A disturbing case out of Florida is taking a darker turn after a mother was formally charged in the death of her young son — whose body was found stuffed in a trash bag near a bay.
Jalynda Smith has been indicted on charges of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in Escambia County, prosecutors announced on March 26. The charges come weeks after the horrifying discovery of her child’s body.
The case began unfolding in early February, when Smith and her son were reported missing by her mother on Feb. 5 after no one had heard from them for several days, according to a probable cause affidavit.
But what investigators say happened next raised immediate red flags.
Authorities allege that the following day, Smith texted her sister — but told her not to alert police or their mother. She also instructed her to download Telegram, an encrypted messaging app, to continue the conversation.
Once on the app, Smith’s sister asked about the boy.
“I came into the house and he was not breathing,” Smith allegedly replied, according to investigators.
Concerned, the sister later went to Smith’s apartment — where she noticed something chilling. Sheets were missing from the bed.
Not long after, the boy’s body was discovered in a gruesome scene along Perdido Bay, past a guardrail on Lillian Highway. According to police, the child had been wrapped in blankets and towels and placed in a trash bag near the waterline.
What authorities found next was even more heartbreaking.
Investigators said the child appeared severely malnourished.
“The torso and extremities of the child appeared to be absent of meaningful muscle and the child appeared emaciated,” police stated in the affidavit. “I could see the outline of the child’s rib cage through the skin and the lower abdomen was sunken inward.”
The boy, who had autism and was nonverbal, weighed just 20 pounds at the time of his death, according to the autopsy.
Smith was initially charged with manslaughter, but those charges have now been upgraded to first-degree murder as the investigation continued.
It is not immediately clear if she has entered a plea.
Put the trash in a trash bag and toss her in the bay.
This is disturbing on so many levels. I dont understand why this skank didn’t get an abortion as she clearly wasnt ready to be a mom. Also who even impregnated her?