Missing baby's body found in trash can; mother and boyfriend charged with murder
Missing 2-year-old's body found in a trash can\u00a0on the west side of Houma at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Mother, boyfriend charged with murder and obstruction.
www.houmatoday.com
Tray Harry and his son, Ezekiel Harry, 2. The child's mother and her boyfriend were arrested for murder
Missing baby's body found in trash can; mother and boyfriend charged with murder
Colin Campo
The Courier
The body of a missing 2-year-old was found in a trash can Tuesday and the boy's mother and her boyfriend have been charged with murder, police said.
The boy's mother, Maya Jones, 28, and her boyfriend Jermaine Robinson, 37, are in custody and charged with first-degree murder and obstruction of justice.
The other three children are now in the custody of their father, Trey Harry, of Thibodaux.
"I'm being as strong as possible, especially for the sake of my other children," Trey Harry said.
Devastated family members on the birth father’s side found out about the discovery Tuesday evening, with the child’s paternal grandmother receiving a call, falling to the ground and crying out that Ezekiel’s body had been found.
Paternal family members of Ezekiel say there are three other kids as well, ranging in age from five to ten. Family members say they are unhurt.
Ezekiel Harry reportedly went missing around noon and was found about 6 p.m. on Daspit Street, according to Houma Police.
Police investigating Ezekiel’s whereabouts were initially told that Jones left her home on Cadiere Street accompanied by Ezekiel and her three other children, all of whom are between the ages of five and 10.
During the investigation, Houma Police contacted the mother, who initially stated she was along Bayou Terrebonne with her kids with a baby carrier on her back when a subject in a grey truck passed, grabbed her child and departed the area. Police said its investigation immediately developed information that the report released by the mother was inaccurate.
A large part of the search for Ezekiel was on the intracoastal waterway near where he was reported missing, but it was just a block away from the police department where he was found.
"Once arriving near the area of Bayou Terrebonne, adjacent from Mahler Street, Maya Jones went to nearby residences stating her kid was abducted," the release said.
Several hours after Ezekiel was reported missing, officers with Houma Police found the boys body discarded inside of a trash can located on Daspit Street on the west side of Houma. At approximately 6 p.m., Jones allegedly led the officers to the trash can where she and Robinson had left the boy’s remains. Jones and Robinson were taken into custody a short while after the discovery of the child’s body. They are both being held without bond.
“This is absolutely a death penalty case,” D.A. Joe Waitz said. “What happened to this little 2-year-old shocks the conscience.”
Local news:Third person charged with attempted murder in Houma shootout that left one man injured
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Police say mother and boyfriend seen on video carrying child’s body
Maya Jones and her boyfriend, Jermaine Robinson have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jones's child, Ezekiel Harry, police said.
www.houmatoday.com
Houma Police Chief Dana Coleman told reporters Wednesday that the mother, Maya Jones, 28, and her boyfriend, Jermaine Robinson, 37, had carried the body of the child, Ezekiel Harry, in a black duffel bag from their home on Cadiere Street, according to the video.
Coleman showed snapshots from surveillance video that showed Jones walking and driving around with a black duffel bag that allegedly contained the boy’s lifeless body, before dumping it in a trash can on Daspit Street
Footage also showed them returning without the bag 2 hours later.
The cause of the child’s death is still unknown, but Coleman and other law enforcement officials said there are signs of physical abuse. Asked if there were prior reports of abuse at the home, Coleman said that is currently under investigation
Neighbors report ongoing abuse at Harry’s home, saying they heard screams and contacted authorities multiple times.
“For over a month now, (I) have been calling the cops and cps (Child Protective Services) and nothing happen!!” neighbor Sara Plaisance posted to Facebook. “I would cry at night listening to those kids scream and cry inside that house. My heart is breaking so much. I knew it was just a matter of time before would happen and I knew it would be soon, but there was nothing else I could do.”
Mother, boyfriend could face death penalty for killing 2-year-old left in Houma trash can
The Terrebonne Parish District Attorney says he will likely seek the death penalty against a woman and her boyfriend now accused with the murder of 2-year-old Ezekiel Harry.
www.wafb.com
To the gas chamber they go.