MEMPHIS, Tenn. — RELATED: Mother and boyfriend indicted for murder of 4-year-old Sequoia Samuels
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The case against the mother of 4-year-old Sequoia Samuels, who was found dead in June after a day-long search, has been sent to a grand jury, according to court records.
After a mental evaluation, Brittney Jackson was found competent to stand trial in August. She remains in the Shelby County Jail on $500,000 bond, charged with child neglect, abuse of a corpse, and false offense reporting.
Jackson’s boyfriend Jaylon Hobson is charged with false reporting in Samuels' death. His case was also moved forward to a grand jury.
According to the court affidavits, Jackson admitted the little girl had been dead for weeks before she was reported missing Thursday, June 15, 2023.
In the affidavit for Jackson, police said the mother originally told investigators she had been home the day before with four children, two hers and two relatives of her boyfriend Jaylon Hobson. She claimed she gave Sequoia water then fell asleep on the couch, and Hobson came home and fell asleep. The affidavit said on Thursday, Jackson woke up to her front door open, and found Sequoia missing, so she called police about 6:30 a.m.
Under questioning, Memphis Police said that story changed. According to the affidavit, Jackson claimed Hobson had beat Sequoia several times in the weeks before the false report. She told investigators, according to the report, that Sequoia had become unresponsive during the last beating, and she never regained consciousness, and that Jackson never attempted to render aid to the girl. Jackson told police Hobson put Sequoia in garbage bags, which they stored in the home for several weeks until Thursday, when they put the girl’s remains in a garbage container at the apartments.
According to the affidavit, Hobson denied being involved in the death of Sequoia, and that he last saw her on Sunday, June 11, 2023, which police noted in the report was “impossible due to the advance state of decomposition of the human remains” believed to be Sequoia.
Memphis Police Department (MPD) officially canceled the missing endangered child alert the morning of Friday, June 16, for 4-year-old Sequoia Samuels, and that's when the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) said investigators believed the child was dead.
ABC 24 also reached out to the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, which said it was investigating the case.
In a statement, DCS said, "Pursuant to state and federal law, we are unable to release case specific information regarding children or families served by the Department. The law does allow us to release certain details concerning child fatalities investigated by the Department. Those details can be found on our website here.
When the court grants custody to DCS, we have full responsibility for the child’s care. When another individual has custody of a child, DCS does not bear that responsibility. We are also working with our law enforcement partners in the criminal investigation."
