An Arizona mother kept her daughter locked in a closet , starved and beat her for years until eventually she killed the little girl , stuffed her body into a suitcase and threw it in the trash , a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday as the woman ’ s trial got under way . Jerice Hunter , 41 , is facing murder charges in the death of 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley , who went missing in 2011 from her family ’ s suburban Phoenix home . Authorities believe the child is no longer alive . Her remains were never found . On trial : Jerice Hunter ( pictured left in court Wednesday ) , 41 , is facing murder charges in the death of 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley ( right ) , who went missing in 2011 . Bad parenting : Hunter is accused of keeping her daughter in a bedroom closet at the family 's apartment in Glendale , Arizona , depriving her of food and water , and beating her . Harsh : Prosecutor Jeannette Gallagher told jurors Hunter threw her 5-year-old away 'like trash ' ‘ The defendant threw her away like trash , ’ prosecutor Jeannette Gallagher told the jury in her opening statement . 'All that is left of Jhessye is her blood on the carper in her mother 's closet . ' Hunter has maintained her innocence . She reported Jhessye missing in October 2011 . Police say the mother told them she left Jhessye with the girl 's older siblings while she ran errands , and returned to the family 's Glendale apartment to find the child gone . About 100 police officers who fanned across Hunter 's neighborhood knocked on doors and stopped motorists to see if they knew anything about the disappearance . An Amber alert was issued . A 96-day search of a landfill ended without finding Jhessye 's remains . Authorities say Hunter was arrested after inconsistencies with her account were mounting and after witnesses came forward . Hunter also came under scrutiny during the investigation for an October 2005 arrest with her then-husband on child abuse charges in California . In that case , the mother pleaded no contest to corporal punishment and served about four years in prison before she was released on parole in May 2010 . Her oldest child , then 14 , told police his mother routinely beat the children . Criminal record : Hunter ( left ) was arrested in October 2005 with then-husband , George Shockley , ( right ) for child abuse . Recovery mission : 280 officers sifted through more than 9,500 tons of trash from early February to late June at a Phoenix land-fill site , but Jhessye 's remains were never found . Hunter looked squarely at jurors as the prosecutor laid out her case . She did n't kill Jhessye and believes her daughter is alive , said Hunter 's attorney , Candice Shoemaker . ‘ There is no body . There is no proof she is dead , ’ said Shoemaker , who offered no alternative theory on what became of the child . Shoemaker said two people saw Jhessye at her apartment complex within hours of the report of her being missing . The defense attorney also told jurors to take a hard look at the upcoming testimony of Jhessye 's older sister , who is now 17 . The teen did n't allege abuse when she first spoke to police , Shoemaker said . The sister was in charge of Jhessye when she disappeared and changed her account because of guilt , the attorney said . While in foster care after Jhessye 's disappearance , the oldest daughter was isolated from her siblings and ‘ started to internalize those feelings , ’ Shoemaker said . The prosecutor said it 's unknown whether Jhessye died from malnutrition , dehydration or injuries she suffered . ‘ The answer to that question will never be known , ’ Gallagher said . In the weeks before the child was reported missing , Hunter explained her daughter 's 19-day absence from school by saying she had pinkeye and ringworm , Gallagher said . Hunter 's attorney said his client did n't kill Jhessye ( left and right ) and believes her daughter is alive . The mother also provided inconsistent details to the girl 's school on efforts to get her medical treatment , Gallagher said . Authorities say Hunter instructed her other children to falsely tell police that Jhessye left the apartment while the mother went to a check-cashing business . The older sister later revealed she witnessed her mother 's abuse of Jhessye , the prosecutor said . The teen said she found the younger girl beaten up and told authorities the closet where Jhessye was held smelled like death , Gallagher said . The prosecutor said Hunter got a neighbor to drive her to a Tempe apartment where Hunter said she was going to sell a suitcase full of clothes and shoes . Once they arrived , Hunter told her neighbor that the buyer was n't there and that the items for sale could be left in a trash bin , Gallagher said . The neighbor saw Hunter put on plastic gloves before she removed a suitcase from the vehicle 's trunk and dropped it in the trash , she said . Authorities believe the suitcase contained the child 's remains . The trial is expected to conclude in early May .
Jerice Jhessye Shockley , 41 , is facing murder charges in the death of 5-year-old Hunter , who went missing in 2011 . Jhessye 's remains were never found , and Jhessye Shockley maintains that she is still alive . Prosecutor said on first day of murder trial Jhessye Shockley kept her daughter locked in a closet , starved and beat her .