Mother tells reporter why she killed son after 4-year-old's body found in lake
Aaliyah Jack booking photo (Calcasieu Parish Sheriffs Office)
A Louisiana mother has confessed to killing her 4-year-old son, leaving his body in a lake at an interstate welcome center and abandoning her 1-year-old "miracle baby" in a nearby ditch.
According to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office in southwest Louisiana, deputies responded July 8 to a body found in the lake at the welcome center on Interstate 10 near the Louisiana-Texas border.
Investigators learned the victim was a 4-year-old child who had last been seen with his mother, 25-year-old Aaliyah Jack, and his 1-year-old brother. Authorities feared the 1-year-old was also dead.
As they prepared to search the same water where 4-year-old Legend Jack was found, a truck driver spotted the 1-year-old baby crawling in a ditch along the highway. Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Gary "Stitch" Guillory said the baby had numerous bug bites but otherwise appeared to be in good condition.
The baby survived two days of sometimes stormy conditions as the outer bands of Tropical Storm Beryl passed through.
"We look at this 1-year old as our miracle baby because he was still alive," a visibly moved Guillory said.
Their mother was arrested the same day (July 9) in Meridian, Mississippi, more than 350 miles from where her children were found.
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On July 20, reporters spoke to Aaliyah Jack after she was brought to Louisiana from Mississippi to face charges.
A reporter for KPLC asked Jack what happened to her children as she was walking into jail.
Here’s the exchange, KPLC reports:
REPORTER: Aaliyah, what happened to your children that day?
JACK: Um, I had did that to them.
REPORTER: Why did you leave your baby on the interstate?
JACK: I’m not sure, I was under the influence of drugs.
REPORTER: Did you kill your son?
JACK: Yeah.
Jack is charged with second-degree murder, cruelty to a juvenile and two counts of failure to report a missing child. She’s being held on a $9.1 million bond.