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Louisiana Teacher Found Murdered After Daughter Discovered in Parking Lot
A 3-year-old girl was found alone in a Baton Rouge parking lot in June 2016 with blood on her foot. Her mother, teacher Lyntell Washington, was later found dead in an irrigation ditch.
May 22, 10:50 AM·1m read1 source
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A 3-year-old girl was found wandering alone in a Baton Rouge parking lot in June 2016 near a car splattered with blood. The child had no shoes and dried blood on one foot. A witness who found the girl called 911 and later told investigators that the girl pointed to her mother's car.
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The girl's mother, Lyntell Washington, was a 40-year-old teacher at Brookstown Middle Magnet Academy. Washington was reported missing after the discovery. Her body was found a week later in an irrigation ditch at a sugar cane field, where investigators said she had been shot in the head.
Washington had been secretly dating Robert Marks, an assistant principal at the same school who was married at the time. Washington learned she was pregnant with Marks' child shortly before her disappearance. Friends told investigators that Washington had planned to inform Marks' wife about the affair.
Cellphone records showed Marks exchanged messages with a third woman on the night Washington disappeared. That woman later told police Marks had asked to be picked up near the parking lot where the child was found. Investigators said the woman had no involvement in the killing.
Marks was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and feticide. During the trial, prosecutors presented video of the child describing the events and evidence that Marks had searched for guns online after learning the sex of the unborn child. A jury convicted Marks in December 2021 after 30 minutes of deliberation.
Marks was sentenced to life in prison without parole. His wife filed for divorce after the verdict. Washington's daughter has spoken about missing her mother, according to her father.
