GAINESVILLE, Ga. (Court TV) — A woman accused of killing a young child found dead in the trunk of her car pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday as her attorney fights to have the charges dismissed.
Jessica Motes enters court on July 8, 2026. (Court TV)
Jessica Motes, 36, entered not guilty pleas to each of the charges she faces: felony murder, malice murder, aggravated battery and concealing a death. Motes is charged with killing 4-year-old Autumn Fox, who investigators said died from blunt force trauma of unknown means, as well as exposure to fentanyl, methamphetamine and xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer frequently mixed with other illicit drugs.
Motes appeared in court at her arraignment on Wednesday, dressed in street clothes, including a black T-shirt, rather than her jail uniform, after her attorney had successfully petitioned the court for permission prior to the hearing.
Motes’ arraignment had previously been delayed after her attorney, Harold Buckler, complained that they had not been given access to Fox’s autopsy report. On Wednesday, Buckler told Judge Lindsay Burton that he had now received the report, as well as all discovery he was aware existed to that point.
In the hours before Wednesday’s hearing, Buckler filed a motion to dismiss the indictment under a special demurrer, arguing that the indictment lacks the specificity required to hold up in court. “Each count of the indictment, individually and collectively, is too vague, ambiguous, and indefinite, thereby depriving Jessica Maria Motes of her constitutional rights guaranteed to her under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments,” Buckler wrote.
Immediately following the brief arraignment, Buckler filed an additional motion seeking dismissal of the indictment, claiming that the Grand Jury’s composition was unconstitutional. “Ms. Motes seeks to review and potentially challenge the master list from which Jessica Maria Motes’ grand jury was selected as not properly compiled with statutory procedures governing compilation of the grand jury list.” The motion doesn’t allege any wrongdoing; rather, it argues that until they receive the list, they cannot confirm that it was properly compiled. Specifically, the motion expresses concern that people who were convicted of crimes in other states where constitutional rights are passively restored would be improperly excluded from the pool of potential candidates.
Another motion filed on Wednesday reserves the right to challenge the composition of the petit jury panel at trial “to determine whether there has been a systemic underrepresentation of certain cognizable groups.”
Motes faces a potential death sentence if she’s convicted of Fox’s murder.
