TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Police in Philadelphia made a shocking discovery last week of a dead child dumped in a trash can.

According to NBC affiliate WCAU, a sanitation worker discovered that a 12-year-old boy was found shot to death inside a trash can. The worker picked up the trash from a street and took it to a nearby storage facility where it was kept overnight.

But it was the following morning when the worker made another trip to the street to gather more trash when the boy’s body was found inside the container.

According to officials, an autopsy revealed the 12-year-old was shot in the head.

“During the drive, the container of overturned, and the remains of a boy were observed inside that container with a plastic wrap around the head with a comforter over him,” Ernest Ransom, Staff Inspector of the Philadelphia Police Homicide Unit, said.

WCAU reported that police have ruled the boy’s death as a homicide.

“He was brutally killed and placed in a trash can,” Staff Inspector Ransom said.

Family members were notified and were able to identify the boy.

The investigation remains ongoing.