Crime & Safety
Body On I-95 In Cecil County IDed As Mother Of Child Killed In Fire
After a worker found a body off Interstate 95 in Cecil County, police say they are now looking for connections between two homicides.
![A woman's body was found by the wood line on Interstate 95 in Cecil County near mile marker 95.6, according to Maryland State Police.](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/57041/20220414/012459/styles/patch_image/public/cecil-county-body-found-i95___14125707708.jpg)
NORTH EAST, MD — A body found on Interstate 95 in Cecil County this week has been identified as the mother of a 3-year-old who died in a recent fire in Baltimore City.
Danielle Shanae Parnell, 30, of Baltimore, was found near the wood line on I-95 north near mile marker 95.6, Maryland State Police said. A survey crew member working south of Belvidere Road around 11 a.m. on Tuesday discovered her body, which is undergoing an autopsy, police said in a statement Thursday.
Parnell was the mother of 3-year-old My’royal Bennett, a girl who died in an April 8 house fire in the 4700 block of Vancouver Road, the Baltimore Police Department reported Thursday. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the child's death a homicide, according to police.
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A mattress fire broke out in a two-story row house in Beechfield in south Baltimore, killing the girl, fire officials said after 6:45 p.m. on Friday, April 8. Arson investigators were summoned.
"Investigators from the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit are working with the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to determine a nexus and motive between the two homicides," Maryland State Police said in a statement Thursday about the deaths of Bennett and Parnell.
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Investigators have not identified any suspects.
Anyone with information about the case can call the North East Barrack at 410-996-7800, and police said callers may remain anonymous.
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