SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. — A Sullivan County woman accused of killing her 15-month-old daughter four years ago is facing a new murder charge.
Megan Boswell now faces a premeditated first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of her toddler, Evelyn Boswell, whose body was found in March 2020. The child was the center of a more than two-week-long Amber Alert search that made national news.
The mother pleaded not guilty to the charge. Thursday's court date was an arraignment instead of the originally planned change of venue hearing. That's because the state opted to pursue a new murder charge on top of Megan Boswell's previous two felony murder charges.
"All I can tell you is it was based on additional evidence that we had that we obtained after the initial presentment – so we decided we would add an additional charge of first-degree murder premeditated," Sullivan County District Attorney General Barry Staubus said.
The change of venue hearing has been reset for Aug. 15, and it will determine if Boswell's trial will be moved out of Sullivan County. WCYB News 5 in the Tri-Cities reported prosecutors said they believed a Sullivan County jury could still be impartial despite the notoriety surrounding the case.
"We are rescheduling, but we are going to have the hearing, and we are slowly, but surely, making our way to trial in February," Staubus said. "I've always maintained that we believe that we can pick a jury that can fairly hear the facts of this case and render a decision based on the facts and the law."
Boswell's attorney, Gene Scott, said the new charge "changes the game" in the case because it came years after her original murder charges. He said there was "nothing new" in the case to show why the charge was filed.
"There shouldn't be a rush to judgement in this case – no evidence has been presented yet – yet I have people text me, talk to me, about their thoughts that she is guilty," Scott said. "What we've asked is to move it out of Sullivan County, obviously, I think this case has been picked up in most of the major news markets in Tennessee, but, it probably has not been examined as heavily, say, in the Nashville market or the Memphis market as it would be here, because it is not local to them."
Evelyn Boswell's body was found on the Boswell family property, and an agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said it was found inside a trash bag that was stuffed inside a trash can. The body was found after a large search following an Amber Alert that lasted around two weeks and captured the attention of East Tennessee.
The search started in February 2020, after authorities learned that family members hadn't seen Evelyn since December 2019. An Amber Alert was issued for her on Feb. 19, 2020, kicking off the search.