Deputies in Escambia County pulled a black trash bag from the water along Lillian Highway on Feb. 6 and found the body of a 5-year-old boy inside. By that evening, the child’s mother, 36-year-old Pensacola resident Jalynda Smith, was under arrest and being held without bond on homicide-related charges.
According to reporting by Tampa Free Press and statements from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, deputies located the boy, later identified by the medical examiner as Jakaiden, on the morning of Feb. 6 near the Perdido Bay shoreline. The child was found wearing only a diaper and wrapped in at least two blankets and towels inside a black trash bag, the outlet reported.
An arrest report obtained by local stations says the boy was extremely emaciated. The autopsy recorded a height of roughly 3 feet 4 inches and a weight of about 20 pounds, and medical professionals told investigators he had lost roughly one-third of his body mass since a December appointment. The documents described Jakaiden as nonverbal and on the autism spectrum, and said doctors told investigators such rapid weight loss would typically be associated with starvation or a severe untreated medical condition. WJHG reported the details…