Hunter Awtrey Cause Of Death

St. Louis Family Has Accused Her of Killing A Baby
Cause Of Death
Woman in photo is identified by victim's family as Anisa Helou. (Photo: Family members)
"Guitar Murder", Not "Police Question" In Soledad

Even as the St. Louis police investigate homicide on the St. Louis County Courthouse steps, there were people celebrating in the bleachers beneath the courtroom's awning. Family members were so close.

"I think she is more like a victim than anything," her mother, Anisa Helou, said about the man convicted of killing Helou's baby, 28-day-old Amigona Jean, on Oct. 31.

Helou has known her daughter, Amigona, as a second-grader since ninth grade, teaching her dance, her friends say. They once saw her in a restaurant in St. Louis called Aloo Gurung, and went to breakfast with her family.

On the steps that day, as the newscasters shouted questions about the murder, the family laughed. They stepped into the courtroom and even into the hallway. The crowd and police stretched toward the roped-off area where a judge and prosecutor could leave and speak.

"I think with these murders, it's all the same person, that person is the same person," Helou said.

Her daughter's body was pulled from the home. Police said they believe the 19-year-old married girl was pregnant when she was killed, and that she would soon bear five more children.

A photograph on her digital filing cabinet shows the same teenage victim, just cut into pieces. Her mother's finger and right arm were inside, broken in multiple places, as if she struggled with the men who killed her daughter.

The group at the Wednesday night memorial was chanting. Next to them stood white roses, blue balloons and black balloons with messages. Next to that, another group held a T-shirt with the words, "We Believe In Amigona." A large group of police officers watched the tributes with evident glee. The family who laid some of the grisly remains of her child weren't even aware Amigona existed.