Father drowned 2-year-old son whose body was found in alligator’s mouth, US police say

JACKSON, Florida - A two-year-old boy whose body was

found in the jaws of an alligator in Florida

was drowned by his father, who also killed the child’s mother, the authorities said on Monday.

Taylen Mosley’s body was found in Lake Maggiore in St Petersburg, Florida, on March 31, a day after he was reported missing. His mother, Ms Pashun Jeffery, was found dead on March 30 with stab wounds.

On March 31, Thomas Mosley, 21, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder over the deaths of Ms Jeffery and their child, the St Petersburg Police Department said. Mosley was being held at the Pinellas County Jail.

The police said on Monday that the Pinellas County medical examiner had confirmed the cause of death as drowning.

The Public Defender’s Office of the 6th Judicial Circuit in Clearwater, Florida, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

A search for the boy began after his mother was found stabbed to death in her apartment, the police said.

Ms Jeffery’s family members grew concerned when she did not answer a daily FaceTime call. They went to the apartment where she had been living for about a month and saw blood on the pavement outside.

Managers of the apartment complex who entered her unit described it as “a very violent crime scene”, according to an affidavit.

The search for the toddler concluded the next day at the lake in Dell Holmes Park, about 6km south-west of downtown St Petersburg.

Detectives shot and killed an alligator that had “an object”, later identified as the boy’s body, in its mouth.

“We will miss her smile, joyous laughter and commentary on life,” the family said in a GoFundMe post. “Taylen was a sweet and happy toddler and loved his mum.”

A funeral was held for Ms Jeffery and Taylen on April 7. NYTIMES