Mother Indicted In Va. Killing

Body of Girl, 13, Found in Creek

A Prince William County woman whose 13-year-old adopted daughter was found dead in a shallow creek has been indicted on charges of murder, lying to police and abusing the child, authorities announced yesterday.

Police said Alfreedia Gregg-Glover, 44, of the Manassas area, lied when she told them that her daughter, Alexis "Lexie" Agyepong-Glover, had run away Jan. 7, prompting a massive search. Two days later, Lexie's body was found in a Woodbridge area creek, and an autopsy determined that she died of drowning and exposure to the cold. Her death was ruled a homicide, and police say Gregg-Glover placed her in the creek.

Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert said the medical examiner believes Lexie was alive when she was placed in the frigid creek, but he would not comment further on the case. He said the abuse charge stems from Gregg-Glover's conduct on the date of Lexie's death.

A Prince William grand jury has returned indictments against Gregg-Glover, charging her with first-degree murder, felony murder, felony child abuse and filing a false police report, authorities said. The two murder counts will give the jury the option of finding that Gregg-Glover acted with or without premeditation, they said.

At a news conference to announce the indictments, Ebert said the tragedy of Lexie's death was compounded by the fact that Gregg-Glover lied to police, wasting the time and resources of those charged with protecting the larger community.

"A lot of expense, time and trouble went to trying to locate this child, believing it was an abduction, when all along the indications are, of course, that the mother was responsible for the disappearance and the death," Ebert said. "The crime itself is bad enough."

After Lexie was found in the creek, Gregg-Glover was charged with felony neglect and lying to police, but those charges were dropped by the prosecution last week. She remains free on bond and is due in court Friday, when a trial date will be set and prosecutors will move to have her held without bond, Ebert said.

A phone call to Barry A. Zweig, a court-appointed attorney who represented Gregg-Glover in court last week, was not returned yesterday.

Authorities said that Lexie had run away several times before her disappearance and that sheriff's deputies had fitted her with a locator bracelet used to track endangered people. The bracelet was found near a Manassas library shortly after Gregg-Glover reported Lexie missing, and authorities said Gregg-Glover placed it there. She then appealed through the media for the safe return of her daughter, who she said had autism and other ailments.

Hundreds of police officers, deputies and volunteers combed the area, using search dogs and helicopters to look for Lexie as darkness descended and temperatures dropped below freezing. On Jan. 9, a man out for a walk found Lexie's body in a creek eight miles from the library. Gregg-Glover was charged days later.

Allegations that Lexie had been previously abused by Gregg-Glover have surfaced since Lexie's death. Ebert said yesterday that investigators had been in contact with social services officials.

Former caretakers and counselors who knew Lexie have disputed that she was "disabled," saying she was an intelligent, affectionate girl. Last week, about 35 people signed letters to county and state officials calling for an investigation into whether Prince William County's Department of Social Services mishandled Lexie's case while she was alive and whether procedural changes are necessary to prevent adopted children from landing in the wrong homes.