Florida boy found in gator’s mouth: cause of death revealed

Authorities in Florida have released the cause of death of a 2-year-old boy whose body was discovered inside the mouth of an alligator last month.

Taylen Mosley died of drowning, according to an autopsy completed by the Pinellas County Medical Examiner. His father, 21-year-old Thomas Mosley, was previously arrested in connection with his death as well as the murder of the toddler’s mother, 20-year-old Pashun Jeffery.

Jeffery was found stabbed to death in her St. Petersburg apartment on March 30, officials said.

In the hours after her murder, authorities scoured the region for Taylen, who was missing from the home by the time authorities arrived on the scene. He was found the following day after officers were alerted to an alligator seen with something in its mouth.

The alligator was killed and Taylen’s body was recovered.

Mosley is accused of murdering Jeffrey and then throwing his son into Lake Maggiore. Police said the violence unfolded just hours after Jeffrey threw a party to celebrate his 21st birthday.

A motive for the killings has not been released.

Mosley was taken into custody on March 31 and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Fox13, authorities used a bloody fingerprint on a cleaning bottle and a bloody Gucci shoeprint inside Jeffrey’s apartment to link Mosley to the gruesome killings. His phone also pinged by the lake where Taylen’s body was found.

He has since pleaded not guilty.