THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996 TAG: 9608230056
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 105 lines
A male acquaintance of the woman whose baby was discovered near North Battlefield Boulevard in Chesapeake earlier this week has been charged with her murder in Prince George County.
Police on Thursday charged Malcolm T. Ruffin, 31, with first-degree murder in the death of Antitca Monquie Hurt, who was nine months pregnant with his child. In a statement to police, Ruffin said he strangled Hurt with his belt and dumped her body following a domestic dispute, said Prince George County Police Chief Jeff Brown.
Ruffin's statements to police led authorities to Hurt's body in a wooded area of the county, which is near Petersburg.
Additional charges are possible, Brown said. A medical examiner conducted an autopsy Thursday. Results have not been made public.
Ruffin, of the 2700 block of Courtland Road in Prince George County, is married and has two children. He is being held on $100,000 bond in the Sussex County Jail. Ruffin does not have a previous criminal record, authorities said.
Ruffin's attorney, Paul Bland of Petersburg, could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
Authorities say Hurt was killed on Monday night in Prince George County, hours before 1-year-old Jaliyuah Hurt was discovered by a motorist in Chesapeake. The baby seemed to be poised to crawl across Essex Street in the Essex Meadows neighborhood. Authorities estimated that the baby, who was found at 4 a.m., had been there for as long as two hours.
Hurt's body was found about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Prince George Drive and Courtland Road, according to police.
Authorities did not provide details of how the baby came to be in Chesapeake. ``We're not certain why or if he brought the child here,'' Brown said.
They had no evidence that the mother had been in Chesapeake on Monday, Brown said. Relatives had said that Hurt told them she was coming to Chesapeake with Ruffin on a shopping trip to buy baby clothes.
By Thursday, Jaliyuah was in the custody of her father, who lives in the Petersburg area.
Chesapeake police have completed their role in the investigation and handed the case over to Prince George County authorities because the killing occurred there. The two law enforcement agencies worked together from the time relatives in the Petersburg area recognized the abandoned baby from a television news program and contacted Chesapeake police.
On Thursday morning, Hurt's relatives struggled to comprehend the events of the past few days while they worked on funeral arrangements.
``I just knew if that baby was found by the side of the road, that it had to be out of Antitca's control,'' said Hurt's aunt, Beatrice Hyman of Richmond. ``I knew that it was not her doing. I knew how she loved her child. I just had a feeling she had to be dead.''
Although the family will make sure that the baby ``knows'' her mother, Hyman said she realizes they can never completely make up for the absence. ``She'll always be looking for (her mother), and she won't be there,'' Hyman said.
The family did not know whether Antitca Hurt was expecting a boy or a girl.
``We didn't lose one, we lost two,'' Hyman said, referring to the unborn baby. ``To lose her and to lose a great-niece or nephew is devastating.''
Hyman said she had feared the the wait for an answer to the mystery of Hurt's disappearance could be a long one. She praised the work of the Chesapeake police.
``They jumped on this immediately,'' she said. ``I was shocked at how quickly this came to a head. I'm thankful we're not left wondering.''
Chesapeake Sgt. R.V. Williams gave the credit to detectives Lori Eanes, Mike Fischetti and Ronnie Young, who quickly switched their investigation to Prince George County on Wednesday.
``It was real easy for them to grow attached to the child and to want to try to determine the whereabouts of the mother,'' he said. ``They were really driven to solve this. . . We knew the baby was well cared for, and it just didn't fit that the mother would dump her.''
The case affected investigators more than most because of the number of tragic elements. A baby will grow up without a mother and will never know her half-sister or half-brother. Her father is now left as her sole natural parent. Ruffin's family has, at least for now, been torn apart. Many others were touched by the case of the little girl by the roadside.
``There are so many victims here,'' Eanes said. ``Everyone is a victim, not just the girl who was killed.''
Lisa Parker, the Hardee's employee who found the baby on her way to work early Tuesday morning, has followed the case closely.
``One minute their spirits are lifted because the baby's been found, but then they found out the worst - that her mother is dead,'' Parker said Thursday.
Parker said she met Hurt's aunt when she was here and hopes to stay in touch with Jaliyuah.
``I'm always going to have that picture in my head of when my headlights beamed on that baby,'' she said. ``I'll never forget her face.''
Hurt's aunt said her family is a close one and that they would pull together through the tragedy.
``We'll never get past this,'' she said. ``But it will get easier.'' ILLUSTRATION: Map
Color photos
Jaliyuah Hurt, 1, was found in Chesapeake.
Antitca Hurt was found dead near Petersburg.
Malcolm T. Ruffin, 31, is charged with Hurt's murder.
KEYWORDS: MURDER ABANDONED BABIES AND CHILDREN
ARREST by CNB