The Unimaginable Crime of Molly Jane Roe

She raped and killed a 17-month-old baby

Molly Jane Roe is one of the sickest individuals you could come across. It is inconceivable that she had a baby under her care.

Yet, when she committed her crime at the age of 24 in 2011, the media and the public couldn’t help but comment about her looks. One website even describes her as “undeniably beautiful.”

Would you think she is “undeniably beautiful” if you knew what exactly she did to a 17-month-old baby?

Here is a look at the unimaginable crime of Molly Jane Roe.

The crime

In 2011, Philip Murley Jr had a girlfriend, 24-year-old Molly Jane Roe. Roe was from Bells, Tennessee, and was described by everyone who met her as a dark-haired beauty.

The relationship between Murley and Roe became serious and soon Murley marked his Facebook status as “in a relationship.” He was looking forward to becoming a family again with Roe.

Murley and Roe weren’t just a couple. They also had children from previous relationships. Murley had a 17-month-old baby girl named Maleeya Marie Murley. Baby Maleeya’s biological mother had primary custody of her but Murley still had visitation rights to his daughter every other weekend.

Roe also had a 2-year-old child and they moved in with Murley when the relationship became serious.

Sometime in June 2011, the unthinkable occurred when Murley entrusted his baby daughter Maleeya to Roe’s care.

While taking care of the child, Roe became angry and beat and threw Maleeya against a table. The baby was immediately rushed to the Vanderbilt Medical Center for a severe brain injury. At the hospital, a medical examination revealed the child suffered more than just physical assault.

Maleeya had been sexually assaulted as well. There was a bite mark on her back and bruising on the child’s vaginal area and on her hip and stomach. Roe was first charged with child abuse. However, when Maleeya died while she was in the hospital, the police upgraded the charges to first-degree murder and aggravated rape.

Murley was cleared of his daughter’s death. The assault and abuse most likely happened when he was out of the house and had left his daughter under Roe’s care. The police said that Roe had first raped the child and then threw her onto a hard surface which was enough to kill her.

Murley was so stricken with grief that he immediately changed his relationship status on Facebook from “in a relationship” to “single.” When his friends asked him why he had changed his status, he replied,

CAUSE SHE KILLED MY DAUGHTER N THE POLICE GOT HER N SHE S GOIN DOWN FOR MURDER1 WHERE AT VANDERBILT THERES NOTHING THEY COULD DO HER DAMAGES WHERE TOO SEVERE I VE LOST MY LIL GIRL MAN IM HEARTBROKEN.

The sentence

The murder of baby Maleeya became one of the biggest cases in the city of Bells, Tennessee. For the police, it was mentally one of the hardest cases they had to work. Vanderbilt Hospital where Maleeya had been treated also said that it was one of the worst child abuse cases they had seen.

When Roe was arrested, she was held without bond. Roe did not undergo a trial for the murder. Before that could happen, she pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole only after 51 years.

When looking back at the case, people may wonder why the baby’s father, Murley, entrusted his child to a person like Roe in the first place. It is possible that he was smitten with Roe’s looks and could never have imagined that she was a criminal. His first impression of her was that she was beautiful. It only took the murder of his own daughter to make it obvious that Roe was a monster.

Perhaps it’s basic human nature: We get to know someone, we build a rapport and we come to trust our first impressions, even when they turn out wrong. — Tim Grierson, Mel Magazine

Sources: The Daily Mail, Mel Magazine, WBBJ News, Pinkvilla

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