Baby nearly killed with N.J. teen mom, police say

The two men accused of beating a teenage mother to death and throwing her body into the Pennsauken Creek had to decide after the killing what to do with her five-week-old baby girl, authorities said today.

"There was some indication that they discussed whether the baby should go in the river with the mother," said Joshua Ottenberg, acting Camden County prosecutor.

Instead, Douglas Mandichak and Christopher Mikels left the infant in the yard of Cherry Hill home, where she was found strapped into a car seat around 7 a.m. Saturday, authorities say.

Police continued to comb the banks of the creek this morning for the baby's mother, 17-year-old Felicia Mikels, of Pennsauken. Although Mikels' body has not been found, searchers discovered her child's stroller in the creek today.

Christopher Mikels, 26, told police that he believes he is the father of the baby. He is Felicia Mikels' paternal uncle, which means he could be charged with statutory rape, which covers incest involving relatives over the age of consent, Ottenberg said.

The two Mikelses lived in Pennsauken at the home of Felicia's grandmother. Felicia Mikels' father also lived in the house.

The prosecutor said Felicia Mikels was killed over an argument over money, although it wasn't clear who was owed or how much.

He said Mandichak and Christopher Mikels planned for days to either scare the teenager or kill her. On Friday night, they lured her to a bowling alley on Maple Avenue in Pennsauken by sending a text message to her cell phone.

Felicia Mikels went to the bowling alley with her baby, Miciana, in tow.

Some time that evening, the men took Felicia Mikels to an industrial park in Pennsauken. Mandichak then beat her with a piece of wood, Ottenberg said. The men put her body in a tarp and put her in the creek, before dropping off the baby in the yard of a house at Marlowe and Downing Streets in Cherry Hill.

Felicia Mikels's family reported her missing around 1 a.m. Saturday. The baby was discovered in a blanket-covered car seat decorated with Winnie the Pooh about 7 a.m.

Investigators interviewed Christopher Mikels shortly after his niece was reported missing. He said he got a text message from her Friday night that said she was running away.

Ottenberg said Mikels sent himself that text message from his niece's phone after the killing.

He said Mikels and Mandichak had been cooperating with investigators, and one of the men showed police this morning where they put her body into the creek, near North Fork Landing Road.

Investigators also were searching the industrial park for the piece of wood used to kill Mikels.

Ice forced state police divers to call off a hand search of the murky bottom of the Pennsauken Creek in Cinnaminson this morning, a state police spokesman said. This morning, police dogs sniffed along the creek's edges as troopers with high-tech sonar devices scanned the frozen waters searched for clues.

Mandichak has been charged in Felicia Mikels' death, and Christopher Mikels has been charged as an accomplice. Both are being held at the Camden County jail on $750,000 bail.