Na’Mylah J. Turner-Moore, Saginaw girl found slain on Aug. 30, 2022

SAGINAW, MI — One morning this week, Melonzine Turner left a hospital after having undergone two stomach surgeries, having learned her eldest daughter was missing. As police searched a neighborhood on Saginaw’s East Side for her little girl, Turner arrived still wearing her hospital gown and slippers.

It was then police discovered the body of Turner’s 10-year-old daughter, Na’Mylah J. Turner-Moore.

“As soon as I made it to the scene is when they found her,” she said.

Na’Mylah was reported missing from her stepfather’s house at 813 S. 12th St. around 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 30. After hours of searching, officers found her body in an abandoned, overgrown lot on the same block, near the corner of South 12th and Annesley streets.

Police have said Na’Mylah was the victim of a homicide.

Having just given birth to twin girls on April 21, Turner must now bury her eldest.

“My baby was everything,” Turner said. “She was jolly, smiley-faced. She had personality. She had so many friends. Everybody wanted to be around her. She just was lovable.”

Na’Mylah loved dancing and posting TikTok videos, her mother said.

“That was her thing, dancing and TikToking,” Turner said.

As the eldest sibling, Na’Mylah took an active role in her younger sisters’ and brothers’ upbringing, often cooking for them and putting them to bed.

“She just wanted them in her face all the time,” Turner said. “She just wanted to love on her sisters and brothers because she knew she was the oldest.”

Turner has Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, something that made Na’Mylah want to be a doctor.

“She always told me, ‘Momma, I’m gonna take care of you. I’m gonna be a doctor,’” Turner said. “She was more mature than her age.”

Police arrested Na’Mylah’s 14-year-old stepbrother Jameion Peterson and prosecutors have charged him with open murder in her death. Saginaw County Chief Prosecutor Blair N. Stevenson said Peterson’s father called Na’Mylah’s biological father after finding he was not in her house. The biological father then reported her missing to police.

Turner said her heart is hurt by knowing Peterson is accused of killing her daughter.

“I treated that boy like he was my own,” she said. “I put clothes on his back. He was like another child of mine. I would have never thought he would have done nothing like this. But then again, you can’t put nothing past nobody and you can’t judge a book by its cover.”

Turner is no longer in a romantic relationship with Peterson’s father, nor has she been for some time.

“The only reason she went back (to Peterson’s house) that night is because she had school the next day and the bus picked them up from there every morning,” she said.

Na’Mylah, who would have turned 11 on Sept. 18, attended Stone Elementary School in Saginaw.

“Na’Mylah Turner-Moore was a fourth-grade student that was well liked by her peers and was a leader at Stone School, known for organizing recess activities during lunch and recess,” said Ramont M. Roberts, superintendent of Saginaw Public Schools. “She really enjoyed art class and spending time with her friends. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family. We will miss Na’Mylah very much.”

Going forward, Turner said she is still recuperating from her surgeries and is relying on loved ones for help. Her brother has started a GoFundMe campaign to help raise funds for Na’Mylah’s funeral.

“I’m in a lot of pain and I can just sit here on the couch,” Turner said. “I’m just taking it one day at a time.”

Assistant Prosecutor Stevenson said few details can be released on the case pending autopsy results. He did, however, say it appears no weapons were used in Na’Mylah’s death.

Peterson is being held in custody without bond. He is to appear for a preliminary examination at 3:45 p.m. on Sept. 21.

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