Ky’air Thomas with his twin brother Kason Thomas. Police say Nalah Jackson kidnapped the children. (Image: Columbus Division of Police)
An infant has died a month after police recovered him and his twin brother from an alleged kidnapper. Though authorities did not initially explain how Ky’air Thomas died, a family member reportedly said that the boys’ mother was feeding them and there was an accident.
“I am like in a state of shock for real,” said family member Wilma Booker, according to WSYX. “I literally, I really am. I am devastated. I’m hurt.”
Police have said that the boys’ mother left them in her Honda Accord on Dec. 19 while running out to pick up a DoorDash order from a pizza place in Columbus, Ohio, last month. They claim that a stranger, Nalah Jackson, 24, stole the idling car as the Ky’air and his brother remained inside. The boys were not harmed, officers said. Ky’air was found on Dec. 20 outside of the Dayton International Airport. The second baby was found safe in his mother’s car near a Papa John’s pizza parlor in Indianapolis, Indiana, when Jackson was arrested, police wrote.
“The 5-month-old boy is in good health & being transported to a hospital to be checked out,” they said.
The boys’ grandmother LaFonda Thomas was elated.
“This is gonna be the best Christmas ever. I’m so excited. It is a miracle,” she said, according to a report on Dec. 23 from WBSN. “I’m overwhelmed right now.”
**UPDATE**
One of the children was found at the Dayton airport shortly after 5 a.m. Authorities around Dayton are currently canvassing the area for the other child.Nalah Jackson is a person of interest. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call 614-645-4266. https://t.co/0yyZnPwy3G pic.twitter.com/LFZuBQogkT
— Columbus Ohio Police (@ColumbusPolice) December 20, 2022
🚨AMBER ALERT UPDATE🚨
Nalah Jackson was arrested Thursday by @IMPDnews. Kason Thomass, the missing 5-month-old baby, was not with the suspect. The search for the child is ongoing & has expanded to Indiana where an Amber Alert has been initiated. @FBI is offering a $10k reward. pic.twitter.com/5tYg33LDsg
— Columbus Ohio Police (@ColumbusPolice) December 22, 2022
Police in Columbus, Ohio, were dispatched on Saturday night about the baby not breathing, police spokeswoman Melanie Amato told Law&Crime in a statement.
The baby was taken to a hospital in a life-threatening condition, and died 11:44 p.m.
“She’s doing really bad right now,” Booker told WSYX of her niece, the boys’ mother. “While I wasn’t exactly right there when it happened, my kids were there.”
She said that the boys’ mother was feeding the babies and one of them started choking on the milk.
“She immediately called 911, trying to do chest compression and CPR things to get the baby back at that time,” she said. “It was just like an accident that happened from feeding the babies and that was it.”
She defended her niece.
“She loves her babies,” Booker said. “I don’t want people to judge her like they did last time. I just want that to be known. I’m like in a state of shock for real. I’m devastated.”
Jackson has pleaded guilty in her Indiana case to spitting on a sheriff’s deputy during her arrest.
Asked her name in a hearing late last month, she reportedly asked, “Are you talking to me as a person or a slave?”
“I’m speaking to you as a person,” the judge said.
Jackson reportedly gave her name as “Josphis Hunt.”
The judge asked if she understood her rights.
“No… yes… no… I’m pleading guilty,” Jackson reportedly said. “Just go ahead and sentence me.”
The judge reportedly ended the hearing because Jackson kept cursing.
(Law&Crime Coverage: Ohio Twins Kidnapping Suspect Derails Court Appearance in Related Battery Charge)
A grand jury in Franklin, Ohio, recently indicted Jackson for an unrelated allegation from Dec. 2 in which she stole a car, crashed it, stole another from a woman helping her, then crashed again when she sped through a red light and got t-boned by a 16-year-old driver who had right of way.
