CLEVELAND (Scripps News Group) — A judge set a $2 million bond for the 28-year-old woman arrested in connection with two young girls found dead in suitcases earlier this week.
Aliyah Henderson was charged with two counts of aggravated murder on Thursday, according to the Cleveland Division of Police.
Aliyah Henderson appeared at her arraignment on March 6, 2026. (Scripps News Group of Cleveland)
The girls were identified as 8-year-old Mila Chatman and 10-year-old Amor Wilson, both of Cleveland.
Judge Jeffrey D. Johnson set the bond at $1 million per case.
During the hearing, the prosecutor described the allegations, stating that the defendant caused the deaths of her two daughters and that their decomposed bodies were later discovered in shallow graves.
The prosecutor also noted that Henderson has no prior criminal record.
Henderson did not enter a plea during the arraignment.
According to Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer, Henderson is the mother of both children.
Dashay Crider, a neighbor of Henderson, said she had moved into the duplex on East 162nd Street at the same time Henderson did.
Crider said she called Cuyahoga County’s Division of Child and Family Services after she became concerned about erratic behavior by Henderson.
Earlier this week, a man walking his dog around East 162nd Street and Midland Avenue at Saranac Playground near Ginn Academy found a suitcase with human remains inside. Cleveland Police responded to the scene and determined a young girl was inside the suitcase, which was buried in a shallow grave. While collecting evidence, a second shallow grave was found with a second girl inside another suitcase.
In the cold rain on Thursday, Deshaun Chatman, who identified himself as the father of Mila Chatman, visited the site where the bodies were found and spoke with News 5’s John Kosich. Chatman said he had not had contact with his daughter for several years, but was working to gain custody. He said after hearing his daughter may have been killed, he called the tipline and made contact with a homicide detective.”What I’m feeling is hate,” Chatman told Kosich about the loss of the two young girls.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Group of Cleveland.
