Grim details emerge about death of starved, burned 10-year-old

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Grim new details about the death of a 10-year-old girl emerged as a Gwinnett County judge heard evidence in the case against her parents Friday.

The judge decided to keep Eman and Tiffany Moss in the Gwinnett County Jail on murder charges.

The couple is accused of trying to burn their daughter Emani's body and hiding it in a garbage can.

Channel 2's Tony Thomas said the couple just stared straight ahead during the testimony.

Gwinnett County police detective Collin Flynn said Eman Moss confessed to the crime after his arrest but put the brunt of the blame on his wife. She has refused to speak to police.

"At one point he leaned back and said, "I'm guilty. I'm guilty. I killed my baby," Flynn testified.

Flynn said Moss claims his daughter started having seizures on Oct. 24 and couldn't move. Moss told police he and his wife put her in bed and didn't give her food or medicine and she died seven days later.

Flynn said the child weighed only 32 pounds at her death. Neighbors he interviewed said they didn't know the child existed.

"They were afraid they'd go to jail if they took Emani to the hospital," Flynn said.

Detectives said the couple purchased a trashcan on Oct. 31 and drove around Gwinnett County looking for a place to dump the body. They even went into Stone Mountain Park to look for a place to burn the child, police said.

"He put her back in the trash bag, left her in the truck Friday while he went to work, leaving the body in the Trailblazer while he was at work, Flynn said.

Emani Moss eventually called police and led them to a trashcan where he told police that the couple used charcoal to burn the body.

Relatives of the Moss family would not talk as they left the courtroom.

Defense attorney John Burdgess told Channel 2's Tony Thomas his clients are waiting for autopsy reports to be complete.

During the hearing Burdgess asked police if they saw any signs of restraint that would prevent the child from eating. The detective responded, "No."

The defense was not required to present any evidence in the probable cause hearing.

The case of Emani Moss includes six previous contacts or complaints with the Georgia Department of Family and Child Services dating back to 2003, according to records obtained by Channel 2 Action News. The most recent complaint happened just two months before her death.

"I am committed to ensuring whatever action that needs to be taken is taken, whether that's corrective action or personnel changes. Personnel changes are always possible," Division Director Sharon Hill told Channel 2's Aaron Diamant on Thursday.

"I'm not sure that we have made the best use of the people, the tools that we do have," Hill said. "Quite often we've developed strategies, but we don't always fully execute on those strategies and continue to follow up."

State reports show that 152 children with DFCS histories died in Georgia in 2012. At least 18 cases have been labeled as homicides.

WSBTV