By Daniel Susco, London Bishop, Kristen Spicker & Marshall Gor
Springfield News-Sun
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The days-long search for missing 5-month-old Columbus twins Kyair and Kason Thomas has concluded, with both found safe and healthy. Here is a look at how it all unfolded:
How it began
The two babies went missing Monday when they were taken along with a stolen vehicle in Columbus. Kason and his brother Kyair were the subjects of an AMBER Alert issued early Tuesday morning after a 2010 Honda Accord they were in was stolen.
The twins’ mother, Wilhelmina Barnett, left the boys in her car while it was running to go inside a Donatos Pizza and get a DoorDash order around 9:45 p.m. Monday, according to Columbus police.
Restaurant workers told officers a homeless woman, identified as Jackson, was inside the pizza place and left when the twins’ mother walked in.
Who is the suspect?
Tuesday afternoon kidnapping charges had been filed against 24-year-old Nalah Jackson in connection to the AMBER Alert. She was arrested Thursday afternoon after police received several calls to their tip line from Indiana.
She was also charged with battery of bodily waste in Indiana, Columbus police reported Friday.
Nalah Jackson’s ex-boyfriend speaks
Days before the AMBER Alert was issued Nalah Jackson went to a Riverside apartment to try and see her kids. Her daughters, who she does not have custody of, were not at the residence.
Riverside police were called to a Harshman Road apartment around 11:25 p.m. Dec. 15 after Dominic Davies reported Jackson, his ex-girlfriend, punched him, according to an incident report.
A warrant was issued for Jackson’s arrest for domestic violence in Montgomery County Municipal Court East Division.
Dominic Davies, who has two daughters with Jackson, said something in the past two years dramatically changed her.
“I don’t know really what switched in her. She’s like a different person. She doesn’t even look the same,” he said.
Davies said Jackson has a history of drug use and mental illness and police records obtained by this newspaper back that up. He said he was worried about what Jackson was capable of due to her mental state.
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The search
Police checked the Columbus and Dayton area but could not find Nalah Jackson.
The search for Jackson and Kason Thomas continued Wednesday after Kyair Thomas was found early Tuesday. A be on the lookout alert, or BOLO, for Jackson and the stolen black 2010 Honda Accord was issued in Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. AMBER Alert notices were also posted on electronic signs along Ohio roads.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that Columbus police had two teams of detectives — 12 in total — searching for Kason in Dayton, along with the FBI, Ohio State Highway Patrol and Dayton police.
Jackson was seen in Huber Heights early Tuesday morning at a gas station. Surveillance video showed her talking to an employee and asking for money, according to a Columbus Division of Police Facebook post. She was still driving the stolen Honda Accord at that time.
The twins’ mother, Wilhelmina Barnett, as well as other family and friends, joined the search the Dayton area Tuesday.
During a press conference Tuesday, the Columbus police chief pleaded with Jackson to return Kason Thomas safely.
“Nalah Jackson, I plead to you, please return Kason Thomas,” Bryant said Tuesday. “We thank you for returning Kyair. You’ve already shown us you can do the right thing. You can return him to any safe location...We’re begging you to please return Kason.”
Several area law enforcement agencies helped in the search, including the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and police departments from Dayton, Vandalia, Huber Heights, Middletown, Riverside, Englewood, the Dayton International Airport, Butler Township, Union, Brookville, New Lebanon, Farmersville and Jackson Township.
How was Kyair Thomas found?
A passenger at the Dayton International Airport found Kyair Thomas in the economy lot and brought him inside the airport around 4:15 a.m. Tuesday.
The infant was wrapped in a blanket and in a car seat when the passenger found him, Linda Hughes, City of Dayton air service manager, said. Butler Twp. medics examined Kyair Thomas and he appeared to be in good health.
An airport firefighter waited with the boy until his parents could arrive.
How was Kason Thomas found?
Kason Thomas was found Thursday in the stolen Honda Accord near a Papa John’s location in Indianapolis hours after 24-year-old Nalah Jackson was arrested in Indianapolis, still wearing the same clothes as when he was taken on Monday, police said.
Police said that 5-month-old Kason Thomas is in “good health” but was being taken to the hospital to be checked.
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