PHENIX CITY, Ala. (WRBL) – Newly surfaced details in the death of Georgia 5-year-old Kamarie Holland allege that the child’s biological mother, 35-year-old Kristy Siple, sold her daughter to the man prosecutors now say killed the girl.
Court documents obtained by News 3 allege the day Holland’s mother reported her missing, investigators believe the mother sold the child, knowing the little girl would be sexually abused in exchange for money. Investigators say the little girl was raped, sodomized then strangled to death.
During a court appearance Wednesday morning, Russell County District Court Judge Walter Gray set no bond in Siple’s case.
“She has been charged with murder during the course of a kidnapping, murder during the course of rape, murder during the course of sodomy and human trafficking,” Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor said.
Investigators have said that Siple reported Holland missing from her Bowman Street home in Columbus after Siple said she awoke early on Dec. 13 unable to locate her daughter and noticed the front door open.
According to a warrant obtained by News 3, however, Siple knowingly subjected her daughter to “sex servitude” on Dec. 13, and agreed to receive payment in exchange for allowing another person to have sexual contact with her child .
The person Simple allegedly sold Kamarie to was 37-year-old Jeremy Williams, who has a history of abusing children. Williams was arrested the same day Holland was reported missing and charged with capital murder of a child less than 14 after the girl’s body was located in a vacant 15th Avenue home in Phenix City, where Williams used to live.
Before a gag order was in place, Taylor said Siple and Williams had a relationship. Additional charges against Williams are possible, Taylor said.
“We expect in the next couple of days he will be charged with capital murder during the course of a kidnapping, capital murder during course of a rape, capital murder during the course of sodomy and production of child pornography,” Taylor said.
The Russell County Sheriff’s Office has led the 16-day investigation with assistance from Columbus police. The U.S. Marshal’s Service took Siple, who also is known as Kristy Hoskins, into custody about 1 p.m. on Tuesday at a Circle K gas station.
She was detained for several hours in Columbus before waiving extradition to Alabama. Siple was booked into the Russell County Jail at about 5:30 p.m.
Gray extended a gag order on the Siple case during the woman’s initial court appearance. That gag order is similar to one that was issued in Williams’ case, Assistant Russell County District Attorney Rick Chancey said.
Gag orders have been issued in both cases to control pre-trial publicity and ensure a fair trial for the defendants by limiting what officials, attorneys and potential witnesses can say.
“This has really struck a nerve for all of us because we really care about our kids and our community,” said Assistant Columbus Police Chief Joyce Dent-Fitzpatrick. “The only thing I have to say is, please monitor where your kids are and who they are around.”
Multiple law enforcement agencies have worked the case since Holland was first reported missing before Christmas.
“We are doing everything we can to bring justice for this little girl,” Taylor said.
More details could be released at Siple and Williams’ preliminary hearings, the dates for which have not yet been set.
Kamarie’s father, Corey Holland, issued a statement Tuesday night to News 3 through a family spokesperson after the mother of his child was arrested.
“The amount of pain Kristy has caused by ripping Kamarie out of our lives will never cease. We are glad to see that she has been arrested. We are one step closer to justice for Kamarie. We hope that justice is served. Kristy should receive whatever the maximum penalty she can get,” the statement read. “… She’s a monster. A real mother protects and would die for her children. Kristy is a monster. My family and I will continue to wrestle with the loss of losing our angel Kamarie. We will ask that you continue to make your news about her and the justice she deserves.”
Neither Siple nor Williams was eligible for a bond as of Friday.
Meanwhile, investigators confirmed that Siple also faces a charge alleging that she failed to appear in court in 2018 in a separate felony chemical endangerment of a child case.