2-year-old drowned before he was found in alligator’s mouth, police say

2-year-old Taylen Mosley drowned before he was found in alligator’s mouth - The Washington Post

The 2-year-old boy found dead in the jaws of an alligator last month drowned, police said Monday.

Mosley’s attorney, public defender Margaret Russell, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in a statement to CNN earlier this month, a spokesperson for the public defender’s office described the deaths of Taylen and his mother as “tragic.”

“Due to the extremely serious allegations surrounding these tragic losses, our investigation is currently focused on gathering information about the facts and circumstances of the case, as well as our client’s mental state,” the spokesperson said in a statement, according to the network.

On the afternoon of March 29, Jeffery’s family came to her apartment to celebrate Mosley’s 21st birthday and left about 45 minutes later, a St. Petersburg detective wrote in an affidavit. The only people still at the home were Jeffery, Mosley and their 2-year-old son, according to the affidavit.

Just after 9 p.m., Mosley arrived at his mother’s house with severe cuts to his hands and arms “consistent with injuries caused by slippage during a knife attack,” the affidavit says. He was admitted for treatment at a hospital in St. Petersburg.

Jeffery’s great-aunt, Theo Brickhouse-Sails, told WFLA that the next morning, March 30, she kept calling but couldn’t get Jeffery on the line.

“The phone went to voice mail,” she said. “And nobody answered. And just kept going to voice mail, and my gut told me something was wrong.”

On her lunch break, Brickhouse-Sails drove to Jeffery’s apartment, but when she knocked, no one answered, she told the station. She noticed a blood trail outside and hailed the property manager, according to the affidavit. About 2:30 p.m., a manager entered the apartment and found Jeffery dead in the bathroom in what police would later describe as a “very violent crime scene.” She had been cut and stabbed more than 100 times, the affidavit states.

Police found a bloody fingerprint on a cleaning bottle under a bed, according to the affidavit, which says it was later identified as Mosley’s. They also found a bloody shoe print with a Gucci emblem on the bathroom floor where Jeffery’s body was found, according to police. Mosley’s brother told investigators that Mosley had been wearing Gucci slides when he arrived at his mother’s house with cuts after his birthday party, the affidavit states.

But police didn’t find the couple’s son at Jeffery’s apartment. Just before 5 p.m. on March 30, St. Petersburg police posted to social media asking anyone with information about Taylen’s whereabouts to contact them. The next morning, they sent out another call for information and gave an update on their search. Officers were still canvassing Jeffery’s apartment complex, and St. Petersburg Fire Rescue had a dive team scouring nearby retention ponds. A few hours later, police announced a $5,000 reward for information, including Taylen’s location.

Late in the afternoon on March 31, police called for volunteers to help search for the boy. St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway also introduced Brickhouse-Sails during a news conference, where she pleaded for help.

“We’re without words. We love Pashun very much, and we love Taylen,” Brickhouse-Sails told reporters. “We’ve lost Pashun, so we ask you guys to help us to find Taylen and get him back — please.”

At 9:33 p.m., police called off the volunteer search. Someone had spotted an alligator carrying something in its mouth, the affidavit states. When they got closer, officers could make out that it was a boy. One of them fatally shot the animal and recovered Taylen’s body.

“We didn’t want to find him this way,” Holloway said later on March 31 at a news conference, “but at least we can bring some closure to that family now.”

Mosley remains jailed in Pinellas County, according to sheriff’s office records. He is due back in court May 5 for a status hearing.