'The baby's not breathing:' 911 calls show panic as family tries to save Ky'air Thomas

Cole Behrens, The Columbus Dispatch
·3 min read
Ky'air Thomas, left, died Saturday after family reported to 911 that he was not breathing. He and his twin brother, Kason Thomas, right, abducted Dec. 19 when their mother's car was stolen. Ky'air was recovered the next day, found in his car seat wrapped in a blanket between vehicles at a Dayton International Airport parking lot. Kason was recovered Dec. 22 in his mother's car in a pizza store parking lot in Indianapolis hours after suspect Nalah Jackson, 24, was arrested by police there with the help of two women cousins.

The family of Ky'air Thomas, one of the twin Columbus boys abducted in December who died late Saturday evening, called 911 numerous times as they tried to get medical attention for their 6-month old infant who was not breathing.

Columbus police released the 911 calls to the media on Tuesday evening, but The Dispatch is not publishing the actual recordings due to their sensitive nature.

Around 10:50 p.m. on Saturday, Columbus police responded to a call of a baby not breathing at a residence in the 900 block of East Whittier Street on the South Side. When Columbus Fire medics and police arrived, they found 6-month-old Ky'air transported him to Nationwide Children's Hospital, where they pronounced him deceased.

Those with the baby called 911 seven times as they awaited a medical response. In the first call received, a female caller is asking for immediate medical attention while several people are screaming in the background.

"The baby's not breathing," the caller replied when asked by the 911 dispatcher what's going on.

Wilhelmina Barnett, Ky'air's mother, also called 911 and urgently pleaded with dispatchers to send medics.

"Come on baby, come on baby," Barnett can be heard saying to Ky'air as the dispatcher answers the phone. "The baby is trying to breathe, this is my baby."

Barnett told them that someone on scene was trying to perform CPR on Ky'air, but was not sure it was successful.

Ky'air's father, Lachez Thomas, also called 911 to request an ambulance to the Whittier Street home, and informed dispatchers that he was traveling to the house.

According to the police run sheets, Columbus fire medics responded within five minutes and had Ky'air en route to Nationwide Children's within ten minutes. A final autopsy report from the Franklin County Coroner's office is not expected for weeks as Columbus police continue their investigation into the death.

Lachez Thomas, left, stands in a gas station parking lot on Brandt Pike with Dion Green at right, as family members searched Dayton last month search for Thomas' five-month-old son Kason Thomas, who remained missing until Dec. 22.
Lachez Thomas, left, stands in a gas station parking lot on Brandt Pike with Dion Green at right, as family members searched Dayton last month search for Thomas' five-month-old son Kason Thomas, who remained missing until Dec. 22.

Columbus police say Ky'air and his twin brother, Kason, were abducted by 24-year-old Nalah Jackson, who stole their mother's running 2010 Honda car moments after Barnett went inside a Donatos restaurant on North High Street around 9:45 p.m. Dec. 19 to pick up a DoorDash order for delivery.

The grandmother of the twins, Fonda Thomas, released a statement Sunday asking the community for support and prayers for her family. Between the December kidnapping and now Ky'air's death, the grandmother said "none of this seems real."

"Tonight we are living a nightmare with the community for a second time in less than a month," she said in a prepared statement. "I'm questioning God, Lord why, Ky'air?"

Mecka Curry, one of the cousins who helped find baby Kason Thomas in Indianapolis, shared her condolences over Ky'air's death to his family on social media.

“You will forever live in our hearts (Ky'air),” she wrote. “My heart is broken.”

Jackson is currently facing two federal charges of kidnapping a minor. Kidnapping charges filed by Columbus police were expected to be dropped in deference to the federal case.

Jackson is scheduled to face a jury trial in federal court in Columbus on March 20. If convicted, she faces 20 years to life in prison on each of the two counts.

The abduction case, which unfolded over four days, transfixed Ohioans and people across the nation.

After Ky'air was found in Dayton, attention swelled on the case as friends, family and law enforcement searched for the still-missing Kason and pled for his safe return. A chance encounter between Jackson and two women outside of an Indianapolis gas station triggered a series of events that would lead to Jackson's arrest and the recovery of Kason hours later

Read More: A chance encounter and mother's intuition: How 2 Indy women helped find missing Ohio twin

@Colebehr_report

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 911 calls show panic as family tries to save Ky'air Thomas