A woman is facing charges after a missing teen mom’s body was found in a Philadelphia basement last Thursday.
It was announced on Monday that the Philly DA’s office officially confirmed that Maddison Leidy, 25, has been charged with the tampering of evidence and mroe in relation to the Erin Schweikert case, according to ABC.
Inquirer.com reports that the 18-year-old Schweikert’s body was found in a walled-off storage space in Leidy’s living quarters. The twin home is located within the 2100 block of Porter St.
Lucy Simpson, the owner of the twin homes and the grandmother of Leidy told outlets that, “I’m not saying Maddison is innocent… but we had nothing to do with this.”
Police noted the smell of the decomposing body and asked Simpson about it, to which she claimed there was no smell.
Another Simpson grandchild reiterated to Inquirer.com that, “there was no smell.”
The unnamed grandson said a neighbor did complain of a gas smell in October and said Gas Works investigated, but found nothing.
The Sheriff’s office went to serve a robbery warrant at the home while also looking into a case of possible human trafficking when they found Schweikert’s body.
“Special Victims Unit was coming out here with our sheriffs to deal with an issue of human trafficking. They were looking for a missing female who was approximately 18 years old,” Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal told ABC.
When police arrived at the home, they found five people — two females and one male before discovering the body.
All five people in the home were taken into custody. It is not clear if others have been charged. ABC reports that Leidy is also in police custody.
Inquirer.com added that Leidy was being held Monday on $500,000 bail at the Riverside Correctional Facility.
Another unnamed femal was listed on the original search warrant for not showing up to court on a robbery charge from 2014, according to Inquirer.com.
Leidy has a preliminary hearing next month.
