Breeann Rodriguez: Missouri Neighbor Admits to Suffocating 3-Year-Old

A Missouri man admitted to authorities that he suffocated his 3-year-old neighbor Breeann Rodriguez, who he found playing at his backyard swimming pool before throwing her body in a floodway ditch, according to court documents reviewed by the media.

Authorities charged Shawn Morgan, 43, over the weekend with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and tampering with evidence in connection with the disappearance of Breeann, according to The Associated Press.

The little Missouri girl was last seen Aug. 6 in front of her home near Senath, a town of 1,500 residents about 200 miles south of St. Louis in southeast Missouri. Her body hasn't been found.

In the probable cause statement, authorities said Morgan admitted to grabbing the girl and carrying her inside his house as she stood on the ladder at the pool in his backyard on the day she was last seen, according to CBS-KFVS affiliate. Morgan then allegedly suffocated the girl using a white plastic trash bag. He also reportedly told police "he felt like it took an hour for the girl to die."

Morgan then put Breeann's body in the same trash bag, drove to the floodway ditches of highway 164 and threw her over the railing, the report added. The alleged child killer took apart the little girl's bicycle when he got home and threw it in the same river system, according to court documents.