PEARL, MISSISSIPPI: A mother has pleaded guilty to killing her infant daughter by repeatedly slamming her on concrete.
According to local outlet WAPT, Makaylia Shaylynn Jolley, 21, has received a life sentence without the possibility of parole in Rankin County, Mississippi, in exchange for her acquiescence.
Authorities in Pearl said that witnesses saw the defendant “repeatedly and forcibly” throw the eight-week-old Khalysie Lashay Jolley on the road.
Police said Makaylia Jolley fled into the woods when they arrived at the crime scene
The officers arrived to find another woman holding the badly injured baby. First responders applied first aid immediately and took Khalysie to the Children’s Hospital of Mississippi in the city of Jackson.
The baby was initially in critical condition but eventually succumbed to her injuries. Authorities said that defendant Jolley fled into nearby woods as the police arrived, but was later arrested.
A neighbor speaks out after the incident
A neighbor voiced shock to the outlet at the time about the murder case. “I don’t understand,” said the woman, who did not want to be identified.
“Something had to go wrong. Postpartum, or something. Because she really is a very good mother. I don’t understand what happened," she added.
“This is an unexplainable and heinous crime against an innocent child,” said Bubba Bramlett, district attorney of Madison and Rankin counties, on Monday, November 6, according to the outlet.
“My office thanks the witnesses, the EMTs, the medical providers at Blair E Batson and the Mississippi Children’s Safe Center, the Pearl Police Department and the Pearl Fire Department for their work on this case. Those men and women will forever be affected by what they saw on May 12, 2022. The very woman who was supposed to love and support Khlaysie is the one who chose drugs over her children and caused Khlaysie’s death. Makaylia Jolley will die in prison where she belongs for committing these crimes against her daughter," Bramlett added.
Infant dies of fentanyl poisoning after addict father gets custody over 'racial justice'
Meaww previously reported that a three-month-old girl named Phoenix was poisoned by drugs found alongside her bottle while she was in the care of her father, a known drug addict.
The incident took place in spite of repeated warnings from neighbors as Santa Clara County had recently changed its 'threshold' for removal of children from houses citing a commitment to 'racial justice.'
Phoenix died from a fentanyl and methamphetamine overdose, reported the Daily Mail. Law enforcement officials who discovered the newborn unconscious also found fentanyl, broken glass pipes, and aluminum foil next to her bottle in the kitchen of the home on Spinnaker Way.
David Castro, 38, had eight previous drug convictions as well as had older children taken away from him. In the case of Phoenix, officials claimed that they were unaware of "a single example where a child was determined to be 'unsafe,'" and subsequently left her in Castro's care.
