A Florida man accused of killing his girlfriend allegedly stabbed her over 100 times before murdering his 2-year-old son in a St. Petersburg apartment.
Thomas Mosley, 21, is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Pashun Jeffery, 20, and his son, 2-year-old Taylen Mosley, on Wednesday, before checking himself into a hospital and refusing to speak to investigators.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Taylen was last seen in St. Petersburg on Wednesday afternoon at around 5:20 p.m., prompting law enforcement to issue an AMBER Alert. Police said at the time that the child could be in danger and could “be anywhere.”
According to Chief Anthony Holloway with the St. Petersburg Police Department, Jeffrey was hosting a birthday party for the suspect on Wednesday before he stabbed her and killed her, Tampa Bay Times reports.
Police say loved ones gathered for the party at the victim’s St. Petersburg apartment, where Pashun had lived for around a month before her death. The defendant had been living with her for a few weeks.
After guests left the party around 5:15 p.m., Mosley reportedly was inside the apartment, alone with both victims.
Mosely then left the apartment around 8:42 p.m. and went to his mother’s house in St. Petersburg with “severe lacerations” to his hands and arms, before checking into St. Anthony’s Hospital.
Court records indicate that his injuries were “consistent with injuries caused by slippage during a knife attack.”
Inside the apartment, police found a bloody cleaning bottle under a bed; fingerprints on the bottle were later matched to the defendant. An arrest affidavit indicated that police also found blood on the outside sidewalk, blood leading up to Pashun’s car, and a “very violent crime scene” inside the apartment.
Police found Pashun deceased in the apartment but Jaylen wasn’t there.
While Mosley refused to speak with investigators, officers were searching Lake Maggiore in St. Petersburg on Friday, when they observed an alligator with an apparent object in its mouth. Police shot the alligator and it let go of the object, which turned out to be the toddler.
“We were able to retrieve Taylen’s body intact,” Holloway told reporters at a press conference.
The lake is six miles from the apartment complex where Jeffrey was found dead.
Mosley has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail Friday without bond.
Holloway, the police chief, said he hopes the recovery of Taylen’s body will help his family heal.
“We didn’t want to find him this way,” Holloway told reporters, according to WFLA-TV. “But at least we can bring some closure to that family now.”
To report information about the case, call St. Petersburg Police at 727-893-7780.
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[Feature Photo: Taylen Mosley/St. Petersburg Police Department]
