Office of the DeKalb County District Attorney

Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit

Sherry Boston, District Attorney

MOTHER INDICTED ON MURDER, CRUELTY CHARGES FOR ´HOT CAR' DEATH OF CHILD

October 4, 2017

State vs. Dijanelle Fowler

Decatur, Ga.-  A DeKalb County Grand Jury has indicted a South Carolina woman accused of murder in the heat-induced death of her toddler. Jurors returned a three-count indictment Tuesday against 25-year-old Dijanelle Fowler on charges of Murder in the Second Degree, Cruelty to Children in the Second Degree, and Concealing the Death of Another in connection with the death of her 13-month-old daughter, Skylar Fowler.

The charges against Defendant Fowler stem from a series of events beginning on the morning of June 15, 2017. According to the investigation, the Defendant left the child buckled in her car seat in the rear of her vehicle while she visited a Lavista Road hair salon in Tucker. When she returned approximately five hours later, detectives say she sought assistance to jumpstart her disabled car. Authorities say Defendant Fowler then drove to the parking lot of Emory University Hospital and made repeated calls to 911 claiming she was suffering from a seizure. Medical staff responded to the parked vehicle where they discovered the body of the deceased child. Following a detailed investigation, arrest warrants were issued for Defendant Fowler on July 6, 2017. She remains jailed without bond.

The case will be prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Sexual Exploitation and Crimes Against Children (S.E.C.A.C.) Unit.  A trial date has not yet been set.