Man charged with attempted murder, Child Abuse after baby found in trash

LAWRENCE, KS  –  A 27-year-old man will face attempted murder and child abuse charges after he allegedly left his 6-month-old step-daughter in the trash.

Lawrence Police said 27-year-old Marquis Jamall Young will face attempted first degree murder and child abuse charges after he was accused of leaving his 6-month-old step daughter in a trash receptacle outside of a Lawrence apartment.

On July 7, 2016 a woman walked outside to empty a vacuum cleaner into an outdoor trash compactor at the Trail Ridge Apartment Complex when she heard a noise that she thought was a kitten.

The woman started digging and threw out five or six trash bags and found a baby girl in the compactor screaming.

A neighbor heard the woman yelling for help and called police.

The baby was rushed to the hospital in serious but stable condition with gashes on her head and many bug bites.

An hour and a half earlier, a man parked his SUV in another part of the complex.  Neighbors said he was acting erratically, so they called police.

“There was definitely something wrong mentally going on with him, from the things he was saying, and (he was) just acting weird,” said one neighbor.

The apartment where that man lived, the neighbor said, was the same one police had cordoned off after the child was found.

The man’s wife told friends that she and her husband had a fight, she left and returned about 5:30 a.m. to find her 6-month-old daughter missing.

Neighbors also said they believe the man had been to the trash compactor before abandoning his SUV across the complex.

Lawrence Police investigators were able to identify the child’s step-father, Marquis Jamall Young, as the suspect and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Young is currently in custody in Johnson County on unrelated charges.  He will be brought to Douglas County to face charges of attempted first degree murder and child abuse.

Police said the baby involved in this case has since been released from the hospital and remains in the care of the state.  She will continue to receive medical care for her injuries on an outpatient basis.