Mother indicted in death of baby found in motel freezer

DOTHAN, Ala. — A woman has been indicted in the death of her 6-month-old son, whose body was found last summer in an Alabama motel room freezer.

The Dothan Eagle reported Friday that 36-year-old Amanda Gail Oakes is charged with manslaughter and corpse abuse.

A man who had been traveling with Oakes, 28-year-old Carlton James Mathis of Gainesville, Georgia, was arrested on a murder warrant June after the baby's body was found.

The baby, Curtis James Oakes, died while being cared for by Mathis. The mother said they placed her son's body in the freezer of a Dothan motel room when the smell became unbearable.

Investigators found the body in the freezer after the couple was arrested. Police say it had been there for several days.