The Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control reports the arrest of a Kirksville woman on first-degree murder following a child death investigation by the Division of Drug and Crime Control and the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office.
The Patrol took 28-year-old Makuya Stephanie Kambamba into custody Friday with assistance from the Kirksville Police Department. She was transported to the Sullivan County Jail and was to be transported to the Daviess DeKalb Regional Jail in Pattonsburg.
Online court information shows Kambamba has also been charged with the felonies of second-degree murder, first-degree involuntary manslaughter, second-degree involuntary manslaughter, and abuse or neglect of a child—resulting in death—no sexual contact. She was issued no bond. An arraignment is scheduled in the Associate Division of Sullivan County Circuit Court Monday.
Investigators said in court documents that Kambamba gave birth in a restroom at the Smithfield Foods plant in Milan, where she works. Court papers say she told officers that she saw the infant moving as he was face down in the toilet. Kambamba said didn’t check on the baby boy again until about 30 minutes later when a Smithfield nurse entered the restroom.
The Boone County Medical Examiner’s Office in Columbia performed an autopsy. It revealed evidence consistent with a drowning victim.
The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office requested the Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control to assist with the child death investigation.
