PENSACOLA, Fla. (Court TV) — A Florida woman is accused of killing her child, whose body was found wrapped in towels in a trash bag by a bay.
Jalynda Smith is charged in the death of her 5-year-old son. (Escambia County Jail)
Jalynda Smith, 36, is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child in the death of Jakaiden Smith, her 5-year-old son with autism who was nonverbal.
Investigators began searching for Jalynda and Jakaiden after Jalynda’s mother reported them missing on Feb. 5; she hadn’t heard from them since Feb. 1, which was unusual. Jalynda’s phone was also disconnected.
Jalynda’s sister contacted the police after receiving an email from Jalynda that said, “1st please dont tell ma u heard from me and please dont tell the police Ill tell you everything but please download the app Telegram I need to make sure everything is secure and u cant find me,” according to court records reviewed by Court TV.
After downloading the Telegram app, Jalynda allegedly asked her sister to call the police and say she had been found. When asked about Jakaiden, Jalynda allegedly responded, “I came in the house and he was not breathing.”
Investigators responded to Jalynda’s house and noted that it was stocked with “sufficient food” and was clean and orderly. Hours later, deputies responded to a report of a small child found in a trash bag along the waterline of the bay.
The child, identified as Jakaiden, was wrapped in blankets and towels inside a black trash bag, wearing only a diaper. Officers said the child’s eyes were “deeply sunken” into his head, his torso and extremities were “absent of meaningful muscle” and described his limbs as “skin draped over bone.” Jakaiden weighed only 20 pounds. There were no other signs of trauma to his body.
Jakaiden’s pediatrician told officers that the child had previously been diagnosed with failure to thrive and was in the bottom fifth percentile for weight, but at his last doctor’s visit in December, he had weighed 30 pounds.
“The physician responded that the child losing one-third of his body weight in less than two months was incredibly concerning,” detectives said in their report. The significant drop in weight would either be associated with starvation or a severe medical condition that should have necessitated emergent treatment. The fact that Jakaiden Smith’s weight had been permitted to drop by a third indicated to him either abuse through starvation, or medical neglect.”
Jalynda invoked her right to an attorney and refused to speak with deputies after her arrest. Investigators noted that it appeared her phone’s data had been erased two minutes before she was taken into custody.
Jalynda’s arraignment is scheduled for March 6. Prosecutors have requested that she be held without bail.
