Suspect in kidnapping of infant Columbus twins ordered held on bond on unrelated charge
An Indiana judge on Tuesday refused to lower the bond of an Ohio woman accused of spitting in the face of a deputy who was processing her in jail there following her arrest in the kidnapping of 5-month-old twin boys from Columbus.
Marion County Superior Court Judge Clayton Graham at a bail review hearing ruled 24-year-old Nalah T. Jackson’s bond to remain $500 for her battery by bodily waste charge. He ordered her to remain in custody versus being released because she’s not a resident of Indianapolis and has no ties to the community.
According to court documents, Jackson picked up the felony battery charge while she underwent processing in the Marion County Jail in Indianapolis following her arrest there in the kidnapping of twin infants Kyair Thomas and Kason Thomas. A probable cause affidavit said Jackson spit in a deputy’s face while they tried to put her handcuffs back on.
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When given a chance to speak, Jackson told the court she wanted to plea, a statement she repeated at her previous hearing. Her attorney, a public defender, advised her not to do so until they reviewed her case together.
Indianapolis police arrested Jackson on Dec. 22, three days after Kyair Thomas and Kason Thomas were taken when the car they were in was stolen. The babies were in the back seat of mother Wilhelmina Barnett’s running car outside a Donatos pizza restaurant in Columbus Short North when Columbus police allege the car was stolen at about 9:45 p.m. Dec. 19 when Barnett went inside to pick up a Door Dash delivery. Jackson, who is reportedly homeless, had been hanging around inside the restaurant seeking a ride, police said.
A passerby found Kyair Thomas early the next day in his car carrier wrapped in a quilt sitting between two cars in an economy parking lot at Dayton International Airport. Authorities and the community continued to look for Kason Thomas, and the search heightened when the child was not with Jackson upon her arrest.
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Kason Thomas was found inside a car at a Papa John’s in downtown Indianapolis after cousins Shyann Delmar and Mecka Curry stepped in to help the search. The 27-year-olds also led police to Jackson after they encountered her at a gas station on the northwest side of the city and later realized she was the suspected kidnapper on the news.
In Ohio, Jackson faces two counts of kidnapping filed by Columbus police in the abduction of the twins.
However, it was still not clear Tuesday whether the kidnapping charges will proceed through Columbus police or the FBI as a federal case, and whether the Indianapolis charge will be dealt with first to avoid transporting the suspect back and forth.
Judge Graham scheduled a pretrial hearing for Jackson in the battery charge involving the Marion County deputy on Jan. 11, with a final pretrial for Jan. 31. No extradition hearing had been scheduled on the Ohio kidnapping charges.
Contact Sarah Nelson at 317-503-7514 or sarah.nelson@indystar.com
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Kidnapping suspect Nalah Jackson's bond in unrelated charge still $500
