Erica Newsome, 27, allegedly removed the body of her 11-year-old daughter from her car, dragged her daughter’s body over the hill, and covered her deceased daughter with a blanket following a single-vehicle accident near Thornwood, WV, on Sunday.

Newsome, of Jacksonville, FL, was arrested, charged, and arraigned on Monday for concealment of a deceased human body.

The truck Newsome was driving – from Florida to New York – struck a guardrail on a rural mountain road in West Virginia.

The truck, bearing Florida license plates, came to a stop near the center line, according to the Washington Post. A couple driving along the same wooded highway told law enforcement that they witnessed Newsome take her daughter’s body from the truck and drag it over the hill, according to D.P. Dillon, West Virginia State Police Senior Trooper. The couple made an emergency call at 11:20 Sunday morning.

Accident responders find little girl covered in blanket already dead

Law enforcement and emergency service personnel arrived at the scene and found Newsome and her daughter, Kaye-lea Plummer, 150-feet on a hillside of the logging road.

Kaye-lea was already deceased. The Pocahontas Times reported that West Virginia State Police Sergeant Herby Barlow stated Kay-lea did not die as a result of the accident. It was obvious, he said, “Her injuries were non-motor vehicle injuries.” The coroner arrived at the accident scene, and following observation noted that the little girl was deceased, at least, 24 hours.

Dillon, who filed the criminal complaint against Newsome, attained a digitally recorded post-Miranda statement by Newsome. She said she killed Kaye-lea and that she was also abusive toward her 11-year-old child. According to Newsome’s statement, the accused child-killer reportedly told law enforcement that she picked her little girl up from her bed, placed her in the truck on August 4, the Pocahontas Times noted.

Accused child-killing mother said child lifeless during two-day trip

The mother also said that her daughter hadn’t moved, eaten, drank anything, spoken, or used a bathroom for two days. That same duration was the length of the time of driving from Jacksonville, FL, to where the accident occurred.

Barlow told the Pocahontas Times that he would not have discovered Kaye lea's body if the couple hadn’t reported the accident and told responders what they witnessed. Kaye-lea was not reported missing, he also said. The accident would have been treated the same as “any vehicle accident, ” and a tow truck would have been called if Newsome had stayed with the truck.

Child’s father surprised by trip and shocked by daughter’s death

Kay-lea’s father, Donath Plummer, lives in Buffalo, NY, and works at a Rite Aid store. He was working when investigators went to his job Sunday night and delivered the news of his daughter’s death, according to WIVB (News 4). Plummer said that he and Newsome separated in 2014, but they stayed in contact. Newsome text messaged him as she drove from FL to New York as if all was well.

Plummer had not seen Kay-lea in years, News 4 reported. The pending visit with his daughter surprised him. He said he was shocked to learn that she was allegedly killed by Newsome and had no explanation for his estranged wife’s motive. “That wasn’t the woman I married,” he said, adding, Newsome wasn’t the woman he entrusted with his child. Newsome is in jail being detained in West Virginia on $50,000 bail as investigators continue searching for evidence in Florida.