Crime
Body of missing 6-month-old Nnakai Pratt found near Riverdale apartment complex
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The search for 6-month-old Nnakai Pratt, who was reported missing three days ago, ended tragically on Tuesday evening when authorities discovered the infant’s body near an apartment complex in Clayton County.
The grim discovery came 84 hours after the baby’s father, Antonio Pearce, claimed his son had been abducted during an alleged armed robbery.
Clayton County police confirmed that Nnakai’s twin sibling remains safe and in the care of their mother, who investigators say is not believed to be involved in the case.
Investigators returned to the Valley Hill Road apartment complex shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday to conduct another extensive search, after spending much of the day reviewing evidence and retracing previous search efforts.
By 6:30 p.m., officers established a perimeter with crime scene tape near a dumpster and the wooded area adjacent to the complex.
A few hours later, around 7 p.m., police confirmed the heartbreaking discovery of baby Nnakai’s body.
Authorities have not yet disclosed how or where the infant was found, citing the ongoing investigation.
Clayton County Police confirmed Monday that Antonio Pearce, the child’s father, is now the primary suspect in his son’s disappearance and death.
Pearce was arrested earlier this week on unrelated charges, including possession of marijuana and multiple traffic violations.
Pearce initially told officers that he and his infant son were the victims of an armed robbery at the apartment complex around 8 a.m. Sunday.
According to his account, assailants robbed him at gunpoint, stealing his belongings and allegedly taking the baby from a car seat before fleeing the scene.
However, police said inconsistencies in Pearce’s statements, combined with evidence suggesting possible foul play, led investigators to doubt his version of events.
Detectives subsequently shifted the focus of the investigation from a kidnapping case to a potential criminal homicide.
Court records show that Pearce has a prior criminal history, including charges of simple battery and cruelty to children filed in 2022. Authorities have not confirmed whether those charges involved his own children.
For two days, search teams — including K-9 units and cadaver dogs — scoured wooded areas, dumpsters, and drainage systems near Valley Hill Road but initially found no sign of the missing child.
Clayton County Police have not yet announced whether additional charges will be filed against Pearce in connection with Nnakai’s death.
He remains in custody and is expected to make his first court appearance on Wednesday.
“This is a devastating loss for everyone involved,” a police spokesperson said Tuesday evening. “Our detectives have worked tirelessly on this case from the moment the call came in, and our thoughts are with Nnakai’s family during this unimaginable time.”
The Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the baby’s official cause and manner of death.
Crime
Mustapha Kharbouch Now-Deleted 2024 Manifesto Published in Institute for Palestine Studies Recovered
Brown University has removed multiple online references to student activist Mustapha Kharbouch in the days following a deadly campus shooting, a move that has drawn public attention amid heightened online speculation—despite law enforcement officials confirming that no suspects or persons of interest have been identified in the investigation.
Archived versions of Brown University webpages show that Kharbouch, a first-year student at the time, was previously listed in several university-affiliated roles, including as a student assistant and Cultural Programming Coordinator connected to the Global Brown Center.
His academic interests were described as focusing on International and Public Affairs and Anthropology, with involvement in Middle East–focused academic, cultural, and student programming.
Those pages are no longer accessible, and Kharbouch’s social media accounts have also been deactivated.
A verified buyer from the United States with the name “Mustapha K.” reviewed a 9MM muzzle brake through the Wing Tactical website on December 29th, 2024 — the same caliber used in the Brown shooting.
There are approximately a few hundred people in the entire United States with that first name + last initial combination.
University officials have not issued a public explanation for the removal of the online profiles.
The changes occurred as online speculation intensified in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, with social media users circulating screenshots of archived university pages and past writings associated with Kharbouch.
Among the materials resurfaced by online users was a 2024 essay authored by Kharbouch and published by the Institute for Palestine Studies as part of a special student essay series titled Genocide in Gaza: Student Essays — Brown University Encampment 2024.
The essay, titled “I Hear the Voice of My Ancestors Calling: From the Camps to the Campus,” was published on August 13, 2024, months before the shooting. The piece is a first-person reflective essay examining Palestinian identity, intergenerational memory, student activism, and questions of hope amid displacement, war, and protest.
The article includes poetic excerpts adapted from “Ancestors Song,” a chant popularized during student-led Palestine solidarity actions at Brown University, and documents Kharbouch’s participation in campus organizing efforts, including sit-ins, hunger strikes, rallies, and the Brown Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
The essay situates these experiences within a broader discussion of decolonial thought, feminist theory, and Palestinian history, including reflections on the 1948 Nakba and the author’s family history as a third-generation stateless Palestinian refugee raised in Lebanon.
The content of the essay is ideological, autobiographical, and academic in nature.
There is no reference to violence on campus, nor any indication of intent or planning related to criminal activity.
The Institute for Palestine Studies has not issued any statement suggesting the piece is under review or connected to the shooting.
Despite widespread online conjecture, law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and Providence Police, have not named Mustapha Kharbouch as a suspect or person of interest, and have publicly stated that there is no evidence linking him to the shooting.
Investigators have emphasized that the case remains active and that conclusions are being guided strictly by verified evidence.
Authorities have cautioned against drawing inferences from online speculation, warning that unsubstantiated claims can compromise investigations and cause undue harm to individuals not implicated by facts.
Media analysts and campus observers have suggested that Brown University’s decision to remove online references may have been taken as a protective or precautionary measure, particularly as misinformation and harassment proliferated across social media platforms following the attack.
Similar actions have been taken by institutions in other high-profile incidents to limit doxxing, targeted harassment, or the misinterpretation of publicly available biographical information during periods of heightened tension.
Brown University has not confirmed whether the removals were temporary, administrative, or safety-related in nature.
Authorities continue to urge the public to rely on confirmed information released by law enforcement and to avoid amplifying unverified narratives.
As of the most recent update, no arrests have been announced, no individuals have been publicly identified as suspects, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with credible information related to the shooting has been asked to contact investigators directly.