BATON ROUGE - A couple accused of beating a toddler to death and then faking the girl's disappearance was formally charged with the her murder on Thursday.

Court records show a grand jury indicted Phillip Gardner and Lanaya Cardwell, each on a count of second-degree murder, in the death of 2-year-old Nevaeh Allen. Gardner also faces a charge for obstruction of justice.

The pair was arrested in September after a sprawling search for the missing girl ended with her body being found inside a suitcase in a wooded area of Mississippi. Cardwell initially claimed Nevaeh vanished from her Baton Rouge apartment, but police later uncovered that Gardner dumped the 2-year-old's body after he found her unresponsive at their home. 

Cardwell and Gardner were later accused of physically abusing the 2-year-old girl, leaving her with grave injuries that ultimately killed her.

Both are currently jailed in East Baton Rouge on $375,000 bonds.

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Two weeks ago, Dunn held a news conference showing off the firepower that was seized from the streets. Many of the weapons were not reported stolen or lost, and Dunn made a push to have each person with a weapon log and write their serial numbers down.

"These guns aren't just for Instagram anymore," Dunn said. "They are actually taking these guns and using these guns. We have to put a stop to it each and every day we can."

Right now, the Baker Police Department is working with detectives from the Baton Rouge Police Department on those five different shootings cases. Charges are coming as police connect the dots.

"Every crime scene there's evidence there, and you try to put that puzzle together to close the cases to give the families some resolution," Dunn said.

WEST BATON ROUGE - Less than a week after the arrest of Gerald Porciau Jr. for the 2021 murder of his then-wife, his current spouse is now facing charges in the same case.

A spokesperson for the West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office confirmed Christina Pourciau was booked into the West Baton Rouge Parish Prison Wednesday night for obstruction of justice in the murder of 57-year-old Mary Pourciau. As of Wednesday night, a bond has not been set.

West Baton Rouge officials said Thursday that Gerald Porciau Jr. is also facing an additional charge as a principal to obstruction of justice.

Mary, a mother and grandmother, was found dead in Erwinville in March of 2021. Since then her family has heavily criticized how the sheriff's office handled the investigation.

The case went viral after former Livingston Parish detective Woody Overton featured it on his "Real Life, Real Crime" podcast.