Report: Grandma killed Rilya out of mercy

MIAMI, April 7 (UPI) -- An informant in the case of murdered Florida 4-year-old Rilya Wilson said the girl's grandmother smothered her with a pillow and buried her near a pond.

Wilson's grandmother and guardian, Geralyn Graham, said she killed the girl to end her "suffering" because of abuse and neglect by others, former cellmate Robin Lunceford said.

"I killed it," Lunceford reported Graham said.

Lunceford was a robbery suspect who has become a state witness, the Miami Herald said Thursday.

Wilson's body has not yet been recovered, but it was believed Graham killed her sometime in December 2000. Lunceford said Graham buried Wilson near a pond where they used to play. She picked the spot "because the water represents peace, and she gave the baby a proper burial," the informant said.

The young girl's case gained notoriety when it was reported it took Florida's Department of Children and Families 16 months to notice she was missing, a scandal that led to the DCF chief's ouster.