Taylen Mosley: Devastated family of toddler found in alligator’s mouth after mom's murder breaks silence
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA: The grieving family of a young child whose body was discovered in an alligator's mouth after his mother was fatally stabbed has now spoken out. As soon as it was found that Taylen Mosley's mother, Pashun Jeffery, 20, had been stabbed more than 100 times in their St Petersburg apartment, Florida authorities issued a statewide amber alert for his whereabouts.
Taylen, the victim of the "very violent" attack, could not be located. Police issued an alert to the public on Thursday, March 30, and immediately began searching for the missing boy with sniffer dogs, drones and search teams. A day later, officers found something terrible not far from the two-year-old's home in Lake Maggiore - his body in the mouth of an alligator, The Sun reports.
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What did Taylen Mosley's family say?
Pashun Jeffrey's great-aunt, Theo Brickhouse-Sails, claims that she sensed a problem when she tried to contact Jeffrey on March 30 morning but the call went to voicemail instead, reports WFLA. "And just kept going to voicemail, and my gut told me something was wrong," Theo Brickhouse-Sails said.
Pashun Jeffery's great aunt noticed a blood trail
Brickhouse-Sails went to Jeffrey's apartment during her lunch break, but no one was home. She reportedly noticed a trail of blood leading from the entrance to the car outside. "I would have never, in a million years, when this week started, ever thought that something like this would happen,' Brickhouse-Sails said as her voice broke. "We were supposed to have taken Taylen Saturday," she added.
Taylen Mosley's dad pleads not guilty
Taylen's father, Thomas Mosley, 21, was arrested and charged with the murder of his child and Jeffery after Mosley's body was found. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. According to the arrest statement, Mosley celebrated his 21st birthday Wednesday at Jeffery's home. After the celebration, Mosley went to his mother's home, where he arrived with severe cuts on his arms, which police said were from a fall during the alleged stabbing.
'I worried about them suffering'
A bloody fingerprint found on a cleaning bottle and a bloody shoe print with the Gucci logo helped link Mosley to the murders of Jeffrey and Taylen, according to police. The exact cause of Taylen's death is not known, but court documents indicate that a fall or being thrown into the lake is the most likely scenario. "I worried about them suffering," stated Brickhouse-Sails. "That’s my biggest worry, was that how they suffered. And when I close my eyes at night, that’s all I see, was the suffering of both of them," the great-aunt said. "And I pray to God that they didn’t suffer long." She added, "Adjusting without them in life is going to be hard."
'Taylen was sweet, happy toddler and loved his mom'
A picture of Jeffery holding Taylen at her high school graduation was shared on a GoFundMe page. "We chose this picture because you will see Pashun’s pride at this moment," her mother, Lakita Denson, and Brickhouse-Sails mentioned. "She was in her graduation gown, holding Taylen when he was just a baby. This picture shows how beautiful Pashun was and how dedicated she was to make a better life for her son." They added, "We will miss her smile, joyous laughter, and commentary on life,” they mentioned about the slain mother, who had worked at a local CVS. "Taylen was a sweet and happy toddler and loved his mom." The funding page was started by the family to aid in the search efforts, but after Taylen was located, they stated that the nearly $30,000 collected will be used for funeral costs, as per New York Post.