Augusta, GA
Baby wrapped in wet blanket and left to freeze to death by air conditioner in motel: Police
The Budget Inn Express on Gordon Highway in Augusta, Georgia where Josiah Seright was found on Aug. 6, 2024, (Google Maps). Inset left to right: September Seright, Bennie Antonio Nash, Lamisha Diane Seright (Richmond County Sheriff’s Office).
A child is dead and three people are charged with second-degree murder and second-degree child cruelty after police say they found a 3-month-old boy wrapped in a wet blanket and put next to an air conditioning unit set to 61 degrees inside of a Budget Inn Express in Augusta, Georgia.
According to an arrest report from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office obtained by Law&Crime on Friday, the child’s mother, September De’Asia Seright, 19, was charged and so too were adults Lamisha Diane Seright, 42, and Bennie Antonio Nash, 39. All are residents of Washington, Georgia.
The nature of the relationship between the defendants was not described by police.
Richmond sheriffs said that deputies were called to respond to an “unknown situation” at a Budget Inn on Aug. 6 on Gordon Highway just after 2 a.m.
Police said that when they arrived, they located the boy, identified by the agency as Josiah Noel Seright, and that he was unresponsive.
Records show the 3-month-old was transported to a local hospital, Wellstar MCG, for his injuries. He was pronounced dead at 2:37 a.m.
Not only was the child allegedly wrapped in a wet blanket, but local ABC affiliate WJBF reported that the child was strapped into a wet car seat as well.
Officials told the outlet the boy died of hypothermia and respiratory failure. Police did not say how long the boy may have been there but according to the Augusta Press, the boy’s mother allegedly brought him into the bathroom with her while she showered and then left him in a wet blanket and placed him by the air conditioning unit. She laid in the hotel room couch, the outlet reported, while her co-defendants laid on the hotel room bed.
There will be an autopsy while an investigation goes forward.
It is unclear if any of the defendants have retained an attorney.
All are currently imprisoned at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center in Richmond County and it is unclear if bond was set.
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