"Baby Boy Hugo" was a newborn who was found murdered in Hugo, Oklahoma on December 8, 1993. In June 2022, his mother, Meaonia Michelle Allen, was identified and charged with first-degree murder.
Case[]
The victim was found in the front yard of a rural residence five miles north of Hugo after being dragged by a dog. The Choctaw County Sheriff's Office responded and then requested assistance from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI). An autopsy performed by the Office of the Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner's Office determined the cause of death was from his throat being cut and his head being beaten and that he was found dead only two hours after his birth. They also took his DNA for future use. Despite numerous interviews during the initial investigation, the parents could not be located.
The citizens of Hugo, who unusually dealt with several acts of violence in December 1993, were "all so outraged, angry, and hurt" that they made sure to bury the victim with dignity. They raised funds to purchase a space in "Baby Land" in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, while the Lampton-Mills Funeral Home donated the casket and their services. The City of Hugo adopted him and named him "Baby Boy Hugo." He was buried in "Baby Land" in Mt. Olivet Cemetery on January 12, 1994. About fifty people attended the funeral that was officiated by six ministers.
In October 2020, the OBSI's Cold Case Unit submitted "Baby Boy Hugo's" DNA to Parabon NanoLabs. In April 2021, the DNA results were returned back to investigators, who then contacted Meaonia Michelle Allen. On June 15, 2022, she was interviewed by an OSBI special agent and interviewed again a few days later. After giving her DNA sample, she confessed to being the biological mother and to killing her son. DNA evidence confirmed that she was indeed the mother of "Baby Boy Hugo." At the time of the incident, she worked at a daycare and allegedly did not tell anyone else she was pregnant.
Allen was then arrested and charged with one count of first-degree murder with deliberate intent. She has been booked into the Choctaw County Detention Center and was denied bond.