Inset: James Boothe (Shelby County Jail). Background: Memphis, Tennessee, gas station where Boothe allegedly dumped a newborn (Google Maps).
A man from Tennessee has been charged with several offenses after allegedly getting a 16-year-old girl pregnant and abandoning the newborn baby in a dumpster at a gasoline station following her delivery.
James Boothe, aged 45, was formally accused by a grand jury on Wednesday with two charges of engaging in human trafficking for sexual exploitation, promoting prostitution involving minors aged between 12 and 18, ongoing sexual abuse of a minor, and serious statutory rape.
An investigation by the Memphis police began at approximately 9 a.m. on January 27 after receiving a report of concern in the Flairwood Apartments area on Teakrock Lane. Upon arrival, law enforcement officers were approached by a 16-year-old girl who informed them that her acquaintance named “James” had left her at the location shortly after she had given birth, according to a legal document. Subsequently, it was determined that the individual in question was Boothe.
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The girl told cops Boothe was driving her to a hospital because she went into labor. As they were driving, she gave birth to a baby girl. The teen alleged Boothe took the baby from the seat, placed the body in a black plastic bag and threw the remains in a trash dumpster behind a Shell gas station at 1312 E. Shelby Drive. She said she had been in a “relationship” with Boothe for three years, cops wrote.
Officers went to the gas station and found the deceased baby in the bag located inside the dumpster. Police have not publicly released a cause of death for the baby. Surveillance video showed a man that fit Boothe’s description drive up in a dark Infiniti SUV, walk to the dumpster and throw away a black plastic bag, according to the complaint. Boothe owns a Infiniti QX5, cops said.
Cops located Boothe, who reportedly admitted to picking the girl up from her home and taking her to his home. Boothe originally was facing an abuse of a corpse charge before last week’s indictment. Cops have not publicly released details about the trafficking and prostitution charges.
Boothe remains at the Shelby County Jail on a $1.25 million bond.
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