Mother of boy in suitcase, Dejaune Anderson, to be held without bond

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ind. - Dejaune Anderson, the mother of a 5-year-old boy whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase in southern Indiana made her first appearance in court on Tuesday.

Anderson, who is the mother of 5-year-old Cairo Ammar Jordan, was arrested last month in Arcadia, California, just outside of Los Angeles. She was charged with murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, and obstruction of justice.

The young Atlanta boy would have turned 7 years old this past October.

Dejaune Anderson says NSA, Space Force monitoring her

The 38-year-old woman made mention in open court of Space Force, the NSA, and classified evidence which needs to be handed over to the Judge Advocate General during her first appearance on Tuesday. 

"I’ve been under NSA surveillance for the past eight months," Anderson told Washington County Circuit Judge Larry Medlock, "and how can that qualify me as a fugitive on the run when I’ve also had a detail from Space Force that was following my every move?" 

"If Space Force comes forward and tells me they’re willing to monitor you," Medlock replied, "we’ll take up the issue of bond at a later time." 

When Medlock initially asked Anderson to identify herself, she replied with another name beginning with "Princess," and said she was "representing the entity of Anderson."

The judge initially entertained Anderson's request to represent herself, but then asked someone from the public defender’s office to represent her.

Anderson is due back in court on April 25, with a tentative trial date scheduled for August.

How was Dejaune Anderson arrested?

According to the Indiana State Police, a concerned citizen called in a tip to the police giving away Anderson’s location in California. 

Indiana police alerted the U.S. Marshals in California and local authorities, who were able to capture Anderson as she attempted to board a Los Angeles Metro Rail train.

Detectives flew out to California to question her and to petition for her extradition back to Indiana.

Dawn Coleman's plea deal

Dawn Coleman, a friend of Anderson's from Shreveport, Louisiana, was arrested in San Francisco in October 2022.

She was charged with aiding, inducing or causing murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death and obstruction of justice.

Coleman was sentenced to 25 years in prison, with a year-and-a-half credit for time served, followed by five years of probation.

Jordan had never been reported missing, slowing the months-long investigation into the case.

She is also obligated to testify against Anderson.

Mushroom hunter finds 5-year-old dead boy in suitcase

Police said a man came across the suitcase while hunting wild mushrooms on his property on April 16, 2022. The suitcase was at the end of a dead-end road in a very rural area of Washington County, Indiana. The man opened it to find a pillow and a black trash bag containing the young child’s body.

Video obtained by police from a property owner near the scene shows part of the street. It showed a vehicle stopping into the area where the suitcase was found around 4:53 p.m. on April 14, 2022.

The affidavit also states cellphones belonging to Anderson and Coleman were in the same area between 4:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. that day.

Investigators said they were able to lift prints from two different people on the suitcase and trash bag. Police said those match prints belonging to Anderson and Coleman.

The affidavit states the same Las Vegas-style hard-side suitcase found with the 5-year-old boy inside appears in photos on Coleman’s social media.

An autopsy found that the boy died from an electrolyte imbalance most likely due to gastroenteritis, or vomiting and diarrhea that led to dehydration, state police said in May. Investigators said the boy had died within a week prior to his body’s discovery.

He was buried in June at a Salem, Indiana, cemetery about 35 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky, after a memorial service where a police chaplain called the then-unidentified child an "unknown angel."

DeJaune Anderson's previous arrests

Investigators started looking into the history of Anderson and Coleman after matching their prints. They found the 5-year-old boy’s mother had been arrested in two states just a month before the gruesome discovery in south Indiana.

Anderson led troopers on a high-speed chase after failing to stop on March 12, South Carolina Highway Patrol records indicate. Troopers said her car was clocked going 92 mph in a 60 mph zone. The pursuit lasted for about 30 miles, until her 2019 Dodge Challenger ran out of gas.

The occupants of the car refused to comply with troopers. Investigators said the troopers had to smash the back driver’s side window to get inside and get the three occupants out.

Anderson was accompanied by her son and Coleman, who she identified as her sister, the troopers said.

Troopers said the car was registered with Ashley Logistics Corporation, for which Anderson was listed as the CEO and her son was listed as secretary, according to the Georgia Corporations Division.

She was booked into the Colleton County Jail on charges of child endangerment, speeding over 25 mph, and failure to stop for blue lights.

Just 19 days later, Anderson would again be booked in jail, but this time in Louisville. According to the affidavit, Anderson was arrested by the Louisville Metro Police Department outside of Von Maur at the Oxmoor Mall for taking clothes from the store.

When she was approached by mall security, she became violent, punching the officer in the face, police said.

She was booked into the Jefferson County Jail in Kentucky charged with robbery in the second-degree.

A jail phone call obtained by police appears to be a conversation between Anderson and Coleman, who discussed that they were OK and staying with a cousin.

Boy found stuffed in suitcase in Indiana has ‘demon’ in him, mom says

The probable cause affidavit for arrest filed by the Indiana State Police in Anderson’s arrest outlines discussions of demonic possession, exorcism, and "death attacks" by her young son. Those warrants were issued on Oct. 14, 2022.

The affidavit also contained posts that Anderson allegedly made on her Facebook account that made references to blood magic, the occult, demons, exorcism, possession and other supernatural topics.

Anderson’s account was named "Thesonymichelle" with the vanity name of "Katu Katu," according to the affidavit.

About three weeks before her arrest in South Carolina, the police said she wrote:

"Can't wait to tell my story: I had to raise my frequency, heal myself and past lives, heal my ancestors, heal s*** in the universe, heal Gaia to exorcism a very powerful demonic force from within my son. (Had ppl in enough alignment with their soul to assist me.) Still I chose my soul and was able to completely heal myself and remove old paradigms from my mind. I know you can chose your soul with no questions asked."

Two days after the arrest, she reportedly wrote: 

"Stop getting caught up in the vessels of this realm. You guys get caught up with how old the body is, if they adult and kids, etc. Don't even know it's a full grown demon in the child body telling you what to do because you didn't choose your soul. Better start using your 311 eye."

Three days later, several more posts were made to her account, including:

"Can't wait to tell this story"

"About that exorcism"

"A book about living with a demonic child"

"And a podcast"

While Anderson was in jail for a second time, Coleman took to Facebook offering several strange posts. The affidavit states her account was "ank.bella.7" and went by the vanity name "Ankh Kek."

On April 4, she wrote:

"Don't let the avatars fool you there is a face under it you need to see some have souls some don't. Evil & wicked is hiding in plain sight must keep rising AK MG"

Four days later, Coleman made a similar, but expanded post:

"Just because the avatar is of what we call a child does not mean that it is actually a child there are beings that are here that are not supposed to be here that pick avatars to hide behind to play roles to steal energy and to ruin lives you better check to see if the children that you think are children actually have souls or if they're not menevolent beings with a soul and in a child Avatar. Magic is real curses are real and there are some very powerful evil beings there that will curse your womb and then some. Nothing is what It seems and we are catering to evil beings in children avatars that aren't even children. Vail need to rise most of won't most will be wiped out because of your demons in this paradigm has no room for that. AK MG."

The day before Anderson was released, Coleman reportedly wrote:

"Most of the children aren't even really children at that just in an avatar playing a character"

Anderson was released from jail on April 11, 2022. The affidavit states she quickly took to Facebook to mark the occasion, writing:

"Just got out of a jail mission"

"Yes had to do some healing and killing"

Just four days before an Indiana property owner made the gruesome discovery of the body of 5-year-old Cairo Ammar Jordan stuffed into a suitcase at the dead-end of a rural road, Anderson made a disturbing public tweet using her account using the vanity name "Miss Deja Day." 

That tweet was addressing a well-known Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Father Vincent Lampert was a designated exorcist who has published several books and has made many television appearances on the subject.

In her tweet, the affidavit states Anderson wrote to Fr. Lambert:

"…good day sir. I need to speak with you urgently. I have survived the death attacks from my 5-year-old throughout the 5 years he has been alive. I have been able to weaken his powers through our blood. I have his real name and he is 100 years old. Need assistance."

Fr. Lambert appeared to not have been active on Twitter since July 2017 at that point.

Anderson appeared to have made one final Facebook post on the day between when police say her cellphone pinged in the area where her son’s body was eventually discovered and the day it was actually found, according to the affidavit. It reads:

"This is a whole demon in a child body. Why you think she need a cigarette?! ! Losing energy huh! 64 years old in a child body. Was full of gifts and magickal rites stronger than many of you because your frequency not high enough. Start asking spirit to reveal these things to you hiding behind a body."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story is being reported out of Atlanta.