Baby Kason Thomas found; suspect in Columbus kidnapping arrested

On Dec 23, 2022

The Thomas family’s joyous screams ran throughout a Lowes parking lot in Whitehall on Thursday night.

Kason Thomas has been found alive, his paternal grandmother Fonda Thomas told The Dispatch.

“My tears have turned to joy,” she said shortly after the family held a press conference in Whitehall to discuss the arrest of Nalah T. Jackson in the case and additional updates Thursday evening.

More:What we know about Columbus missing twins suspect Nalah T. Jackson and her Dayton ties

After nearly three days since he was first kidnapped, the 5-month-old will be reunited with his family and twin Kyair.

“This means everything,” Thomas said. “My grandsons get to open up they presents simultaneously. Not one alone, wishing that the other one was there. I’m so happy. I’m so grateful.”

The twins’ grandmother said the family has been frustrated and depressed.

“The days have been sad … they’ve been long,” she said. “And I’m pretty sure all y’all have gone through the same emotions with us. But now to feel the joy to happiness, and just the overall graciousness in my heart from everyone else. My son. Oh … the cheer … the happiness in his voice. That he knows that his son is safe, healthy, and he is going to go get him.

“That’s going to make my Christmas the best Christmas I’ve had in my 44 years of life,” she added.

Kidnapping suspect Nalah T. Jackson arrested in Indiana

Earlier in the day, officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department arrested Jackson, the 24-year-old charged with abducting the 5-month-old Columbus twins when she stole their mother’s running car Monday night outside a Donatos in Columbus’ Short North neighborhood.

Kyair was discovered in the bitter cold about 4:15 a.m. Tuesday, wrapped in a quilt in his car carrier seat left between two cars in the economy parking lot at Dayton International Airport.

Columbus police Sgt. Jeff Mooney confirmed that a tip led law enforcement in Indianapolis to find Kason in the abandoned 2010 Honda Accord he was abducted in.

Columbus police charged Jackson with two counts of kidnapping on Tuesday.

Jackson was arrested at 2 p.m. on Thursday by police in Indianapolis, located 175 miles away from Columbus.

Columbus police received over 3,000 tips related to the case, said Deputy Chief Smith Weir during a Thursday press conference. Police searched for Kason in Dayton, Indianapolis and Columbus.

Jackson’s arrest was the result of tips received by Columbus police and police urging a tipster to call 911 in Indianapolis. Police there stopped Jackson and took her into custody. Fingerprints confirmed Jackson’s identity.

Where is missing twin Kason Thomas?

The 5-month-old will be home for Christmas.

When Kason’s whereabouts were uncertain earlier Thursday, many worried as a winter storm moves through Indiana and Ohio Thursday night into Friday morning. The weather in Indianapolis dropped from the 40s in the afternoon to 13 degrees with snow falling and icy conditions, according to the National Weather Service.

Kason’s father, Lachez Thomas, is headed to Indianapolis to get him.

Gov. Mike DeWine expressed his anguish for the Thomas family earlier in the day, before news of Kason’s recovery.

“Our hearts go out to the family. I cannot think of anything that’s more of a parent’s nightmare than to have children kidnapped,” the governor said. “Our prayers are with the family and hoping that the second child will be reunited with the family. The highway patrol have been regularly involved in this and offering assistance. We will continue to do that.”

Three Columbus police detectives are en route to Indianapolis to join in the questioning of Jackson, Weir said. They are part of a team of detectives — 12 in total — that searched for Kason in Dayton, where his twin brother, Kyair, was found early Tuesday.

A history of child endangerment

Over the past two months, Jackson made three visits to Riverside, a suburb of Dayton, in an attempt to contact her two daughters, according to incident reports from the Riverside Police Department. The latest visit occurred on Dec. 15.

More:Ex-boyfriend of suspect in Columbus infant abduction: ‘She’s like a different person’

Dominic Davies, Jackson’s ex-boyfriend and the father of her daughters, told Riverside police he has full custody of the girls because of Jackson’s drug abuse and mental illness.

In an interview with The Dispatch on Thursday, Davies said Jackson is “like a different person” than the woman he met and had a relationship between 2017-2019.

She had previous run-ins with law enforcement on child endangerment charges and allegations, Franklin County Municipal Court records show.

Last year, in September 2021, Jackson was accused of attempting to abduct her own children from the National Youth Advocacy Center, a protective services agency, which held emergency custody over her children, Columbus police reported.