Alisha Picone, 22, of Beaufort, has been charged with homicide by child abuse in the January 2019 death of an infant in her care.
On Jan. 4, 2019, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel responded to a residence on Bent Oak Road in Beaufort regarding an infant in medical distress. The infant was transported to Beaufort Memorial Hospital and later to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where the infant died.
A forensic autopsy was performed at MUSC on Jan. 7, where pathologists noted injuries to the infant’s head. After extensive medical studies and evaluation of the infant’s injuries, forensic pathologists concluded that the infant’s cause of death was blunt head trauma and the manner of death was homicide.
Sheriff’s Office investigators examined the Bent Tree Oak residence for evidence of what may have caused the infant’s injuries and interviewed witnesses. Investigators established that the infant was in the sole care/custody of 22-year-old Picone — the babysitter — when the head injuries were sustained.
After receiving the reports of the pathologists’ and other experts’ findings last week, Sheriff’s Office investigators met with the Solicitor’s Office, where it was decided that a warrant should be sought for the arrest of Alisha Picone in the infant’s death.
On Wednesday, May 29, investigators met with a Beaufort County magistrate and a warrant for Picone’s arrest for Homicide by Child Abuse was issued.
On Friday, May 31, Picone turned herself in to Sheriff’s Office deputies in Beaufort. She was arrested and transported to the Beaufort County Detention Center.
