MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A bond of $1,000,000 was reinstated for the Memphis mother in the death of a 4-year-old, found dead in June after a day-long search for the missing toddler.
A Shelby County Grand Jury indicted Brittney Jackson and Jaylon Hobson Oct. 10, 2023, on charges of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, aggravated child abuse, tampering with evidence, and false reporting, according to court records. Originally, Hobson was only charged with false reporting.
Jackson was found competent to stand trial in August. Bond was originally set at $500,000 bond for her, and $50,000 for Hobson. During a court hearing Oct. 24, the two were ordered held without bond. A court appointed an attorney for Jackson on Nov. 13. That same day, Hobson's family told the judge they were in the process of hiring an attorney.
During a court hearing on Feb. 29, a $1,000,000 bond was reinstated for Jackson. She remains in jail. Hobson remains behind bars without bond.
According to the police affidavit, Jackson admitted her daughter Sequoia Samuels had been dead for weeks before the little girl was reported missing Thursday, June 15, 2023.
In the affidavit for Jackson, police said the mother originally told investigators she had been home the day before with four children, two of them hers and two relatives of her boyfriend Jaylon Hobson. She claimed she gave Sequoia water then fell asleep on the couch, and Hobson came home and fell asleep. The affidavit said on Thursday, Jackson woke up to her front door open, and found Sequoia missing, so she called police about 6:30 a.m.
Under questioning, Memphis Police said that story changed. According to the affidavit, Jackson claimed Hobson had beat Sequoia several times in the weeks before the false report. She told investigators, according to the report, that Sequoia had become unresponsive during the last beating, and she never regained consciousness, and that Jackson never attempted to render aid to the girl. Jackson told police Hobson put Sequoia in garbage bags, which they stored in the home for several weeks until Thursday, when they put the girl’s remains in a garbage container at the apartments.
According to the affidavit, Hobson denied being involved in the death of Sequoia, and that he last saw her on Sunday, June 11, 2023, which police noted in the report was “impossible due to the advance state of decomposition of the human remains” believed to be Sequoia.
Memphis Police Department (MPD) officially canceled the missing endangered child alert the morning of Friday, June 16, for 4-year-old Sequoia Samuels, and that's when the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) said investigators believed the child was dead.
