Shockley mother pleads not guilty

Sep 17, 2012, 12:11 PM | Updated: 12:15 pm

KTAR.com

PHOENIX — The mother of a long-missing girl has entered a not guilty plea to first-degree murder and child abuse charges.

Jerice Hunter, 38, was arrested Sept. 6, indicted by a Maricopa County grand jury, even though the body of her daughter, Jhessye Shockley, 5, hasn’t been found.

The little girl was reported missing last October. Authorities searched a Phoenix landfill for 96 days for the child’s body but did not find it.

Bail had been set at $500,000.

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A 5-year-old went missing near 45th Ave & Glendale Ave Tuesday. (Sandra Haros/KTAR)

A 5-year-old went missing near 45th Ave & Glendale Ave Tuesday.

A 5-year-old went missing near 45th Ave & Glendale Ave Tuesday. (Jim Cross/KTAR)

An 18-wheeler that was used to help coordinate Super Bowl security in 2008 became headquarters of a massive effort to find a missing 5-year-old Glendale girl. (KTAR Photo by Jim Cross)

Huge 18-wheeler serves as headquarters for a search in Glendale for 5-year-old Jahessaye Shockley, last seen at her home between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011. (KTAR Photo by Jim Cross)

Hundreds of police officers from around Arizona joined in the search of a Glendale neighborhood for a missing 5-year-old girl. (KTAR Photo by Jim Cross)

Inside the Glendale Unified Mobile Command Center.

A Glendale, Ariz. police officer and a resident handout flyers and seek information in the neighborhood where 5-year-old Jahessye Shockley lives Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 in Glendale, Ariz. Police have been searching for Shockley who has been missing for a week and have fanned out once again in the area where she disappeared in hopes of turning up new leads to follow. Glendale police have no suspects or evidence in the disappearance of Shockley, who was last seen on Oct. 11 by her three older siblings at her Glendale apartment while their mother was running an errand. (AP Photo/Matt York)

A child plays outside the apartment, with stuffed animals outside the door, where 5-year-old Jahessye Shockley lives Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 in Glendale, Ariz. Police have been searching for Shockley who has been missing for a week and have fanned out once again in the area where she disappeared in hopes of turning up new leads to follow. Glendale police have no suspects or evidence in the disappearance of Shockley, who was last seen on Oct. 11 by her three older siblings at her Glendale apartment while their mother was running an errand. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Tamaya Warren hands out flyers seeking information about 5-year-old Jahessye Shockley Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 in Glendale, Ariz. Police searching for Shockley, who has been missing for a week, have faned out once again in the area where she disappeared in hopes of turning up new leads to follow. Glendale police have no suspects or evidence in the disappearance of Shockley, who was last seen on Oct. 11 by her three older siblings at her Glendale apartment while their mother was running an errand. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Residents sit in the court yard at the apartment complex where 5-year-old Jahessye Shockley lives Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 in Glendale, Ariz. Police have been searching for Shockley who has been missing for a week and have faned out once again in the area where she disappeared in hopes of turning up new leads to follow. Glendale police have no suspects or evidence in the disappearance of Shockley, who was last seen on Oct. 11 by her three older siblings at her Glendale apartment while their mother was running an errand. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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