Cleveland mother pleads not guilty after bodies of 2 young daughters found in suitcases at playground

A Cleveland mother charged in the deaths of her two young daughters after their bodies were found buried in suitcases in shallow graves at a playground pleaded not guilty Thursday.

A Cleveland mother charged in the deaths of her two young daughters after their bodies were found buried in suitcases in shallow graves at a playground pleaded not guilty Thursday.

Aliyah Henderson, dressed in blue and handcuffed behind her back, made a brief video appearance before a judge in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. She remained silent as the plea was read.

A victim’s advocate for the prosecutor’s office told the judge that the fathers of the two girls were requesting the “highest bond possible” for Henderson because she “has a history of staying hidden and moving from place to place throughout the duration of the children’s lives.”

The judge accepted Henderson’s not guilty plea and continued her bond of $2 million.

The bodies of 8-year-old Mila Chatman and her half-sibling, 10-year-old Amor Wilson, were discovered at Saranac Playground on March 2 after a man walking his dog found a partially buried suitcase. The decomposed bodies had been stuffed inside suitcases and buried in shallow graves.