COLUMBUS, Ohio — A woman in Columbus has pleaded guilty to the kidnapping of two infants back in December 2022.
A prison sentence of 20 years is being recommended as part of the plea by Nalah Jackson, 25, according to a press release from the United States Attorney Kenneth L. Parker Southern District of Ohio.
“There is no greater responsibility than protecting our youth,” Parker said in the release. “This community watched in horror as Nalah Jackson preyed on two vulnerable babies. Today, she admitted her crime and agreed to spend 20 years in prison for her actions.”
The release establishes that Jackson left a Donatos Pizza in on North High Street in Columbus on Dec. 19 and took a Honda Accord that had been left running outside with the 5-month-old twins in the back seat. The mother was picking up a delivery order from the restaurant.
The release continues to note that Jackson drove for hours around the state with the infants before parking the car — with the infant twins still inside — at Dayton International Airport around 3 a.m. as she went inside the airport.
After leaving the airport and returning to the vehicle, the release notes, she left one of the infants in the parking lot.
The child was found by a passerby, who notified security.
Following this, Jackson left the airport “at high speeds” and traveled with the other infant to Indianapolis, leaving the vehicle and baby at about 8 a.m. on Indiana Avenue at a Papa Johns. The baby would remain strapped to a car seat for two days amid a search.
A woman in Indianapolis, who happened to give Jackson a ride and her cell phone number, later recognized her in social media posts alleging Jackson as the kidnapper.
“The woman called her cousin, and together they formulated a plan to meet up with Jackson to confirm her identity, recover the infant if possible and lead Jackson to law enforcement,” the release reads.
The two women met Jackson and were able to slyly contact the police, who would end up arresting her, according to the release. It would be these same two women who would find the missing child after they found a bus schedule Jackson left in their vehicle, narrowing their search area.
They eventually found the vehicle just as they were getting food.
“They drove up to the stolen car and attempted to open the back door, which was locked,” the release reads. “The driver’s door did open. Due to an overwhelming foul smell coming from the car, and the silence of the baby, one of the women screamed, assuming the baby was deceased. Upon hearing the scream, the baby alerted and began crying. One of the women removed the baby from his car seat and began comforting him.”
The two women found police officers inside a nearby Blaze Pizza, and Indianapolis police took the baby to a nearby hospital, where he was “treated for dehydration, heart abnormalities due to the dehydration, extreme diaper rash and skin deterioration due to him being buckled in a car seat for three days while sitting in his own excrement.”
About a month later, in January, the infant that had been recovered at the Dayton airport, Ky'Air Thomas, died. Police had been called to a home in Columbus for a baby that wasn’t breathing. He was pronounced dead after being taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
According to the autopsy, this death was the result of “sudden unexplained infant death” involving an “unsafe sleep environment” but found no evidence of neglect or foul play.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
