A Baldwin County woman was sentenced to 10 years to serve in prison following a guilty plea in Jones County Superior Court last week bringing to a close a case that began with the 2021 discovery of an unidentified dead body that appeared to have been discarded.
Dafredia Yvette Stephens,45, entered her plea Oct. 28 to the charge of concealing the death of another. She was arrested July 11, 2023, on charges of concealing a death and abandonment of a dead body.
The defendant will receive credit for time served in custody from the date of her arrest.
The arrest was due to the body of 74-year-old Fredrick Stephens that was found Dec. 27, 2021, on Cheehaw Trail by a Jones County public works employee. The body appeared to have been there for at least a couple of days.
Dafredia Stephens’ arrest took more than a year because of the time it took to identify the body and track down family members. Stephens was the niece of the deceased and his caregiver.
Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney Wright Barksdale said in a Nov. 1 interview that Stephens received the maximum sentence for the Jones County charge.
“It was really a negotiated plea because we dismissed the charges against her in Baldwin County,” Barksdale said.
He said it was an unusual case that included extreme greed to the defendant’s own family.
The district attorney said there was some evidence of neglect that was reflected in the Baldwin County charges.
“I fear with our aging population that we will see more of this behavior. We have other senior abuse cases, and we hope this sentence will send a message,” he said. “Others should take note of 10 years in prison.”
Barksdale said the resolution of the case was a group effort. He said the Baldwin County and Jones County sheriffs’ offices worked together, and Eesha Kumar with the Jones County District Attorney’s office worked hard on the case.
Barksdale said JCSO Capt. Kenny Allen and Baldwin County Investigator Robert Butch worked together on the investigation. Will Johnson with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council helped with the charges.
He noted the help of Barbara Merritt with Exchange Bank for assisting with bank records and video surveillance.
“A lot of people had a part in solving this horrible crime to bring to justice the lady who was supposed to be taking care of this man and instead threw him away like garbage,” he said. “Then she kept cashing his checks.”
Allen talked about Stephens’ arrest in a story in The Jones County News.
The captain said the body of 74-year-old Fredrick Stephens was found Dec. 27, 2021, on Cheehaw Trail by a county public works employee. He said the first step in the investigation of the death was identification of the body. Allen said a GBI sketch artist produced a rendering of what the deceased looked like in life that turned out to be spot on.
The captain said, when the sketch was circulated, a phone call was received from a family member. He said after they thought they knew who he was, investigators got a DNA sample from a sister who lived out of state.
The test had to be outsourced and took almost 18 months to get the results.
Allen said he received a call from the company with the results but had to wait for the official paperwork, confirming it was Stephens, to move forward.
The captain said investigators started digging into who Stephens was supposed to be staying with after the unofficial identification, which included financial records.
They discovered the deceased was still receiving social security benefits and his “caregiver” was spending those benefits.
Allen said it was discovered that Dafredia Stephens was joint on the account. He said, once the identity of the deceased was confirmed, Stephens was arrested on the two charges, which are felonies.
She was actually taken into custody at the bank when she was attempting make a withdrawal.
He explained that, during their investigation, it was discovered that Dafredia was the niece of the deceased. It was her habit to withdraw the funds from her uncle’s account immediately after they were deposited.
Allen said Fredrick Stephens came to Baldwin County to be near his brother. After the brother went to prison, his niece Dafredia was the one who was to take care of him.
Jones County Sheriff Butch Reece expressed his appreciation for everyone who assisted with the identification of the deceased and Dafredia Stephens’ arrest with a Facebook post.
“I’d like to thank everyone for all their help in this case, from those who submitted tips to all the law enforcement involved in this case. Sometimes the wheels of justice turn slowly, but they do turn,” the sheriff said. “We hope that Mr. Stephens’ family can now have closure, and he can rest in peace.”
