Missing 4-year-old likely found dead in Tennessee, cops say. Mom and boyfriend charged
UPDATE: Arrest affidavits from the Memphis Police Department revealed Sequoia’s mother and her mother’s boyfriend hid the child’s dead body in trash bags for weeks before reporting her missing to authorities.
The girl’s mother told police her boyfriend beat Sequoia repeatedly before she became unconscious and then died, according to arrest affidavits. He then placed her body in trash bags before moving the bags to a trash can next to their apartment in the following weeks.
Sequoia’s mother then lied to police about her front door being found open and Sequoia missing on June 15, police said.
The original story continues below.
The search for a missing 4-year-old girl in Memphis has ended after police announced a body has been found.
Authorities began the urgent search for Sequoia Samuels, who had a feeding tube inserted in her side, on the morning of June 15 in the Uptown neighborhood of Memphis, according to an endangered child alert.
Sequoia was seen on security footage walking out of her home at about 3 a.m., and her family members noticed she was missing at about 6 a.m. when they found the door open, WHBQ reported.
The Memphis Police Department enlisted the help of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to search the neighborhoods near where Sequoia was believed to have gone missing, Officer Teresa Carlson said in a June 15 news conference.
Police also called on neighbors to look in their yards, cars and on security cameras to see if Sequoia was potentially hiding somewhere in the area, Carlson said.
Sequoia’s great uncle told WHBQ she was born prematurely and required special medication and the feeding tube, adding additional urgency to the search.
“If y’all see her, if y’all know anything, if y’all heard anything please bring her home,” Sequoia’s great uncle, Samuel Bass, said, according to WATN.
After hours of “relentless” searching, at 11:50 p.m. June 15 officers discovered human remains on the same block where Sequoia lived, according to a tweet from police.
Officers “discovered a body believed to be the child’s remains. The remains were found in close proximity to the apartment where Sequoia resided with her family; however, a positive identity has not been confirmed at this time,” according to a June 16 news release.
Police also announced that Sequoia’s mother, Brittney Jackson, and her “alleged” boyfriend, Jaylon Hobson, had been taken into custody, according to the release.
Jackson and Hobson were charged with false offense report, police said.
Jackson was also charged with aggravated child neglect and abuse of a corpse, according to the release.
“This has been an emotional time for our employees and our community as we worked relentlessly together to find her,” Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis, said in the release. “We are beyond heartbroken this morning and are praying for strength for everyone involved as we investigate this tragic loss.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2023 at 8:48 AM with the headline "Missing 4-year-old likely found dead in Tennessee, cops say. Mom and boyfriend charged."
