Judge denies bond for mom accused of abandoning Baby Boy Horry
The mom accused of abandoning Baby Boy Horry in 2008, leading to his death, will remain in jail after a judge declined to set bond.
Jennifer Sahr was in an Horry County court on Friday morning to argue for bail in her case. She entered the courtroom looking disheveled, wearing a jail-issued orange jumpsuit. She has been in J. Reuben Long Detention Center since her Tuesday arrest.
Her husband and other family members were also in the courtroom for the hearing.
Horry County police announced this week that Sahr was their suspect in the 2008 cold case. Police arrested her in North Myrtle Beach hours after their announcement.
Officers charged Sahr with homicide by child abuse, which is punishable by 20 years to life in prison. Sahr lives in the Pensacola, Florida area with her husband and their two children.
On Dec. 4, 2008, utility workers found a dead newborn in the woods outside of Conway. Local officials tried to find the baby’s mother, but were unsuccessful. The child was dubbed “Baby Boy Horry” because of his unknown identity.
Sahr was an honor student at Coastal Carolina University in 2008.
Local officials, led by Horry County Coroner Robert Edge, worked to find out the baby’s identity. The local motorcycle group Rolling Thunder adopted the baby and held memorials on his would-be birthdays.
Police say the baby was alive after birth and could have lived with proper care.
Investigators have not released many details on what led them to Sahr, but said DNA testing confirmed she is the mother. Solicitor for the 15th Judicial Circuit Jimmy Richardson said Baby Boy Horry’s father did not know he was a dad.
Police identified and spoke to the father, who gave them Sahr’s name, Richardson said. The father was not present for Friday’s bond hearing, but Richardson read a letter that stated Baby Boy Horry would have been his only child.
“I would like to thank everyone involved in bringing justice to my baby boy,” the father’s letter read.
The father asked that he not be identified, Richardson said.
“I can’t envision what he’s gone through,” Richardson told the media after the hearing. “It’s quite a shock to him.”
Richardson said he didn’t consider Sahr a danger to the community, though there are concerns she might flee, given the fact she has few ties to Horry County.
“We do believe she would be a flight risk,” Richardson said.
Defense attorney Greg McCollum described Sahr’s efforts to corporate with the police investigation. Sahr and her family were in Arizona when officers first contacted her. Sahr agreed to meet with them when she returned to Florida.
The stay-at-home mom met with detectives, who had a search warrant for a DNA sample, McCollum said.
Sahr called McCollum and then drove to South Carolina to surrender to authorities. If she was arrested in South Carolina instead of Florida, she avoided the extradition process.
Sahr and her husband closed their social media sites and she planned to surrender at J. Reuben Long Detention Center on Wednesday morning, McCollum said. She didn’t have a chance to turn herself in as police arrested her Tuesday night.
“She’s entitled to a defense and she’s presumed innocent,” McCollum said. “We believe strongly in her and we’re going to do everything we can to help her and her family.”
Judge Larry Hyman said bond typically is not set when a person has serious charge and is a possible flight risk. McCollum said he did not believe his client would flee.
Hyman declined to set bond, but left the window open to change that decision at another hearing in a month.
The judge said that the charges could change, including increasing to murder with a possible death penalty sentence, when the solicitor’s office tries to indict Sahr. Hyman said he wanted to wait until April to give the solicitor’s office more time to decide what charge it will seek.
The month will also give McCollum time to get more information from those in Florida, Hyman said.
Richardson said Horry County police have not turned over the case file. Solicitors will have a better idea on their case in the next month, he said.
“We got our work cut out for us,” Richardson said.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 10:58 AM.
