State investigators have officially charged 27-year-old Janette Elizabeth Clayton with homicide by child abuse, marking a grim escalation in a case that began months ago when her 11-month-old daughter, Nomai Weathers, was found dead in a North Charleston home. The charges, detailed in documents released by state authorities, follow a harrowing investigation into the conditions inside the residence on the 2200 block of Eleanor Drive.
When police first arrived at the home on June 17, they discovered the infant cold and not breathing. According to The Post and Courier, which has tracked the case since the initial discovery, investigators found the home infested with cockroaches and devoid of food items or child care. Nomai, who was born prematurely, weighed about 4 pounds at the time of her death—a weight that records indicate was three ounces less than what she weighed at birth. For an 11-month-old child, medical standards suggest a weight closer to 19 pounds.
The tragedy extended beyond Nomai’s immediate physical state. Officers found two other children, ages 3 and 4, living in the same home, which was described in police affidavits as lacking food and proper child care. Seven people in total were sharing a single full-size mattress in the unit. The Charleston County Coroner’s Office later determined that Nomai was suffering from pneumonia when she died. Further investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) revealed that the infant also suffered from sickle cell disease, a condition that authorities state had gone untreated.
The Failure of Oversight
The legal fallout from this case has reached into the ranks of the North Charleston Police Department. On July 8, SLED arrested Seth Richard Worrell, a now-former police officer who had been called to the Clayton residence on two separate occasions—May 27 and June 15—prior to the infant’s death. Worrell faces charges of misconduct in office and failure to report child abuse or neglect.
The state’s decision to move from initial charges of unlawful conduct toward a child to a homicide by child abuse charge reflects the severity of the findings compiled by SLED investigators.
As the legal process moves forward, the focus remains on the conditions that allowed seven people to reside in such squalor and the failures that left an infant with a chronic, treatable condition like sickle cell disease without medical care. The investigation into the circumstances of Nomai Weathers’ death remains an ongoing matter.
