Inset: Jalynda Smith (Office of State Attorney, First Judicial Circuit of Florida). Background: The area of Florida’s Perdido Bay where Jalynda Smith’s son was found dead in a trash bag (WEAR/YouTube).
A Florida woman has been indicted on a charge of first-degree murder for allegedly killing her 5-year-old son and stuffing him inside a trash bag with blankets and towels that was found along a bay waterline.
Jalynda Smith, 36, is accused of murdering her son Ja’Kaiden Smith — who was autistic and nonverbal — in early February and attempting to cover up the slaying, according to court documents. She was indicted on Thursday in Escambia County.
A warrant for Smith’s arrest and motion for pretrial detention both outline how she allegedly “wrapped” Ja’Kaiden in blankets and towels then stuffed him inside a black trash bag, which was then tossed into Perdido Bay. Prosecutors believe Smith starved Ja’Kaiden to death, as he was found severely emaciated and weighing just 20 pounds.
“The arms and legs of the child appeared to be skin draped over bone and the overall mass appeared inconsistent with the expected mass of a 5-year-old child,” the arrest warrant says. “The torso and extremities of the child appeared to be absent of meaningful muscle and the child appeared emaciated. I could see the outline of the child’s rib cage through the skin and the lower abdomen was sunken inward, toward the back.”
Ja’Kaiden’s body was pulled from Perdido Bay on Feb. 6 after being spotted in the water along Lillian Highway, according to the court documents and statements given to local ABC affiliate WEAR by Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons. A passerby saw the trash bag and contacted the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, which launched an investigation.
The investigation revealed that Smith’s mother had reported her and Ja’Kaiden missing on Feb. 5 after she had not heard from them since Feb. 1. The mom told police that she “was concerned because this lack of communication was unusual and because [Smith’s] phone was disconnected,” according to the pretrial detention motion.
“On February 6, 2026, the defendant’s sister received a text from the defendant from an unknown number,” the motion explains. “The Defendant also emailed her sister and asked her to download the Telegram app. In the email, the defendant also asked her sister not to tell their mother or the police that the defendant contacted her sister.”
According to the arrest warrant, Smith told her sister, “Please don’t tell ma u heard from me and please don’t tell the police ill tell you everything but please download the app Telegram I need to make sure everything is secure and u cant find me.”
Smith allegedly told her sister “she was scared,” and then asked her to call the police and tell them she had found Smith and that Smith was no longer missing. When the sister asked about what happened to Ja’Kaiden, Smith told her, “I came in the house and he was not breathing,” according to the arrest warrant.
“The sister went to the defendant’s apartment,” the detention motion says. “The defendant and [Ja’Kaiden] were not there, sheets were missing from the bed, and the apartment was extremely cold. Neighbors told the sister that they had not seen the defendant in several days, which was unusual.”
Smith was allegedly captured on surveillance footage at a local Walmart and other nearby stores before leaving in a rideshare vehicle. She was eventually located and taken into custody by sheriff’s deputies, with police saying she asked for a lawyer “immediately.”
Ja’Kaiden’s autopsy showed that he was “severely malnourished and dehydrated” at the time of his death. He weighed only 20 pounds and no other injuries were noted.
Police interviewed Ja’Kaiden’s pediatrician and learned that he was diagnosed with autism and had “both speech and language issues,” according to the arrest warrant. Ja’Kaiden weighed 30 pounds in December 2025, per the pediatrician.
“The physician responded that the child losing one-third of his body weight in less than two months was incredibly concerning,” the arrest warrant states. “The fact that Ja’Kaiden Smith’s weight had been permitted to drop by a third indicated to him either abuse through starvation, or medical neglect.”
Smith’s criminal background history includes a 2022 arrest for child neglect after she left Ja’Kaiden “home alone in his crib for several hours,” according to prosecutors. She successfully completed pretrial intervention and a Department of Children and Families investigation was closed after the agency found that Smith “was meeting the child’s needs and Ja’Kaiden Smith was safe with Jalynda Smith,” the arrest warrant says.
Smith is currently being held at the Escambia County Jail without bond. Her next court appearance is set for May 19.
