Twins kidnapping suspect arraigned in Franklin County on unrelated car theft charges

Jordan Laird, The Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
Nalah T. Jackson, 24, was arraigned Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on two felony charges — theft and receiving stolen property — in connection with a Dec. 2 incident involving two stolen vehicles that was unrelated to the alleged theft of a vehicle and kidnapping of twin boys Dec. 19.
Nalah T. Jackson, 24, was arraigned Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on two felony charges — theft and receiving stolen property — in connection with a Dec. 2 incident involving two stolen vehicles that was unrelated to the alleged theft of a vehicle and kidnapping of twin boys Dec. 19.

A Columbus woman accused of stealing a running car with twin infant boys during the week before Christmas appeared via teleconference in Franklin County Common Pleas Court Monday on unrelated charges for allegedly stealing two other vehicles earlier in December and crashing them.

Nalah T. Jackson, 24, appeared on a screen from Franklin County jail. A grand jury indicted Jackson a little over a week ago on two felony charges — theft and receiving stolen property — related to a Dec. 2 incident. She pleaded not guilty.

Franklin County Common Pleas Magistrate Elizabeta Saken set Jackson's bond Monday at $25,000 surety or $2,000 recognizance bond. Saken also prohibited Jackson from driving a vehicle if she got out on bond while her county case is pending.

However, all that is moot for now at least because a U.S. District Court magistrate in Columbus previously ordered Jackson held pending her trial in federal court on two charges of kidnapping a minor for the abduction of twin infant boys.

In the Dec. 2 incident, according to the Franklin County Prosecutor's office, Jackson crashed a stolen vehicle near the intersection of Bridge Street and Frantz Road in Dublin. A woman got out of her vehicle to help Jackson, who then got in the woman's vehicle and drove off, police said.

Past reporting:Kidnapping suspect charged with stealing other vehicles before car with infant twins

Jackson only made it a short distance, however, before driving through a red light and causing another accident in the second stolen vehicle, according to the prosecutor's office.

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

The federal charges are from Dec. 19 when Columbus police charge that Jackson stole a running 2010 Honda from outside a Donatos Pizza in the Short North with infant twin boys Ky'air and Kason Thomas inside as their mother ran inside the pizza shop to get a Door Dash order for delivery.

Related:Report: Columbus police miscommunication led to AMBER Alert delay in twins kidnapping

Ky'air was recovered the following morning in the parking lot of the Dayton International Airport. Kason was recovered Dec. 22 in his mother's car in the parking lot of an Indianapolis pizza shop, hours after Jackson had been arrested by police there, thanks to the efforts of two women cousins who alerted them.

Ky'air died from unrelated circumstances on Jan. 29, with family reporting he stopped breathing at his home before he was transported to Nationwide Children's Hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Columbus police are investigating the infant's death.

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Nalah Jackson, twins kidnapping suspect, in court on unrelated charges