Midweek Mini | A Missing Toddler, a Mother's Lies, and a Heartbreaking Murder Trial | Megan Boswell

Megan Boswell | PA Media

In February 2020, an Amber Alert was issued for 15-month-old Evelyn Boswell, kicking off a desperate search. But it wasn’t her mother, Megan Boswell, who reported her missing—it was Evelyn’s grandfather, Tommy Boswell Sr., who told police he hadn’t seen the toddler since December 2019. Megan gave multiple excuses; none of them were true.

On March 6, 2020, Evelyn’s body was found stuffed inside a trash can, wrapped in foil and a trash bag. The medical examiner ruled she likely died from suffocation. 

Megan was guilty of murder and got life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 51 years.  

Listen to the full episode to hear the devastating details of how justice was finally served.

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Love and Heartbreak is your midweek mini edition of homicide

A baby vanished and for two whole months no one even knew she was missing. Uh, what police uncovered next was a trail of lies, shifting stories, and the heartbreaking discovery of a 15 month old baby hidden in a backyard playhouse. Welcome lambs. Welcome to Love and Heartbreak, to homicide, your midweek mini edition. Hi, my name is Kai and if you’re new here, take a load off, take a seat, take a listen all the way to the end. And if you like it, don’t forget to subscribe if you’re a returning lamb. Thank you so much for your continued support as always. I love seeing you here. I love talking to you. So don’t forget to leave some comments if you didn’t know. You can also subscribe on our patreon patreon.com loveandmurder you can do so for free and you do get some benefits of subscribing for free. But if you do want to be a sponsor of Love and Murder, help sponsor these cases going out, get these victims stories out, get bonus episodes, get case extras, and so much more, then go ahead and become a sponsor of Love and Murder by choosing any one of our bonus tiers. Patreon.com uh, loveandmurder now, without further ado, let’s go ahead and get into your midweek mini.

An Amber Alert was issued for 15 month old Evelyn Boswell in February 2020

In February 2020, an Amber Alert was issued for 15 month old Evelyn Boswell, starting a search for the missing toddler in Blountville, Tennessee. Evelyn’s disappearance wasn’t reported by her mother, Megan Boswell. It was actually her grandfather, Tommy Boswell Sr. Who called police on February 19, 2020. This was two months after anyone had last seen the toddler. He told police he hadn’t seen evelyn since early December 2019 and was worried. Authorities issued an Amber Alert and Megan told police that Evelyn was with her father, Ethan Perry. When police looked into that, they found out that Ethan was stationed on active duty in Louisiana and Evelyn wasn’t with him. Why did she tell them that? Did she think they would just be like, okay, and just like, case closed, let’s go home, get some coffee? Like, what? Why would she tell them that? So when they came back to Megan and they were like, well, she’s not with her father because he’s literally on active duty. She was like, oh, well, that’s right. Somehow I forgot. And I gave Evelyn to her grandmother, Angela Boswell, and that’s where she is, right there. And also, Angela was refusing to give Evelyn back. So when police checked on that, that wasn’t true either. Later, Megan claimed that Evelyn had been given to, quote, a person I trust so she could, quote, have a better life. And by this time, having. As a police officer, I’m like, look, get your story straight and let me know where this child is. I don’t have time to be running up and down, running up and down. Everything you’ve told me was a lie so far. So why don’t you just come out with the truth? Because obviously, we can find out if you’re lying. So for weeks, investigators followed lead after lead, but nothing Megan said led to Evelyn. All the while, Megan stood in front of news cameras, given multiple interviews and making emotional pleasure. On February 25, 2020, police had had enough. I mean, they lasted longer than me, because by February 20, I would have had enough. And Megan was arrested on one count of making false reports. Then, on March 6, 2020, after 17 days of searching, investigators finally found Evelyn. Her body was inside a trash can, wrapped in a trash bag, and aluminum foil hidden inside a playhouse on Megan’s father’s property in Blountville. Can you imagine that, being the grandfather? He’s the one who called. He hasn’t seen his grandchild. Only to find out that your jerk child. And jerk wasn’t the word I wanted to use, by the way. Left a baby that you were searching for on your property. Left her body. Her body. I, uh, couldn’t even imagine. The body was sent for autopsy, and the findings determined that Evelyn likely died from suffocation. Ah. A medical examiner said that the aluminum foil was tightly wrapped around her face, preventing her from breathing. And I gotta say, as a parent, if I’m your parent, and this is what you do to my grandchild, and I hear that my grandchild died of suffocation, I don’t think any of the police officers on site would be able to keep me off my own child, because that’s not how I read. Like, what? You could have literally just given the child to me. Like, are you. It, uh, would take, like, 10, 15 of them. I don’t. It was also clear that Evelyn had been dead for months, right around the time she was last seen in December 2019. This case then turned from a missing child search to a murder investigation. I wonder if she took the child to visit the grandparents and then literally, like, maybe while they were napping or they went to the store, she was like, okay, I’m gonna go ahead and head out. And then did this. Left the child, and then left. I. Oh, how freaking diabolical. Also, investigators found several key pieces of evidence that directly linked Megan to Evelyn’s murder. First, her fingerprints were on the trash bag that contained Evelyn’s body. Then her fingerprints were on the aluminum foil wrapped around Evelyn’s head. And it’s like I always say, keep as much evidence in and around your person as possible. Also, if you noticed, I never even said anybody else did this, even though I didn’t even get to the part of the evidence. But it was like, if you didn’t do it, why would you be lying about where your child is? So immediately I already knew she had something to do with it. Like, you know what I’m saying? If that wasn’t enough evidence, police took into consideration how Megan lied to them, exactly what I was saying, and how she wasn’t even the one to report her own child as missing. Like you’re 50, 15 month old, was missing for two months, and you were just like, well, maybe she went to the grocery store. I don’t know. I don’t know her life. She could have run off. Like, you didn’t Even report your 15 month old missing. On August 19, 2020, police added additional charges to Megan’s record. First degree murder and aggravated child abuse. Her trial then started on February 5, 2025, and lasted eight days. Prosecutors presented evidence showing that Megan, uh, never reported Evelyn missing and continued living her life as if her daughter never existed. A babysitter for Evelyn, Sue Whitson, uh, testified about the baby’s poor condition before she disappeared, saying, quote, I’ve never seen a diaper rash that bad. Do you know that means. So people who haven’t had kids or haven’t been around kids. That means that, for instance, the baby. Let’s just say pee. Let’s just say pee. Not even poop. The baby peed in her diaper, and that diaper was left on for, like, it could have been the whole day. You’re supposed to check a baby’s diaper every two hours. I think if it’s a newborn, I haven’t had a newborn in years, but I think if it’s a newborn, you’re supposed to check every hour or something like that. And a toddler, you’re supposed to check every two hours, something like that. I can’t remember. But that diaper was left on indefinitely, which then made a rash on the baby. And for it to say, a diaper rash that bad, I’m, um, I have a feeling that diaper was left on for like a couple days. Defense attorney Gene G. Scott, Jr. Admitted that Megan was a liar. This is the defense. But argued that that didn’t make her a murderer. So, as usual, I just wonder how defense attorneys in these situations. How do you sleep at night? Uh, and if you tell me under a large pile of cash, I’m probably going to flip a table over. Now I’m wondering also, defense, how are you going to explain away the fingerprints? Like, how are you going to explain that away?

Megan Boswell was found guilty of murdering her daughter Evelyn

Have they proved that she’s a liar over and over? They have. We don’t deny that they haven’t proved that she’s a murderer. No, but what it does prove is that Megan is an asshole who didn’t care that her daughter was lost, even if there was no evidence that she did it. It’s clear by her lack of cooperation and a, uh, frequent blatant lion that she wasn’t serious about getting her daughter found. That’s what’s clear to me. Defense attorney Scott argued that Evelyn may have died from natural causes and that Megan panicked and it was her boyfriend who hid the body. Are we now blaming the boyfriend? While Megan’s defense tried to convince jurors that she was a good mother, the. The forensic evidence painted a different picture. During closing statements, Sullivan county assistant district attorney Amber Messengill said, quote, whose fingerprints were on that trash bag? Megan Boswell’s. Whose fingerprints were on the aluminum foil wrapped around Evelyn’s head? Megan Boswell’s. She told story after story for two and a half months. And maybe the worst part of it is that she just went on with her life as if Evelyn had never even existed. Evelyn was a real person. Megan Boswell should not be able to go on as if Evelyn did not exist. Boom. A, uh, closing statement. Exactly. Everything wrapped up in a nice little paragraph. After a week long trial, it only took the jury just a few hours to find Megan guilty of first degree murder, child abuse, neglect, and multiple other charges. Like, seriously, as a jury, you wouldn’t even have to have said all of this. I don’t know what weak defense this was. Uh, you know, it just proves that she was a liar. Like, are you serious? Your 15 month old was missing. That’s all that proved that she lied. Like, are you serious? As a juror, I would have literally walked into that juror room and made a U turn, because what’s to talk about? What is there to talk about? I would have signed my name on whatever I needed to sign my name on. We’re making a U turn and going back. We’re ready, your honor. Like, wait, huh, huh, you just left. We’re ready, your honor. Then in the sentencing phase, jurors deliberated again and decided that Megan should be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 51 years. She’ll be 74 years old, uh, before she’s even eligible for parole. The judge will still issue sentences for her other charges at a later date, which could add additional years behind bars, which, I mean, if you’re already in there for, you know, life. The only thing that I could see happening is, you know, they revoke her parole or something. Despite being found guilty of murdering her own child, Megan showed little emotion in court, which I would expect nothing less from her. She chose not to testify in her own defense. And when given the opportunity to speak before her sentencing, she remained silent, which is completely on brand from her. She does not freaking care. Many found her lack of emotion very telling, especially given her TV interviews in 2020 where she gave tearful pleas asking for Evelyn’s safe return. I mean, clearly she likes the attention, and it was never about her daughter. And remember, Evelyn was just 15 months old. She was just a baby. So for people who don’t know what 15 months is, that means she was one year and three months. She was a year old. And the most infuriating part, it took two months before anyone even reported her missing, which. Can you really blame other people for this? If they’re not consistently in touch with Megan, how would they really know? The blame lies 100% solely at Megan’s feet. Even if her boyfriend was coming over, she could have said, hey, she’s at my father’s. Hey, she’s at my mother’s. Hey, she’s at the babysitter. Like, you know, uh, you can’t blame anyone but the mother in this instance. So what do you think? According to US Law, did Meghan deserve a life in prison or. Or should she have gotten the death penalty? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I’d love to hear what you think. And I guess I will put out a poll asking if you think she deserved life in prison or the death penalty. And as you know, you can go ahead and get that poll onto Patreon. Patreon.com loveandmurder you don’t have to be a, uh, sponsor to be able to answer that poll. That’ll be open to everyone or the other place you could answer it is on Spotify. Other than that, leave your thoughts in the comments below. I want to hear from you, and your thoughts will be read off in a future episode. And that is all I have for you today. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being a lamb. Don’t forget to leave me a five star review on whatever platform that you’re on. If you’re on a platform that you can leave reviews, go ahead and check out our patreon patreon.com loveandmurder you can sign up for free so you don’t miss any cases, or you can become a sponsor to help us keep these victim stories going out. Patreon.com forward/loveandmurder and I will see you in the next episode. Bye.

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