Neighbour kills girl, 9, at ‘sex offender’ trailer park

In an affidavit of probable cause, investigators say Michael Plumadore admitted to beating Aliahna Lemmon with a brick, chopping up her lifeless body and storing body parts in a freezer.

The 39-year-old had been put in charge of looking after the girl and her sisters by their mother, who had come down with flu at a neighbouring trailer in which she cared for her dying father, a convicted child molester.

The mobile home park in Fort Wayne, Indiana, serves as a haven for registered sex offenders. State records show that of its two dozen inhabitants, 15 have served time for such crimes.

Despite the apparent risks, Tarah Souders moved her three children to live in the small community so that she could look after their ailing grandfather, who died earlier this month.

Aliahna was reported missing last Friday, just a few days after being dropped off with Plumadore.

Relatives say Plumadore was asked to help out as Ms Souders had come down with the flu and the girls’ step-father worked nights and slept during the day.

Plumadore has a criminal record that includes convictions for trespass and assault, but he is not on Indiana’s list of registered sex offenders unlike many others in the rundown trailer park.

The suspect initially told police that he last saw the nine-year-old girl on Friday morning, as she dozed on an armchair in his front room.

Plumadore told local newspaper The Journal Gazette on Sunday that he left the three girls in his mobile home about 6am on Friday and went to a petrol station about a mile away to buy a cigar.

Authorities have said the store’s surveillance video shows him there about that time.

“I had dead-bolted the door,” he said. “When I got back, all the girls was here.”

Family members feared that she could have been snatched after sleepwalking out of Plumadore’s trailer. Ms Souders said Aliahna suffered from hearing loss, was partially sighted and had behavioural problems. In addition, she had been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder.

Searches of the trailer park and surrounding area were conducted over the weekend, but officers pulled in Plumadore for an interview on Monday after growing suspicious over inconsistencies in his story.

It was then that the he made the chilling confession, police say.

In signed affidavit, an investigating officer reports: “The defendant freely admitted to killing Aliahna Marie Maroney Lemmon by striking her in the head multiple times with a brick while she was standing on the front steps of his residence.”

It goes on to describe how the alleged killer placed the child’s body inside rubbish bags before stashing her in a freezer.

The following day he returned to the cold storage unit and dismembered Aliahna’s body with a hacksaw before placing bits of her corpse in freezer bags and throwing them into a skip.

“The defendant further advised Aliahna’s head, feet and hands were still in his freezer at his residence,” the officer adds.

A search of Plumadore’s home on Boxing Day confirmed the grim claims, police said.

He was charged later that day with the girl’s murder and appeared in court on Tuesday for a brief preliminary hearing.

He is expected to be formally indicted on Friday.

David Story, the girl’s step-grandfather, said the family were surprised by Plumadore’s involvement.

“He was a trusted family friend,” he said.

Elizabeth Watkins, 52, who has lived at the park for six months with her four-year-old granddaughter, said it’s well-known that several sex offenders live in the neighbourhood.

She added: “I don’t know how a parent could leave their child alone.”