Jerice Hunter, mother of missing girl, arrested

Jerice Hunter, the mother of missing Glendale girl Jhessye Shockley, was booked into the 4th Ave Jail on Thursday afternoon.

Hunter was indicted on charges of first degree murder and child abuse and arrested without incident at her home in Mesa, said Glendale Police Chief Debora Black during a press conference.

Black said there was no new evidence in the case -- but that the body of evidence over the past 11 months is enough, authorities believe, to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hunter killed her daughter.

"We took everything that we had at the conclusion of the landfill, which was important that we finished the search of the landfill. We've been working since that day, since the end of the search, that's how we reached the point that we did today," said Black.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said his office feels confident in the charges that the grand jury issued.

"While the indictment and the arrest itself are not evidence itself, they still must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury of 12. It is my firm belief that with the investigation to this point that we've secured the appropriate charges and the process will proceed with the sole goal of providing justice," said Montgomery.

5-year-old Jhessye Shockley has been missing since Oct. 11. The investigation into her disappearance has since become a murder investigation.

Jerice Hunter was arrested on child abuse charges back in November of 2011. Jhessye's brothers and sisters told them their mom beat Jhessye, threw her in a closet, and told them to tell police she disappeared. The three children also described Jhessye as "not looking alive" and that she looked "like a zombie," and (the closet) "smelled like dead people."

She was released days later because no charges were filed. At the time, Glendale Police said, "This decision will allow the Glendale Police Department to follow up on new leads developed since the search warrant and arrest of Jerice Hunter for the Child Abuse on Monday November 21, 2011, as well as complete forensic analysis of evidence."

An extensive landfill search for Jhessye's remains ended in July without any discovery of evidence. Police personnel sifted through thousands of tons of trash, suspecting Hunter disposed of Jhessye's body a few days before reporting her missing.

County Attorney Bill Montgomery has prosecuted cases without a body before. Police say less than 10-percent of all landfill searches are successful.

Hunter has a criminal past. She was arrested in a child abuse case in California back in 2005. Hunter pleaded no contest to corporal punishment and served about four years in prison before she was released on parole in May 2010.