Charges were dropped this week against an Indiana couple accused of killing their two children and burning their bodies in a firepit, but prosecutors vow to refile the charges.
A judge on Wednesday approved the prosecutors’ motion to drop the charges without prejudice, meaning they can be filed again. But an attorney for Steven Valle and Samantha Sebella told WLS that the dismissal should “put an end to this matter” because there is “no evidence that a crime even occurred.
Valle, 31, and Sebella, 30, were charged in October with murder, neglect of a dependent causing death, obstruction of justice, and failure to report a dead body, as CrimeOnline reported. The two infants were born at the home and not documented with a birth certificate. An acquaintance told police that Valle had told them he killed the two babies and burned their bodies in a fire pit at the home.
Valle and Sebella had been evicted from the property by that time, but a search uncovered minute bone fragments that were determined to be human. The couple, who had a 4-year-old son who was born at home and whose birth was also not registered, told police they had no other children and that Sebella had never had a still birth or a miscarriage.
But authorities found incriminating messages on their cell phones, including notes from Sebella to Valle calling him “baby killer.”
“YOU KILLED OUR BABIES I HAVE THERE DNA IN BODY FOREVER,” she alleged texted, according to Law&Crime. “They will know everything you took me to the doctor in 2017 to prove that I was pregnant THEY WILL KNOW.”
Valle later told investigators that Sebella had given birth alone twice and that he had found the babies dead. He said he buried them in the backyard and dug them up later to burn in the firepit.
“Steven stated that he kept some of the ashes to make a necklace as a memento,” the affidavit said.
Prosecutors said they had moved to dismiss the charges to give investigators more time to complete the “difficult and tedious task” of sorting through the tiny pieces of material found in the burn pit.
“We do intend to seek justice in this manner,” Jasper County Prosecutor Jacob Taulman said.
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[Featured image: Steven Valle and Samantha Sebella/Jasper County Sheriff’s Office]