In the early morning hours of July 24, 1993, in Brunswick, Georgia, a two-month-old African American male named Jamaree Coleman was with his mother, Cheryl Lewrisey Coleman. After visiting her brother, Cheryl decided to walk home with her infant son, declining a ride. The two were last seen at a gas station on Newcastle and O Streets, where they accepted a ride from a man named Carl Harris in his pickup truck.
This decision led to a tragic and horrifying outcome that would haunt the community for years to come.
Hours later, at approximately 9:00 a.m., Cheryl's body was discovered in Academy Creek. The scene was grim; she had been murdered and her body mutilated. There was no sign of her infant son, Jamaree. Left behind were only his baby carrier and a blanket, silent witnesses to the terror that had unfolded. The creek, known to be infested with snakes and alligators, offered a chilling backdrop to the frantic search that ensued for the missing baby.
The investigation quickly zeroed in on Carl Harris. During questioning, Harris confessed to killing Cheryl Coleman in a wooded area before placing her body in the creek. He claimed that he had left two-month-old Jamaree at the edge of the water. Despite extensive searches by authorities, Jamaree's body was never recovered. It is widely believed that the high tides swept him away. Carl Harris was also implicated in the murder of another woman, Essie Marie Dowdy, who was killed in November of that same year, and he had also attacked another female acquaintance.
Carl Harris ultimately pleaded guilty to the murders of Cheryl Coleman, Jamaree Coleman, and Essie Marie Dowdy. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors did not pursue the death penalty. He was sentenced to two life terms in prison without the possibility of parole, in addition to a twenty-year sentence for assault. While the legal case against Harris was closed, the fate of Jamaree Coleman officially remains a mystery, though he is presumed to be deceased. The tragic story serves as a dark chapter in Brunswick's history, a heart-wrenching account of a mother's murder and her infant son's disappearance.
