Ky’air Thomas is seen with his twin brother Kason Thomas. Police say Nalah Jackson kidnapped the children. (Image: Columbus Division of Police)
An infant boy in Ohio, who died a month after he and his twin brother were returned home from an alleged kidnapping, was not killed by foul play, the Franklin County Coroner’s Office told Law&Crime.
In January, police in Columbus, Ohio, said 6-month-old Ky’air Thomas was found not breathing at home. Two days later, the coroner’s office said the boy’s autopsy could take up to six months to complete.
On Friday, the coroner provided Law&Crime with their final determination over the child’s tragic death. He died from “Sudden Unexplained Infant Death with other significant conditions.”
Other significant conditions that contributed to Thomas’ death include being facedown on an adult bed, unsupervised, and surrounded by “excess pillows and blankets,” the coroner said.
Officials said all those things together made up an unsafe sleep environment for the infant.
“It is well documented that infants under the age of 8 months have limited strength in the neck musculature to reposition their airway when encountering possible obstructions,” the press release says. “This is a form of oxygen deprivation (anoxic brain injury), however, because a contributory component of mechanical or obstructive asphyxia can be neither confirmed nor excluded in this infant’s death as determined by the investigation and circumstances, the manner of death is best ruled as Undetermined.”
Thomas and his twin brother were the subjects of an Ohio AMBER Alert. Police allege that 24-year-old Nalah Jackson stole a Honda Accord belonging to their mother on Dec. 19, 2022, while the boys were inside the vehicle.
Thomas was found the next day at the Dayton International Airport. The second baby was found in good health on Dec. 22, 2022, in his mother’s car near a Papa John’s pizza parlor in Indianapolis, after Jackson’s arrest, police said.
At the time of the death, authorities made no indication that the boy’s passing was connected to his abduction.
Tests were conducted, including microbiology, toxicology, histology, and skeletal radiological surveys, officials said. There were also no signs of trauma, foul play, abuse, or neglect. Those results were “unremarkable and non-contributory to the cause of death,” the coroner said.
The report notes no fractures in the healing process, often a sign of violent child abuse.
A federal grand jury indicted Jackson on Jan. 19 on two counts of kidnapping. She had pleaded guilty in an Indiana court to spitting on a deputy who arrested her, records show.
According to local CBS affiliate WBNS, Jackson had an eventful first court appearance on the kidnapping charges in Ohio. The appearance was cut short due to her repeated use of expletives.
Asked her name, she reportedly asked: “Are you talking to me as a person or a slave?”
“I’m speaking to you as a person,” the judge said.
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
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