On June 15, a Memphis neighborhood was engulfed in sorrow following the issuance of a City Watch Endangered Child Alert. The Memphis Police Department was alerted after a couple reported the woman’s four-year-old daughter missing.
Brittany Jackson, 25, claimed that upon waking up around 7:55 am, she found her apartment’s front door open and the child nowhere in sight.
The child, Sequoia Samuels, was described as about three feet tall, weighing around 30 pounds, and bearing a feeding tube on the left side of her stomach. Investigators worked diligently to uncover the mystery of the child’s sudden disappearance.
However, the situation took a grim turn the following day. The police announced the recovery of a child’s remains from a dumpster servicing the couple’s apartment complex. These remains were believed to be of the missing child.
The story took an even darker twist when the timeline of events was scrutinized. Evidence indicated that the child had died several weeks before her alleged disappearance was reported.
Upon interrogation, Jackson reportedly confessed to the false reporting. She alleged that her boyfriend, Jaylon Hobson, 21, had “physically attacked” her daughter multiple times over weeks, culminating in a fatal assault. Following the final assault, the child became unresponsive, and while Hobson attempted resuscitation, the child did not revive. Disturbingly, Jackson did not offer any help to her ailing daughter.
The aftermath of the child’s death was equally unsettling. According to testimonies, her body was placed in garbage bags and stored in the house for weeks. On the day of the alleged disappearance, the remains were disposed of in a garbage container and relocated to the eastern side of their apartment complex.
Adding to the disturbing nature of this event is the fact that three other children, aged four, five and six, were also residing in the apartment during the weeks the deceased child’s body was allegedly kept there. This revelation raised significant concerns about the well-being and mental state of these children, who were exposed to such traumatic circumstances.
Hobson, when questioned, vehemently denied any involvement in the child’s disappearance or her death. He asserted that he had last seen her alive on June 11, 2023. However, this statement was refuted by the police, citing the advanced state of decomposition of the recovered remains, which contradicted his claim.
A grand jury this week charged Brittney Jackson and Jaylon Hobson with two counts each of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse, and one count each of abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and false reporting.
Both Jackson and Hobson are currently incarcerated aat the Shelby County Detention Center. Jackson’s bond stands at $500,000, while Hobson’s is set at $50,000.