Police in Georgia have recovered the body of a missing 19-year-old pregnant woman and now the victim’s fiancé is behind bars on a felony murder charge.
According to online arrest records accessed by PEOPLE, Aldeyshaun Locklear, 18, allegedly confessed to killing Téa Choates following his arrest Wednesday.
Investigators found Choates’ remains buried in the woods near her home on Tuesday.
Locklear allegedly told authorities he strangled Choates, who was three months pregnant, following a heated argument, and then buried her body nearby.
Relatives reported Choates missing on August 6.
It is believed the last person to see Choates alive was her fiancé.
A cause of death has yet to be announced.
Locklear faces single counts of felony murder, aggravated assault related to strangulation and concealing a death. He is being held without bond.
It was unclear Friday if he had entered pleas to the charges or was represented by a lawyer who could comment on the allegations for him.
Choates’ mother, Ebony King, spoke to the Atlanta Journal-Constition, and said she’d asked her daughter to leave Locklear months earlier.
“She loved him,” King told the paper. “She wanted to stay, no matter what I would say to her. She really just wanted the family.”
King said the couple had a history of domestic incidents.
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“Téa’s biggest thing was she would say, ‘I could change him, I can help him,'” King said. “That’s how her heart was built … but you can’t love a person hard enough to change.”
A GoFundMe campaign has been established to cover the costs of Choates’ funeral.
