Body of missing mother of five found under hotel bed

By Kontji Anthony - bio | email

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - Police found the body of a mother of five missing for months Wednesday.

Family members said the way 28-year-old Sony Millbrook died feels like a blow to the stomach that will not go away.

"It's still unbelievable to me, but I know it's true," said Jennifer Pickett, Millbrook's cousin.

For two months, Millbrook's body was under a bed in room 222 at the Budget Lodge on East Brooks Road.

"Hotel staff reported to management there's something wrong in this room," said Major Joe Scott with the Memphis Police Department.

Millbrook's family reported her missing when she did not show up to pick up her children from school on January 27.

"On that day, the hotel locked the room out because of lack of payment," Scott said.

The next day, the hotel staff put her belongings in storage and housekeeping cleaned the room.

Pickett knew something was wrong when she went to the Budget Lodge to gather her missing cousin's belongings.

"Me and my mother went to the hotel and I felt a terrible feeling there," Pickett said.

By the time the motel staff discovered Millbrook's body, five guests had stayed there.

Police turned their attention to LaKeith Moody, the father of four of Millbrook's children.

"It's been a rocky history," Scott said.  "There's a history of domestic violence."

Police interrogated Moody and arrested him on an unrelated warrant for possession of a gun by a convicted felon.  At this point, Moody is only a person of interest in the case, but one of the last people to see Millbrook.

"He had recently gotten out of jail and was staying with her at the Budget Lodge," Scott said.

"I just felt like she wouldn't have an end like this," Pickett said.

At the time of Millbrook's disappearance, Moody was under order of protection to stay away from her.  He is currently in jail in Mason.

Moody was missing the same day as Millbrook.  Police arrested him in Millbrook's car a couple of weeks later.

Police said the children were staying in the motel with the couple.

Pickett said it was unbearable to imagine her cousin lying under a bed for months.

"In a million years, I would never have guessed I'd be sitting here talking about this," Picket said.  "It was a cloud hanging over everybody's life."

Now that she knows her cousin's fate, she does not believe the pain will go away.

"In 50 years, I think I'll still feel the hurt that I feel right now for her," Pickett said.

Police said the couple's children were living in the motel room with them.

The bottom of the bed is a metal enclosure designed so that people are unable to leave anything under the bed.  The box spring rests on top of the metal frame and the mattress rests on top of the box spring, leaving space between the mattress and the floor.

Police have not released the cause of death and the extent of her injuries are unknown.

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