Woman’s body was found in a garbage can and now an acquaintance is in jail, SC police say
A month after a woman’s body was discovered inside a garbage can a man was arrested, according to the Columbia Police Department.
On Wednesday, police said 32-year-old Antonio Mark Celey Jr., had been charged with murder and unauthorized removal of dead body.
Celey was taken into custody Tuesday when an officer tracked him down near the intersection of Main Street and Calhoun Street, police said in a news release.
The charges are connected to the death of 32-year-old Dominique Michelle Palmero-Pohl, according to the release. Her body was discovered in a trash can the 3200 block of Colonial Drive on April 11, and was initially investigated as a suspicious death, police said.
Palmero-Pohl’s body was found behind the Q-Mart at the intersection of Academy Street and Colonial Drive, according to police. That’s a few blocks north of Farrow Road and two blocks east of Prisma Health Richland hospital.
Police said Celey and Palmero-Pohl were acquaintances. Investigators believe Celey and Palmero-Pohl were together at a Magrath Street home on April 5, when they were involved in a dispute, according to the release.
Information about the nature of the dispute was not available.
Celey is “accused of inflicting blunt force trauma to Palmero-Pohl’s body, resulting in her death,” police said. Celey then removed Palmero-Pohl from the home and dumped her body inside a garbage can, according to the release. The convenience store where the body was found is about a third of a mile from Magrath Street.
There is no word on how Palmero-Pohl’s body went undetected for about a week, or what ultimately led police to charge Celey.
Celey was taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, police said. No bond has been set and Celey remains incarcerated, jail records show.
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This story was originally published May 23, 2024 at 7:21 AM with the headline "Woman’s body was found in a garbage can and now an acquaintance is in jail, SC police say."
