A Baby Abandoned on the Road; Her Mother Found Burned | Case of Antwaun Ware

When a baby was found crying on the side of the road, police investigated

When a baby was found crying on the side of the road, it led police to uncover a brutal murder, a disturbing confession, and a horrifying attempt to erase the truth. Welcome LaMs Welcome to Love and Heartbreak to Homicide, your Midweek Mini edition. Hi, my name is Ky and I invite you to take a seat, take a listen all the way to the end, and if you think that I retold this case with the dignity it deserves, then please leave me a five star review on whatever platform you’re on. Also, don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss any other cases. If you didn’t know, you can subscribe on our patreon for free patreon.com/loveandmurder where you do get some benefits for being a free subscriber. But if you want Love and Murder to continue staying on air and help get these victims stories out, then please go ahead and choose one of our bonus tiers where you get bonus episodes. Go deeper into the cases, behind the scenes, more about me and so much more. Patreon.com/loveandmurder uh, now let’s get into your midweek Mini On March 6, 2018 at around 10pm, a couple was driving near 83rd Avenue and Camelback Road in Glendale, Arizona. It was a regular night until they spotted something that made them slam on the brakes. There on the side of the road was a car seat and in that car seat was a seven month old baby girl, abandoned, crying and alone. Along with the baby was an ID belonging to a woman and some personal items. The couple immediately called 911 and when police officers responded to the scene, they secured the infant and collected the belongings that were scattered around as potential evidence. According to police reports, the infant had been left exposed to the elements for about an hour before being discovered. Fortunately, the baby appeared unharmed. Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell later said, quote, this child is alive today because of your heroic actions. Now, I do have to point out that yes, this couple was heroic. Most people probably wouldn’t stop unless like for instance, you saw the baby facing the road and you saw the baby moving like it’s a regular baby. But most people wouldn’t stop because. Because unfortunately there are crazy people out there who would put a baby in the middle of the road. Well, like real baby or fake baby in the middle of the road waiting for you to stop so that they can carjack you or something. So uh, the fact that these people did stop, that is pretty impressive. But then like, who left her on the side of the road? Why did they leave her on the side of the road like, what is going on? So, first of all, um, police looked at the ID and they saw this belonged to 21 year old Jasmine Dunbar. Friends described Jasmine as a, quote, sweet and struggling new mom. They also took note of the other items that they picked up, which included a diaper bag, a backpack, which, that’s the backpack that had her wallet in it, and a single adult shoe that, to police, suggested there was a violent struggle. So now that they know who she is and they see, uh, all her information on her id, police started tracking down Jasmine’s family members. Through interviews with relatives, detectives learned that Jasmine had left home with a man named Antwaun Ware and her baby around 7:30pm that same evening. Jasmine’s family had told them that Jasmine and Antwaun had been romantically involved. And on that day, uh, they were going to get a paternity test. So I guess Antwaun was wondering if this baby was his. And they were on their way to get a paternity test. So for police, this information immediately established Antwaun as the last person known to have seen live. And of course, that made him the key person of interest. Family members also told police that the two had been arguing about the paternity test before they left. So detectives started tracking Antwaun’s movements. They found him, questioned him, and he initially denied any involvement. As, you know, usually happens. I don’t even know who this Jasmine person is. Like, sir, we, we have witnesses who saw you leaving with, oh, that Jasmine, that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember now. Well, um, we got in the car, but then she let me out at the corner again. That was just me making that up. I know some people don’t like when I do that. However, I put it in there, because you have to understand how stupid some of these people are when they’re telling police that, I don’t know any. Like, dude, you got in the car with her in front of her family. What do you think? Her family wasn’t going to tell the police. So without any actual evidence and without his complete confession, police were left to continue their investigation. They gathered surveillance footage from businesses along the routes that Antwan had traveled that evening. This video evidence, coupled with cell phone location data, allowed investigators to reconstruct his movements hour by hour. Do you see why you should have just said, yeah, XYZ happened? Because they’re going to find out anyway. Then on March 7, the very next day, police discovered charred human remains in a field near 107th Avenue and Camelback Road in the Maryvale neighborhood of Phoenix. The location was approximately three miles from where the infant had been abandoned. Forensic analysis confirmed that the remains belonged to Jasmine. Uh, I couldn’t even imagine what the parents are going through. Investigators determined that she had been physically assaulted before her body was burned in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence. You son of a. The woman had a baby. Like this discovery now changed it from a missing person case into a, uh, homicide investigation. With all evidence pointing towards Antwaun as the primary suspect. On March 7, at about 3:30am Police again confronted Antwon. Now, initially, as the report said, he made up a story that just didn’t make sense. He claimed that he had just picked up Jasmine and her daughter before dropping them off after an argument. So you see, this is why I was kind of giving you an idea of possibly what he said in the beginning. Like I said, some people. Some people, not all. I know a lot of my lambs out there. Like when I do that, and whenever I do make something up, I always let you know that this is what I’m saying. They didn’t say that. So now you could understand. So at first he gave them like some bogus story. I’m. Who is Jasmine then? Now you can actually hear what he said, which is kind of similar to what I said. You know, we drove away and I dropped them off after we had an argument. Now, where did you drop them off? Because her parents aren’t saying you drop them off at home. Are you trying to tell me you dropped a woman and a seven month old infant off on the side of the road at what, 10 o’clock at night or something? Like, so police were like, hmm, huh? Oh, is that what she did? Okay, okay, okay. Well, looky here at the cell phone location data placing you at the scene where the burned remains were discovered. So Antwan said, uh, you caught me, officer. He confessed. He said. So we were arguing like I did tell you, and then we pulled into a field near the Camelback Ranch baseball complex. He said that’s when he turned violent. He admitted he had a physical altercation with Jasmine and punched her a number of times with his fist. Jasmine didn’t survive the beating. After this complete piece of trash did this in front of. Of a seven month old, by the way. You know how many times you have to hit somebody for them to die from a beating? You complete piece of utter trash.

Antwaun LaM pleaded guilty to murder and endangerment in exchange for no trial

You beat this woman and in front of her daughter, possibly your daughter. Which is why y’all were going for a paternity test. Ugh. Uh, so anyways, after he did that, then he realized the baby was still in the car. You stoop, and he panicked. So he drove away from the scene, pulled over a few miles away, and left the baby on the side of the road in her car seat. So you kill the mother by beating her. Then you panicked, and in your fricking wisdom, you left the baby on the side of the road. Like, how so? He was like, I’m sure the cops had probably the face that I probably would have had looking at him like. So he said, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no. I dropped her off alone on the side of the road because, quote, he saw people nearby and believed they would find her and take care of her. Uh, as a cop, my expression, I don’t think it would change. I’d still be looking at him like, how dumb are you? Then he drove back to the field where Jasmine’s body was. He then described in detail how he placed paper on her remains and doused them with gasoline. He then set it afire with a cigarette. He watched as Jasmine burned and the fire put itself out. This crazy lunatic stood there for as long as it took for a fire to burn itself out. And he was just watching a bot. Anyways, are we all thinking according to US Law, maximum sentence? Yes. Yes. You over there, you. No. You don’t think so? Okay, well, we’ll come back to you later. But yes, maximum sentence according to U.S. law. Okay. After he did this. Oh my God, it gets worse. LaM. It gets worse. After he did this, he tried to go and visit his current girlfriend. So that wasn’t even her dude. This was her ex boyfriend. And after he did all of this, he was going to go visit his girlfriend and probably act like. Not probably. I know. He was definitely going to act like nothing happened. He was probably going to go back over there and badmouth her. Yeah, Yeah. I had to go take that girl to get a paternity test, but we had an argument. I dropped her off at the side of the road. What’s for dinner? I just. I can’t understand. I mean, I guess if I understood people like this, I’d be just as crazy, right? So anyways, um, he noticed the police had discovered the baby. So then instead of taking a direct path to his girlfriend’s house, he took a back road. Well, police slapped the cuffs on him and charged him with first degree murder, kidnapping, abandonment of a body, and child abuse. Why didn’t they charge him? Also with desecration of a corpse and, I don’t know, fire in a field. And disregarding smokey the Bear and smoking on a, uh, Tuesday at 9pm Like I would find everything I could charge him with. Phoenix authorities used both forensic evidence and Antwaun’s own statements to build their case. Antwaun, oh, my God. Eventually took a plea deal and pled guilty to first degree felony murder and endangerment in exchange for no trial. Okay, I was thinking that as I was talking, but I was trying to see what was going to happen. So basically, they gave him a plea deal so that the parents and the family wouldn’t have to be exposed to the full details of this case. Yet here I am doing a podcast about the full details of this case. But the reason I’m doing this case is because this story needs to be told to get Jasmine’s story out there. Maybe it’ll help somebody going through a similar situation make a decision and get out. This is why these stories are told. I don’t tell it for glory. I don’t tell it for. I don’t even know what else you would be able to tell it for. Like that mother who I interviewed in a past episode said, as long as a true crime is not glorifying the gore, the story needs to be told. And that’s why I do it. And if you’re wondering who I interviewed, I’ll leave a link to that episode below. On Friday, February 7, 2025, nearly seven years after Jasmine’s mur, attorney Mitchell announced that Antwan had pled guilty. He received a sentence of his natural born life in prison. And that was announced on February 10, 2025. Attorney Mitchell said, quote, this defendant’s callous actions have no place in our community. Thanks to the hard work of my prosecutor, he will live the rest of his life behind bars. To the people who rescued this baby, I say thank you. Now, as I said, I told this episode just in case this will help somebody to get out of a dangerous situation that they may be in. Maybe it’ll open your mind to understand, like, the domestic violence situation that you’re in. It’s not your fault, it’s not going to get better. Whatever excuses you’re giving yourself, you might end up like this if you don’t get help. So with that in mind, if you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please reach out to the national Domestic Violence Hotline at 1800-799723-31800-799/7233. Or you could reach them on, uh, thehotline.org Also, if you suspect child abuse, you can contact Child Help national child abuse hotline. At 1-800-for-A child or visit childhelp.org this case is about more than just one murder. It’s about the trauma left behind and the lives that were shattered due to this horrific act. Let me know your thoughts on this case in the comments below. You heard all of my thoughts. I just, I couldn’t keep them to myself. So let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Husna says the system failed them both with this case

And speaking of your thoughts, let’s go ahead and read some comments from some past episodes. So the first one I’m going to read is an episode where this woman’s daughter called 911 and led with quote, I think I killed my mommy. This was the case of Hende Bustami. So Husna said the system failed them both. But I never understand when people say they are afraid of a certain person and still stays with that person. I know being a mother is something that can even cause common sense to falter. So yes, this story is tragic. She deserves the same sentence though, because mental health is one thing and adding drugs and substance abuse is another. Yeah, um, I do think the system did fill them both because if I remember correctly, the mother was trying to get her some mental health help and she couldn’t get it done. Um, it was like an uphill battle. And at the same time, like you said, if you think she’s going to hurt somebody, why are you staying around her? I think she had no choice. I mean, because where is she going to go? Or is she just going to let her daughter out on the street to hurt other people or to hurt herself? But I think even if you have no choice, like, be very wary. Always be on your guard. Maybe I don’t know what the solution could have been here. I’m not really sure. But I think she just didn’t have a choice but to go back home where her daughter was. But thank you for your comment, Husna. Julie S. Said, I thought this story was very sad. Yes, Julie, I completely agree that it was a very sad story all around. And as usual, whatever case that I’ve mentioned in the episode, you can find the links to it directly in the show notes below.

Hostna: This does shed negative light on teachers who already have a hard time

The next comment I’m going to read to you was from a case titled Teacher Turned Predator, the Case of Emily Nutley. Husna said she had it all, but it wasn’t enough. Somehow she was brought up to believe she could have anything she wanted. And that’s how it all starts. It is sad when things like this happen because there are honest teachers trying to make a difference and then this happens. Yeah, she had like a husband, a family, she had everything a lot of people dream of and she decided that that wasn’t enough for her. And yeah, this does shed a negative light on teachers who already have a hard time. Just being a teacher is a hard time, you know. And, uh, now here comes somebody shedding negative light on this profession that doesn’t need this light shed on it. So I agree with you. Hostna, thank you for your comment. And that’s all the comments that I have for you today. Don’t forget that in each case, and I’ve mentioned three in each case that I’ve mentioned here, you can find the link to it in the show notes below. If you haven’t heard of them before or if you can’t remember them, you can always go back and listen again. And that is all I have for you today. Don’t forget to go ahead and check out the Patreon. Patreon.com loveandmurder the last bonus episode I have in there is of a man who murdered a, uh, 10 year old’s grandparents and his mother in front of the 10 year old. And also the last case we did was of Sade Robinson. I did have an update article in the Patreon as well. So if you want bonuses like that and to become part of the LaM Patreon fam, then go ahead and join the Patreon patreon.com forward/loveandmurder. And like I said, that is all I have for you today. Thank you for listening. Uh, thank you for being a lamb, thank you for all of your support and I’ll see you in the next episode. Bye.