A year after Columbus twins' kidnapping, how is family and where does suspect's case stand?

Six days before Christmas last year, a woman stole a Columbus mother’s running car with 5-month-old twin boys inside.

A holiday traveler found one of the twins, Ky’air Thomas, left outside in his car seat the following morning, Dec, 20, 2022, in a parking lot at the Dayton airport.

But with temperatures dropping, a winter storm coming and Kason Thomas still missing, concerned Ohioans held their breath until the kidnapping suspect and Kason were found the evening of Dec. 22, 2022, in Indianapolis with the help of two women there.

Whatever happened to the boys and the woman federal prosecutors accuse of kidnapping them?

A year later, the boys’ grandmother LaFonda Thomas reflected in an interview with The Dispatch.

Kason, now 17 months, is walking and talking, Thomas said. His favorite words include “ball,” and he likes to tell everyone “hi” and “bye.”

Thomas said this year has been a struggle for their family since Ky’air died on Jan. 28 in what the coroner’s office ruled was a sudden unexplained infant death, especially for the boys’ parents, Wilhelmina Barnett and Lachez Thomas.

Meanwhile, the federal kidnapping case against the suspect, Nalah Jackson, 25, a transient Columbus woman whom police accuse of stealing two vehicles prior to the kidnapping, remains pending. Her trial in U.S. District Court in Columbus on two kidnapping counts has been postponed multiple times.

“We’re ready for the court date to come,” Thomas said. “I feel like maybe once that’s done and over with, we can start to heal more because honestly, it’s still an open wound.”

A year later, grandmother grateful and frustrated

Thomas said she’s grateful to the public and the news media for sharing their family’s story far and wide while the search was ongoing, especially since an AMBER alert was never put out in Indiana or any other state besides Ohio.

“We still appreciate everything that everybody's done, even with the passing of Ky’air,” Thomas said. “Without the general public and you guys (The Dispatch and other media), those young ladies wouldn’t have been able to do the things they did."

A pair of cousins in Indianapolis, Shyann Belmar and Mecka Curry, recognized Jackson and helped Indianapolis police arrest her. A few hours later, the two women tracked down the stolen car with Kason inside, finding the car covered in snow in the parking lot of an Indianapolis pizza shop.

“To this day, I’m very grateful for them” Thomas said.

But looking back, Thomas said she is also frustrated with authorities, including with Columbus police and how they did not send out an AMBER alert until hours after the twins were reported missing.

According to a report by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the alert was delayed because of miscommunication and the Columbus Division of Police's misunderstanding about what information was needed for an alert.

Barnett was unable to provide a license plate number for the missing car she recently purchased but told officers that it was a black 2010 Honda Accord with a missing front bumper, torn temporary Ohio registration tag and a white bumper sticker that said, "Westside City Toys.”

Thomas said she’s also frustrated that Jackson was out of jail in December 2022, when she had multiple pending criminal cases.

“I feel like our system, our policing system, judicial system kind of dropped the ball, and she slipped through the cracks. And unfortunately, this is what happened,” Thomas said.

In November 2022, Gahanna police charged Jackson with aggravated menacing and telecommunications harassment in Franklin County Municipal Court. Police alleged in court records that Jackson threatened a couple who was adopting a baby whom Jackson had birthed. Judge Mary Kay Fenlon released Jackson on her own recognizance after she was arraigned Nov. 30, 2022.

Weeks before the twins were kidnapped, Jackson has since admitted, she stole two other cars and crashed them Dec. 2, 2022, in Dublin. She stole one car and crashed it; then when a woman came to her aid after the crash, she stole that woman's car and crashed it a short distance away.

Because Jackson was hospitalized for her injuries in the crashes, police did not arrest her but forwarded information about the crimes to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office, according to a spokesperson for the city of Dublin.

There was no police hold on Jackson, so when she was discharged from the hospital, Jackson was back on the streets.

“She probably should have never been walking outside free,” Thomas said.

Where does the federal case stand?

Federal prosecutors have extended a plea deal to Jackson, which she has not accepted yet, according to court records, but she is open to taking a deal instead of going to trial.

Jackson’s defense team said in court records that they have been working on investigating Jackson’s extensive medical health history to assist in their plea negotiations and a psychological evaluation is ongoing.

Attorneys have gathered documents from multiple hospitals and treatment facilities in multiple states.

Thomas said she can’t disclose the details of the plea offer on the table but said it would include prison time, and the family is satisfied with it.

“A year later, this is something we all carry in our hearts. We just really wish that the case would be over with,” Thomas said. “I understand that it’s a process.”

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Kidnapping case pending one year after twin babies taken from Columbus