WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A Dania Beach woman has been arrested on charges that she killed her 3-year-old son while living in Nevada more than 30 years ago and covered up the crime by saying the boy had disappeared.
Amy Fleming, 60, faces a charge of felony murder. The story was first reported by the Palm Beach Post.
Recommended Videos
Francillon Pierre was last seen at a North Las Vegas swap meet in August 1986. His mother, then Amy Luster, and his stepfather, Lee Luster, said they lost track of the boy -- nicknamed Yo-Yo -- and asked police not to publicize the case because they said they didn't want the media to sensationalize it.
The couple was awaiting trial on child abuse charges when Pierre disappeared. The Lusters told police that Francillon father, Jean Pierre, may have abducted the boy and taken him home to Haiti. However, authorities ruled out Jean Pierre as a suspect, and the boy was never found.
Police had said they suspected the Lusters in the case, but they did not have enough evidence to charge either of them. In the years since, the boy was officially considered a missing person and appeared in fliers and posters. Officials even produced an age-progressed portrait of Pierre in 2011.
U.S. marshals arrested Fleming in Boca Raton on Jan. 29, and she agreed not to fight extradition to Nevada. She is currently being held on $1 million bond at Palm Beach County's Main Detention Center in West Palm Beach.
Authorities released few details about why Fleming is now being charged or why the Broward County resident was apprehended in Palm Beach County.
Las Vegas TV station KSNV reported that the North Las Vegas police had been investigating the cold case for the past several months and "pieced several things together." The department issued an arrest warrant Dec. 13, 2018.
A news conference on the case was planned for Monday.
"We can't give out everything until it hits the courts, but more of what happened will become clear at the news conference," Officer Eric Leavitt told the station.