BATON ROUGE - A man was convicted of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice after killing a two-year-old child and hiding her body in Mississippi woods.

A jury convicted Phillip Gardner on Wednesday after officials found the body of two-year-old Nevaeh Allen in a wooded area of Hancock County, Mississippi, in 2021. Allen's mother, Lanaya Cardwell, and her live-in boyfriend, Gardner, initially reported Allen missing.

District Attorney Hillar Moore commended the jury's work in arriving at the guilty verdict after the two-week trial, but acknowledged the emotional toll Allen's death took on the family. 

"Nothing can bring back this child who was murdered, but justice is done when those responsible for Nevaeh’s death are held accountable for their crimes. The guilty as charged verdict of second-degree murder and obstruction were just and clearly based on the horrible facts of this case," Moore said.

Arrest documents said Cardwell punched Allen because she touched her contact lens while she was getting ready for work. An affidavit says Cardwell left the toddler with Gardner and the child became unresponsive. Police said he put Allen's body in a small suitcase and drove to Mississippi, where he buried the baby in the woods and threw her clothes in a trash can.

Gardner initially told police that Nevaeh disappeared after he fell asleep, kicking off an intense search summoning the FBI and LSP to the Belaire neighborhood of Baton Rouge.

Gardner's conviction carries a life sentence. Cardwell's trial is set for Nov. 3.