April 12, 2021
@UDPolice/Twitter
DIanna Brice, right, shot and killed and her body was and found by police in a wooded area of Southwest Philadelphia. Brice's boyfriend, 23-year-old Justin Smith (left), is sought as a person of interest, and police have charged Tylydiah Garnett, of Philadelphia, with arson, abuse of a corpse and related offenses.
A woman has been charged in the ongoing investigation into the death of 21-year-old Dianna Brice, the pregnant mother who was found dead last week after being reported missing in late March.
Philadelphia police arrested Tylydiah Garnett on Saturday and she has since been charged with arson, criminal conspiracy, abuse of a corpse and related offenses, officials said.
Brice, of Upper Darby, was last seen alive at a laundromat in Lansdowne with her boyfriend, 23-year-old Justin Smith, on March 30. Brice had a 4-year-old son and was 14 weeks pregnant with another child. Smith was the father.
Brice's mother, Betty Cellini, reported her daughter missing after she was unable to reach her later that day. Cellini said at the time her daughter and Smith had an argument and also that Brice had a serious medical condition that required medication she hadn't been able to take.
Tylydiah Garnett
That same day, police found Smith's empty Ford Fusion on fire in the area of 59th and Florence streets in Southwest Philadelphia.
Then Brice's remains were found April 5, in a wooded area near 58th Street and Eastwick Avenue, about a mile from where Smith's car was located. An autopsy determined Brice died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
Investigators have said Smith is a person of interest in the case and they continue to search for him.
Police did not have not described Garnett's relationship was to Brice or Smith.
The investigation remains ongoing.
