The mother of a 5-year-old boy found dead in a “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” suitcase in Indiana two years ago has been arrested in a suburb of Los Angeles.
Indiana State Police said that Dejuane Ludie Anderson, 37, was arrested Thursday in Arcadia on a warrant issued in October 2022 charging her with murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, and obstruction of justice, WISH reported.
Cairo Jordan was found dead in the suitcase on April 16, 2020, by a mushroom hunter who came upon the colorul luggage in a wooded area in Washington County, but the boy remained unidentified for six months, as CrimeOnline reported. When he was identified, they also identified Anderson and another woman, Dawn Elaine Coleman, as suspects in his death.
Coleman, 40, was arrested in San Francisco on October 19, 2022, and charged with aiding, inducing or causing murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, and obstruction of justice. She pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in November and was sentenced to 25 years in prison with five years probation.
Coleman told investigators she helped Anderson put Cairo’s body in the suitcase in Louisville, Kentucky, and then they drove across the Ohio River into Indiana, where Coleman left the suitcase in the woods.
Court documents also said that Coleman and Anderson made several social media posts referring to Cairo as a “demon,” and Anderson reported said she had written a “book about living with a demonic child.”
Police in Washington County said that Cairo’s death was probably caused by vomiting and diarrhea, resulting in dehydration.
But Anderson remained at large. State police said a tip from “a concerned citizen” led to her location, and she was arrested as she tried to board a train.
“Detectives from the Sellersburg post are currently enroute to California to continue the investigation,” said a state police news release issued Friday afternoon.
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[Featured image: Indiana State Police and Facebook]
