck and drag it over the hill after the 11:20 a.m. crash.

A responding police officer recalled the moment Newsome stood next to her daughter’s body near an embankment where her truck crashed. The trooper then added he discovered the body wrapped in a comforter about 150 yards from the scene of the crash, News4Jax noted.

Following the alleged road accident, State Police Sergeant Herby Barlow said it was “obvious that the 11-year-old did not die from injuries from the accident,” noting the child sustained “non-motor vehicle injuries.”

Subsequently, Newsome would confess to police that she had been abusive to her daughter and had killed her, detailing she had picked Kaye-lea up from her bed and put her in the pickup on Aug. 4, 2017, for a drive to Buffalo, N. Y. to see the girl's father.

During the trip, according to reports, Kaye-lea did not eat, drink, speak, or use the restroom. Further investigations unraveled that the girl died in Jacksonville.

Prior to leaving for Buffalo on Aug. 4, Newsome allegedly searched disturbing keywords such as "alligator ponds," "fatal bridge accidents in Jacksonville," "people killed on Virginia cliffs" and "Virginia highways that has [sic] huge cliffs," the arrest warrant stated.

On Thursday, Newsome, who was booked at Duval County to face charges in the death, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. Prosecutors would decide to drop other related charges of aggravated child abuse and child neglect, Duval County court records show.