Teen mother, 19, is charged with murdering 15-month-old Evelyn Boswell months after her body was found at a relative's property 'surrounded by toys'

The teen mother of Tennessee toddler Evelyn Boswell was charged with her murder Wednesday.

It comes five months after the remains of the 15-month old were found surrounded by toys inside a shed owned by her grandfather.   

Her young mother Megan Boswell, 19, was the first to report her missing in February but the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation now believe she killed Evelyn and disposed of the body. 

Boswell was already being held in the Sullivan County jail before Wednesday's hearing on charges she had lied about her daughter's whereabouts when she first filed the missing person's report to police. 

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Megan Boswell, 19, was charged Wednesday with the murder of her 15-moth-old daughter 

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Evelyn Boswell was reported missing in February and her remains were discovered on March 6

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Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch announced the new murder charge

The new charges were announced during a press conference by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, and the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

A family member reported the child missing on February 18 though the child had not been seen since December, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.

Boswell initially told state investigators that her daughter was with the child's father, who is stationed with the Army in Louisiana, but he did not have Evelyn, media reported. 

Boswell later said her mother took her daughter to a campground in Virginia, but authorities found no sign of the girl there. 

She was arrested on February 25 on a single count of filing a false report about her daughter’s disappearance. 

Authorities said her inaccurate and conflicting statements about her daughter's whereabouts had impeded the investigation. 

The grim discovery of the toddler's body, which was said to be surrounded by toys, came days later after an intense search across three states that lasted 17 days.

In May, investigators announced they had identified a person of interest in Evelyn’s death, but declined to identify that individual. 

A Sullivan County grand jury charged her mother Wednesday with two counts of felony murder; one count each of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse and failure to report a death under suspicious, unusual or unnatural circumstances; as well as the 12 counts of false reports.

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Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy said during Wednesday's press conference that his office had not forgotten about the toddler's death and would press for 'justice'

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Authorities said Megan's inaccurate and conflicting statements to detectives about her daughter's whereabouts had impeded the investigation and she was first arrested in Febvrary for filing false reports. Evelyn had not been seen since last December

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Evelyn's body was found surrounded by toys at the home of a relative in March. Clothing, diapers and toys that would have belonged to the child were also found

She is the first person to be charged with Evelyn's death and was described Wednesday as the sole suspect in the case.  

However, the have not yet released exact details about the death or the evidence they have collected as investigators say the case still has to be prosecuted. 

According to WJHL, Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy said Wednesday that his office had not forgotten about the toddler's death.  

'Baby Evelyn’s body was found on March 6,' Cassidy said. 

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The remains of Evelyn Boswell were found on March 6 at inside a shed owned by her grandfather

'Since that time, my detectives, TBI agents, and the DA’s office have worked tirelessly conducting interviews, combing through evidence, and establishing a timeline in order to determine the circumstances leading to baby Evelyn’s death. 

'As a result of false information given by the defendant along with misinformation circulated in the community, there has been a lot of confusion in the case, he added.

'I want to be clear when I say that after an extensive and thorough investigation, other individuals were eliminated as suspects and Megan Boswell became the sole suspect in this case.

'We are determined to make sure that justice is served for baby Evelyn.'

Boswell's attorney, Brad Sproles, said he had not had a chance speak to Boswell recently due to the coronavirus pandemic.

'I have not been able to speak with her recently, there have been some COVID issues at the jail,' Sproles told WJHL.

 'So, we're somewhat limited in our ability to talk to folks up there. But I've spoken with some of the sheriff's officers and in the next few days they're going to try to make arrangements maybe where I can talk with her by video.' 

'I spoke with the district attorney after the press conference and they are going to work on providing us with the discovery for all the evidence so we can take a look at it, which we've not been able to at this point,' he added. 

'I'm sure that's going to take a while, there's volumes and volumes of evidence that they've had to go through.' 

Boswell is next scheduled to appear in Sullivan County criminal court on August  28. Her bond has been set at $1 million.