DONOVAN PROM - 3 months - Breckenridge Hills, MO

Parents sought after infant found abandoned in St. Louis-area apartment building

Posted on January 4, 2013 at 5:43 AM
Updated Friday, Jan 4 at 5:32 PM


St. ANN, Mo. (KMOV) – Police are searching for the parents of an infant who was found abandoned in an apartment hallway in Breckenridge Hills early Friday morning.

According to authorities, a resident of the Hickory Trace Apartments in the 3500 block of DeHart Place called 9-1-1 after they found a baby boy abandoned in the hallway.

The child, believed to be less than a year old, was still secured in a child safety seat and was holding a full bottle.

The boy was transported to DePaul Hospital as a precaution. He’s expected to be okay.

Breckenridge Hill Police are actively investigating and call the case confusing. They are still working to determine who the boy’s parents are and who left him at the complex.

“As soon as we locate the parents or the guardian, then we can begin the investigation as to how the child actually arrived at the location where it was located,” said Det. Jeff Heisse with the Breckenridge Hills Police Department.

Residents at the Hickory Trace Apartments were baffled.

“It actually does hurt. It’s shocking that a parent would leave their child because I couldn’t think about leaving mine,” said one resident.

Police say there are several vacant apartments in the building where the child was found. Residents of the building tell police they’ve never seen the child and are not sure how long it was alone before being found.

“It was obviously well taken care of,” said Det. Heisse. “It was dressed properly, it was dressed nicely. No injuries, no signs of malnutrition, dehydrations, anything that you would normally associate a child that has been abused.”

The Department of Family Services was notified and took custody of the child.

Police are asking anyone with information on the case to call the Breckenridge Hills Police Department as soon as possible.


http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Baby-found-abandoned-in-St-Ann-apartment-building-185637781.html

Police May Have Located Father Of Abandoned Baby

updated on: 11:36pm, January 4, 2013

BRECKENRIDGE HILLS, MO (KTVI) –There are developments in the case of a baby boy found abandoned in north St. Louis County. A phone call late Friday from someone saying they’re a relative has put Breckenridge Hills Police in contact with a man they believe is the baby’s father. The father was leaving his home in Oklahoma Friday night to drive to St. Louis.

Police say the man tells them mother and baby left Oklahoma earlier in the week. They believe she has relatives in St. Louis. But the timeline ends there. They still don’t know who was with the child here or who left the baby in an apartment building off of St. Charles Rock Road.

Breckenridge Hills Police have been searching for whoever abandoned the four to six month old baby in a hallway in one of the Hickory Trace Apartment complex’s buildings.

Investigators say the baby was not hurt at all. He was taken to DePaul hospital to be evaluated but was released a short time later into protective state custody.

Police canvassed the Hickory Trace Apartment complex off St. Charles Rock Road. Investigators say a resident who was leaving for work around 5:00am Friday found the baby in a first floor hallway. He called police and officers quickly responded.

The baby was fully clothed and strapped in a car seat. He had a bottle and what is commonly known as a ‘cozy cover’ to help keep him warm. He was not crying when he was found. Police say the condition of the baby makes this abandonment very odd because clearly the baby had been taken care of.

Officers don’t know how long the baby was in the hallway. The child showed up sometime between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Police interviewed some residents in the building who said they had never seen the baby. There are several vacant apartments.

Residents are surprised by the news of the little baby being left in the apartments.

Jazmin Stone, a mother of a six year old and resident of the apartment complex, said “It’s just shocking. I don’t see why a parent
would do that. Don’t have kids if you don’t want the kid.”

Brittany Koonce, who also lives in the apartments, added “It is very disturbing to leave a little infant like that out here. There is no heat (in the hallway) so the baby could have frozen to death.”

Both Missouri and Illinois have “Safe Haven” laws. They allow people to leave a baby at designated locations; no questions asked; without the threat of prosecution. Missouri’s law covers babies up to one year old. Safe havens include any on-duty employee at a hospital, fire department, emergency medical center or law enforcement agency. In Illinois, people can leave babies up to 30 days old with a staff member of any hospital, or fire station or an emergency medical service provider.



If you have any information in this case, call Breckenridge Police at 314-426-1214, extension 140.


http://fox2now.com/2013/01/04/baby-found-alone-in-apartment-building/

Friends, Family Identify Woman As Abandoned Baby’s Mother

Posted on: 11:57 am, January 6, 2013, by Staff Writer,
updated on: 11:23am, January 6, 2013

EAST ST. LOUIS, IL (KTVI)-Friends and family claim a missing woman originally from East St. Louis is the mother of a baby found alone in an apartment building hallway Friday. They fear foul play in her disappearance.

The family says police are looking for Ebony Jackson, 30, who is originally from East St. Louis. According to family, she left Oklahoma Wednesday morning to visit St. Louis area family with her infant son. They identified the baby as Donovan Prom.

Police have not confirmed the family’s information with FOX 2. They have said they will release more information on the case on Monday.

The four to six month old baby was found abandoned Friday in a Breckenridge Hills, MO apartment building. He was found unharmed in his car seat, wrapped up, with a full bottle.

Friends and family say there is no way that Jackson would just abandon the baby.

Jackson is described as a black female, about 5’3” tall, weighing about 150 pounds. She was driving a white 2004 Mitsubishi Galant with Colorado plates.

Breckenridge Hills Police do confirm that a man claiming to be the child’s father drove up from Oklahoma and spoke with police Saturday. A DNA test will be conducted to prove paternity. The man drove back to Oklahoma with plans to return to St. Louis Monday.

If you have any information in this case, call Breckenridge Hills Police at 314-426-1214, extension 140.

http://fox2now.com/2013/01/06/friends-family-identify-woman-as-abandoned-babys-mother/

Body found in trunk identified as mother of abandoned baby


Updated 1/10/13 at 4:34 PM

ST. LOUIS COUNTY (KMOV.com) – Police have identified the body found in a car Tuesday, to be the mother of a 3-month-old boy found abandoned in a Breckenridge Hills apartment complex.

Authorities say Ebony Jackson, 30, was found dead Tuesday morning after investigators located her car in a north St. Louis neighborhood.

Officers were able to find the vehicle on the 4400 block of Elmbank with the help of a GPS tracking device. These devices are installed in vehicles to allow it to be located if payments are not made.

Police were not sure how long the car had been parked there. But some neighbors say it’s been several days.

The cause of Jackson’s death has not been determined as homicide detectives take over this investigation.

The search started Friday morning when Jackson’s 3-month-old son, Donovan Prom, was found at 5 a.m. at the Hickory Trace apartment complex in Breckenridge Hills. The hallway was fully enclosed so the child was shielded from the cold morning. He was in a car seat, with a blanket over him and a bottle of milk by his side. A resident of the complex found the child as he was going to work and called police.

Local family members came forward after seeing the child’s photo on the news. They told investigators that Jackson lived in Oklahoma City with her boyfriend and the child’s father, Craig Prom, but was coming to East St. Louis to visit. Jackson reportedly saw local family members before she disappeared.

Relatives spent hours Sunday searching for clues around the apartment complex, placing “Missing” posters with Jackson’s photo on trees and walls. Her story was also posted on the website hopeforallmissing.org.

Relatives told police that Jackson had several surgeries on her brain and suffered from impaired memory, even jotting notes to herself so she’ll remember things. The reason for the brain surgeries wasn’t clear.

Heisse said neither Prom nor Jackson had any known connection to the apartment complex. He said there was no video surveillance there, and surveillance cameras at neighboring businesses were not pointed in that direction.

St. Louis homicide detectives are working with Breckenridge police in the investigation.

The baby was unharmed.

http://www.kmov.com/news/editors-pick/Police-female-body-found-in-truck-of-Ebony-Jacksons-car-186105842.html

Murder Investigation Continues For Ebony Jackson

Posted on: 12:32 pm, January 8, 2013
updated on: 06:12am, January 9, 2013
by Paul Schankman and Jeff Bernthal

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) -Friends of Ebony-Jackson Shelton say a Facebook posting shows just how much she loved her son.

They say the video shows her newborn baby on his grandfather`s lap. You can hear Ebony calling out to her baby to talk whenever he was ready.

“Lives have just been decimated, there is no other word for it,” said family spokesperson Linda Lawson. “You can’t think of a worse circumstance.”

St. Louis Metropolitan Police will join Breckenridge Hills and St. Louis County Police in the investigation.

Her body was found inside the trunk of a car left in front of an abandoned home in North St. Louis. She was shot once in the neck.

Investigators still want to identify the mystery person is that Jackson-Shelton was with last Thursday. The 30-year-old mother told relatives she was with a friend in Fairview Heights.

Jackson-Shelton indicated she was going to visit a cousin in St. John but she never arrived. Her baby was found safe and sound in the hallway of a Breckenridge Hills apartment complex.

There is no known connecting between Jackson-Shelton and that apartment complex.

Police want to hear from anyone with information about Jackson-Shelton`s whereabouts the past week.

A GPS that was installed on her car has given police some leads.

http://fox2now.com/2013/01/08/abandoned-babys-mothers-car-found-in-north-st-louis/

Coroner: Mother of abandoned toddler died of gunshot wound to neck

KMOV.com
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 12:08 PM
Updated today at 5:39 PM

ST. LOUIS COUNTY (KMOV.com) – The mother of a 3-month-old boy found abandoned in a Breckenridge Hills apartment complex died of a gunshot wound to the neck, the St. Louis City Coroner’s Office said Thursday.

Authorities say Ebony Jackson, 30, was found dead in a truck Tuesday morning after investigators located her car in the 4400 block of Elmbank in north St. Louis.

During a press conference Wednesday, authorities said blunt force trauma was detected when Jackson’s body was found in the trunk. Autopsy results released Thursday determined she died after being shot in the neck.

Police continue to investigate how Jackson died. Additional details regarding her death have not been released.

Officers were able to find Jackson’s vehicle with the help of a GPS tracking device, which are installed in vehicles to allow it to be located if payments are not made.

Meanwhile, Pine Lawn police have been raising reward money to help solve Jackson’s murder.

Police said they raised $5,000 to help find her killer. The police chief says the department is trying to do everything it can to help Jackson’s family find closure.

Also, St. Louis County police said anyone with information on the killer could get up to $1,000 for an arrest and conviction.

Anyone who may know the suspect is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS.

The search for Jackson started Friday morning when Jackson’s 3-month-old son, Donovan Prom, was found at 5 a.m. at the Hickory Trace apartment complex in Breckenridge Hills. The hallway was fully enclosed so the child was shielded from the cold morning. He was in a car seat, with a blanket over him and a bottle of milk by his side. A resident of the complex found the child as he was going to work and called police.

Local family members came forward after seeing the child’s photo on the news. They told investigators that Jackson lived in Oklahoma City with her boyfriend and the child’s father, Craig Prom, but was coming to East St. Louis to visit. Jackson reportedly saw local family members before she disappeared.

From the very beginning, the family questioned the Breckenridge Hills Police Department’s handling of the case.

“They dropped the ball, they failed Ebony,” said Jackson’s aunt, Jackie Simon. “There was a four-day time lapse where possibly everything they did Monday could have been done Friday.”

Police explained they were forced to get a court order to allow the dealership to activate the device. Because the disappearance happened on a Friday, they said, investigators were forced to wait until Monday to get the out-of-town company to comply.

But Simon says Breckenridge Hills police were hard to get a hold of from the beginning. She questions whether they were able to take on a case so large.

“Were they even big enough to handle something of this magnitude. Did they call in resources to help them? What did they do? I don’t see anything,” Simon said.

From the moment Jackson disappeared, Simon said Breckenridge Hills police weren’t communicating with the family.

Every time there was an update in the case, family members were hearing it first from reporters.

“That’s how I found out. What does that say about the department when you heard from usNot police? What are they doing? Did they ever take this case seriously?”

Breckenridge Hills Police Chief Perry Hopkins admits his department did not communicate as well as they should have. But he promises he put every resource he has into locating Jackson.

“The effort was put into it,” Hopkins said. “We were not not doing our job, we very much were. Unfortunately, Breckenridge Hills is not a large police department.”

Police said neither Prom nor Jackson had any known connection to the apartment complex. He said there was no video surveillance there, and surveillance cameras at neighboring businesses were not pointed in that direction.

http://www.kmov.com/home/Coroner-Mother-of-abandoned-toddler-died-of-gunshot-wound-to-neck-186337012.html

Coroner says mother of abandoned baby died of gunshot wound to the neck

By Associated Press

11:30 a.m. CST, January 10, 2013

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The mother of a 3-month-old child found abandoned inside a St. Louis County apartment building died of a gunshot wound to the neck.

The St. Louis coroner's office announced the cause of death Thursday for 30-year-old Ebony Jackson. Jackson was found dead
Tuesday in the trunk of a car. Police continue to seek clues in her death.

Jackson is a former East St. Louis, Ill., resident who moved to Oklahoma City. She and her 3-month-old son, Donovan Prom, were in the St. Louis area for a visit.

A resident of the apartment complex in Breckenridge Hills found the baby in a car seat at 5 a.m. Friday and contacted police. Authorities say Jackson had no known connection to the apartment building.

http://www.kspr.com/sns-ap-mo--abandoned-baby-20130110,0,3823814.story

Charges filed in killing of former East St. Louis mom whose baby was abandoned

Published: February 27, 2013
By CAROLYN P. SMITH — News-Democrat

A 40-year-old St. Louis man was charged Wednesday afternoon with the murder of a former East St. Louis woman whose baby was found abandoned two months ago in a St. Louis apartment building owned by the defendant.

Dyanthany Y. Proudie, of the 4100 block of Ashland Avenue in St. Louis, was charged with the first-degree murder of Ebony Jackson. Proudie also was charged with armed criminal action and ordered held without bond.

Prosecutors said he was an acquaintance who reconnected with Jackson. Jackson, 30, grew up in East St. Louis and was visiting from Oklahoma City to show off her new baby to family members in the metro-east and in St. Louis.

The baby was found alive and with a full bottle in his car seat Jan. 4 in an apartment building hallway near Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Jackson's body was found Jan. 8 in the trunk of her car in north St. Louis.

"Ebony Jackson and the defendant were acquaintances who reconnected when Jackson came to town for a visit," according to a probable cause statement released by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce.

"Jackson had her infant son with her during her visit. Jackson, the defendant and the baby were in an apartment in the 4100 block of Ashland, a building owned by the defendant. Jackson went to the bathroom to take a bath and while she was preparing the tub, the defendant shot her one time in the head near her left ear," the statement continued.

"The defendant removed Jackson's body from the apartment and placed it in the trunk of her vehicle."

Joyce said the defendant's estranged wife lived in the same apartment complex in which Jackson's child was abandoned. Jackson's vehicle with her body in the trunk was found several blocks away from the defendant's apartment.

David Marzullo, a spokesman for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, said Proudie was arrested Tuesday night.

Tondra Mosley, Jackson's cousin, said neither the suspect's name nor face were familiar to her. She said the family is grateful to have some answers.

"Thank you to the community at large.... First and foremost, thank you to the police officers for their diligence and everybody's cohesive goal in finding justice," Mosley said.

The family said Jackson had been through a series of surgeries since an accident when she was a teen. She didn't expect to have a child, so she was thrilled after delivering her son, Donovan Prom. They said she was just getting to a place where her life was becoming normal.

Harold Parker and his wife, Erica Reed, were part of the public effort to provide a reward for the capture of Jackson's killer. They raised $8,200 on Monday at their Gulf Shores Restaurant in St. Louis for CrimeStoppers.

"Any progress in the case is satisfaction to me because the fact remains that the way she was killed was a terrible way for anyone to lose their life," Parker said.

In addition, the Pine Lawn Police Department raised $8,000 in reward money for CrimeStoppers to use in the Jackson case.

Lisa Pisciotta, executive director of CrimeStoppers, said she doesn't yet know whether detectives used information from CrimeStoppers tips to locate the suspect. If no one gets the money, Pisciotta said it will go toward solving other, similar cases.

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/02/27/2512315/charges-filed-in-killing-of-former.html#storylink=promo#storylink=cpy