A 25-year-old Louisiana mother has been charged with murder and child cruelty in the death of her 4-year-old son and the abandonment of her 1-year-old baby boy in a ditch alongside Interstate 10.
Aaliyah Jack was arrested in Mississippi and charged with failure to report a missing child after the older boy was found dead in water behind the Louisiana Welcome Center in Venton on Monday and the baby was found by a trucker the next day crawling in a ditch near the Texas-Louisiana state line, as CrimeOnline reported. The baby survived two days in the ditch as wind and rain from Hurricane Beryl pummeled the Gulf.
The Meridian Star reported that Jack was arrested on Tuesday after she was spotted at Union Station in that city.
Authorities in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, have now charged her with second degree murder for the death of 4-year-old Legend Jack and cruelty to a juvenile for her treatment of 1-year-old Kingtrail Jack, KPLC reported.
Jack is being held on a $9.1 million bond in Mississippi while she fights extradition to Louisiana.
Kingtrail was released from the hospital on Wednesday into state custody.
Conswella Jack, , Aaliyah Jack’s mother and the boys’ grandmother, told the Acadiana Advocate that she had been helping care for the children, along with their paternal grandmother. She said she met up with Aaliyah on Saturday so she could spend time with her children, but the mother fled with the boys.
“The next day, which was Sunday, after trying to call her, she finally reaches out to me, but it’s a text,” Conswella Jack said. “She sent me a picture of a car in some bushes that kind of looked like it was wrecked.
“I was confused, so I called, called and called, and could not reach her,” Jack said.
Legend’s body was found Monday in a lake behind the Vinton Welcome Center. Police say there were no obvious signs of foul play, and they are awaiting an autopsy.
On Monday morning, Legend’s body was found in a lake behind the Vinton Welcome Center. Police say there were no obvious signs of foul play.
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[Featured image: Center, Aaliyah Jack/police handout. Left, Legend Jack and right, Kingtrail Jack/family handout]
