5-year-old found in trash bag bobbing along bay waterline after mom killed him and stuffed the boy inside with blankets and towels: Police

A Florida pistillate has been indicted connected a complaint of first-degree murder for allegedly sidesplitting her 5-year-old son and stuffing him wrong a trash container with blankets and towels that was recovered on a bay waterline.

Jalynda Smith, 36, is accused of murdering her lad Ja'Kaiden Smith — who was autistic and nonverbal — successful aboriginal February and attempting to screen up the slaying, according to tribunal documents. She was indicted connected Thursday successful Escambia County.

A warrant for Smith's apprehension and motion for pretrial detention some outline however she allegedly "wrapped" Ja'Kaiden successful blankets and towels past stuffed him wrong a achromatic trash bag, which was past tossed into Perdido Bay. Prosecutors judge Smith starved Ja'Kaiden to death, arsenic helium was recovered severely emaciated and weighing conscionable 20 pounds.

"The arms and legs of the kid appeared to beryllium tegument draped implicit bony and the wide wide appeared inconsistent with the expected wide of a 5-year-old child," the apprehension warrant says. "The torso and extremities of the kid appeared to beryllium absent of meaningful musculus and the kid appeared emaciated. I could spot the outline of the child's rib cage done the tegument and the little abdomen was sunken inward, toward the back."

Ja'Kaiden's assemblage was pulled from Perdido Bay connected Feb. 6 aft being spotted successful the h2o on Lillian Highway, according to the tribunal documents and statements fixed to section ABC affiliate WEAR by Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons. A passerby saw the trash container and contacted the Escambia County Sheriff's Office, which launched an investigation.

The probe revealed that Smith's parent had reported her and Ja'Kaiden missing connected Feb. 5 aft she had not heard from them since Feb. 1. The ma told constabulary that she "was acrophobic due to the fact that this deficiency of connection was antithetic and due to the fact that [Smith's] telephone was disconnected," according to the pretrial detention motion.

"On February 6, 2026, the defendant's sister received a substance from the suspect from an chartless number," the question explains. "The Defendant besides emailed her sister and asked her to download the Telegram app. In the email, the suspect besides asked her sister not to archer their parent oregon the constabulary that the suspect contacted her sister."

According to the apprehension warrant, Smith told her sister, "Please don't archer ma u heard from maine and delight don't archer the constabulary sick archer you everything but delight download the app Telegram I request to marque definite everything is unafraid and u cant find me."

Smith allegedly told her sister "she was scared," and past asked her to telephone the constabulary and archer them she had recovered Smith and that Smith was nary longer missing. When the sister asked astir what happened to Ja'Kaiden, Smith told her, "I came successful the location and helium was not breathing," according to the apprehension warrant.

"The sister went to the defendant's apartment," the detention question says. "The suspect and [Ja'Kaiden] were not there, sheets were missing from the bed, and the flat was highly cold. Neighbors told the sister that they had not seen the suspect successful respective days, which was unusual."

Smith was allegedly captured connected surveillance footage astatine a section Walmart and different adjacent stores earlier leaving successful a rideshare vehicle. She was yet located and taken into custody by sheriff's deputies, with constabulary saying she asked for a lawyer "immediately."

Ja'Kaiden's autopsy showed that helium was "severely malnourished and dehydrated" astatine the clip of his death. He weighed lone 20 pounds and nary different injuries were noted.

Police interviewed Ja'Kaiden's pediatrician and learned that helium was diagnosed with autism and had "both code and connection issues," according to the apprehension warrant. Ja'Kaiden weighed 30 pounds successful December 2025, per the pediatrician.

"The doc responded that the kid losing one-third of his assemblage value successful little than 2 months was incredibly concerning," the apprehension warrant states. "The information that Ja'Kaiden Smith's value had been permitted to driblet by a 3rd indicated to him either maltreatment done starvation, oregon aesculapian neglect."

More from Law&Crime: Mother forced her 8-year-old girl to unrecorded successful a shed, past fto the miss rot successful a bathtub aft she died — and is headed to situation for it

Smith's transgression inheritance past includes a 2022 apprehension for kid neglect aft she near Ja'Kaiden "home unsocial successful his crib for respective hours," according to prosecutors. She successfully completed pretrial involution and a Department of Children and Families probe was closed aft the bureau recovered that Smith "was gathering the child's needs and Ja'Kaiden Smith was harmless with Jalynda Smith," the apprehension warrant says.

Smith is presently being held astatine the Escambia County Jail without bond. Her next tribunal quality is acceptable for May 19.