Christine Haveford
He was a beautiful baby boy whose death has shocked a community in Texas.
The body of toddler Cedrick Jackson, who was reported missing on Tuesday evening, has been found.
The 18-month-old’s remains were found at a landfill site, in Rowlett, Texas, just after 11am on Thursday.
Dallas police’s Major Vincent Weddington said: “This is not the outcome we had hoped for, and we want to extend our deepest sympathies to the family at this time.”
Police have confirmed that 27-year-old Sedrick Johnson has been charged with injury to a child, and serious bodily injury.
The man is said to be the boyfriend of the boy’s aunt Crystal Jackson. Baby Cedrick was placed in Ms Jackson’s temporary custody by the CPS at her apartment in Lake Highlands.
At this time it is unclear about her involvement in her nephew’s death, Dallas News reported.
Major Weddington said in the press conference that Johnson confessed to detectives about the circumstances surrounding Cedrick’s death.
He admitted that he had taken Cedrick’s body to a dumpster in Northeast Dallas.
In a police interview, Johnson said that toddler Cedrick had “made a mess” with ketchup packets.
It led him him to tightly “swaddled him in a blanket”, according to the arrest affidavit obtained by CBS DFW.
After 12.30am on Wednesday he claims he unwrapped the boy who began to throw up.
He claims the tragic boy was unresponsive and began doing CPR for up to 45 minutes. But the little Cedrick showed no signs of life.
That is when Johnson admits that he drove to a dumpster in Northeast Dallas and dumped Cedrick’s body there.
But when officers arrived at the location of the dumpster – the body was not there. It had been emptied at a landfill in Rowlett where the child’s remains were finally found.
Johnson is being held at Dallas County jail and the bail set at $503,000. He faces additional charges pending the coroner’s report.
According to court documents, Cedrick’s aunt Crystal put him to bed sometime after 11pm on Tuesday evening.
She says that she only discovered he was missing after checking in on him at 6am. Crystal then called the police.
Dallas News reported that state officials removed six children from Ms Jackson’s home on Wednesday night – two belonging to her, while four belonged to suspect Johnson.
DiShundra Thomas, Cedrick’s mother, previously said she was suspicious about Crystal’s story.
“As far as her version of the story, I really don’t know how to wrap my head around it,” Thomas said.
“It just baffles me that a child can get taken in the middle of the night without anybody hearing anything, a child that was sleeping next to you in your bed.”
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