LOUISVILE, Ky. – More than six months after the body of a boy was found stuffed inside a suitcase and left in a wooded area in southern Indiana, local police have identified the child and announced an arrest – with another suspect still on the run.
At a press conference Wednesday morning, Indiana State Police Sgt. Carey Huls said two people have been identified as suspects – 40-year-old Dawn Elaine Coleman from Louisiana, and 37-year-old Dejuane Ludie Anderson from Atlanta – and charged in the death of Cairo Jordan, who was 5 at the time of his death.
Anderson is Cairo’s mother. She has not yet been located, Huls said. She is about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and is believed to have been last seen in the Los Angeles area.
Coleman was arrested within the past week in San Francisco, Huls said. She’ll be taken to Indiana within the next 30 days, he said.
Both have been charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death and obstruction of justice, he said, and Anderson will be charged with murder.
“This whole case is about justice for Cairo,” Huls said. “That’s the only thing this case has ever been about.”
The case will be handled by the Washington County Prosecutor’s Office, Huls said.
A mugshot of Anderson from Louisville Metro Corrections was shown during the press conference as a reference for anyone who may see her in public. She had been arrested in Louisville less than a month before her son’s death on second-degree robbery charges after being accused of attempting to steal more than $1,500 of merchandise from Von Maur on March 31, according to her arrest citation, and of hitting a security guard in the face once confronted.
On April 11, she was released on her own recognizance. Her son’s body was found five days later.
During the time of her incarceration, investigators believe Coleman was in custody of Cairo. Police obtained search warrants for Facebook accounts used by the two women and found several posts that referred to the boy as a demon ahead of his death.
In a series of posts made March 18, Anderson, according to investigators, posted that she couldn’t wait to tell a story, “about that exorcism,” and about “living with a demonic child.” And on April 8, police said Coleman posted, “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 suppose to be here that pick avatars to hide behind to play roles to steal energy and to ruin lives.” Additional similar posts were included in the affidavit.
The police report also cited cell phone tower location data that found phones owned by Coleman and Anderson were near the location where the suitcase was found on April 14. And Riverlink, which collects tolls on several bridges between Louisville and Southern Indiana, reported Anderson’s car was tracked on one of the local crossings on April 16, the day the suitcase was found.
Few details had been released about the child, who was found April 16 in Washington County, Indiana, about 70 miles south of Indianapolis and 25 miles northwest of Louisville.
Officials previously said they believe the boy’s death occurred sometime the week before he was found.
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In late May, autopsy results showed the boy died due to an electrolyte imbalance “most likely caused by gastroenteritis, which in common layman’s terms would be vomiting and diarrhea. And that resulted in dehydration,” Huls said at the time.
Gastroenteritis can be caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites or medication, according to the Mayo Clinic. The toxicology report was negative.
Cairo’s body was found in a suitcase with a distinctive “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada” design painted on its shell, Huls said previously.
According to Coleman’s arrest affidavit, investigators found photos of her using the same suitcase. Both her and Anderson’s fingerprints were found on contents within the suitcase, the affidavit said.
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The Washington County community held a service to lay the boy to rest in May, with more than 100 people in attendance.
His final resting place is at an Indianapolis cemetery, marked by a black headstone, adorned with an angel and the words “In loving memory of a beloved little boy known but to God.”
Underneath a space left to engrave his name, reads, “Asleep in the arms of Jesus.”
An urn attached to the stone was filled with red and yellow flowers, then topped with a small Crayola Crayon sign.
