SELLERSBURG, Ind. (WDRB) -- The mother of the 5-year-old boy whose body was found in a suitcase in southern Indiana was arrested nearly two years later, Indiana State Police announced Friday.
Cairo Ammar Jordan's body was found in a suitcase in the woods in Washington County, Indiana, in April 2022 by a mushroom hunter.
This undated image provided by Indiana State Police shows the suitcase that contained the body a 5-year-old boy found in rural Washington County, Ind., on April 16, 2022.
An arrest warrant was initially issued for Dejaune Anderson, Cairo's mother, but she was on the run for almost two years. Police thought she was somewhere in the western part of the United States.
ISP said Friday that Anderson was arrested Thursday in Arcadia, California, — outside Los Angeles — on a murder warrant. Her other charges include neglect of a dependent resulting in death and obstruction of justice.
Police said ISP received information from a "concerned citizen" which led to her being found in California. U.S. Marshalls were then able to identify and arrest her as she was trying to board a public transit train.
"It’s a somber moment when you think back to the whole story, the whole case," ISP Sgt. Carey Huls said. "I was in that area, the crime scene, just last week so it just brings back a lot of memories. This is something, I’m not a detective, I am not the one that’s putting in those hours after hours in the middle of the night sometimes at different locations but a lot of sweat, blood and tears going into an investigation like this. I’m just very happy for those men, the investigators and to have the break that we knew would come."
In November 2023, a Louisiana woman was convicted in connection to the death of the 5-year-old. Dawn Coleman, 41, of Shreveport, was sentenced to 30 years in prison with five years suspended to probation.
Cairo Ammar Jordan's body was found in a suitcase in the woods in Washington County, Indiana, in April 2022 by a mushroom hunter.
A probable cause affidavit states that Coleman admitted to walking into a bedroom of the home where she witnessed Anderson lying on top of the child, who was face down on the bed with his face into the mattress, according to a news release. Coleman told police "it was already done," when she walked in. She said Anderson asked her to help put Cairo in a trash bag and then into the suitcase.
Prosecutors said the two women then drove to an area outside of Pekin, where they dumped the suitcase in a wooded area.
An autopsy found that Cairo died from vomiting and diarrhea that led to dehydration, ISP said. Investigators said the boy had died about a week or less before the mushroom hunter discovered his body.
Detectives from ISP are now heading to California to continue the investigation.
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