The family members of a toddler who was found inside the mouth of an alligator in Florida soon after his mother's death, have broken their silence since the twin tragedies.
The body of two-year-old Taylen Mosley was found inside the reptile last week, a day after his mother was found brutally stabbed to death in their home.
An officer found an alligator with the missing child in its mouth near the Dell Holmes Park in St Petersburg on Friday. The officer fired their weapon at the reptile which then dropped the boy’s body. However, by then the boy had succumbed to his injuries.
The boy's mother Pashun Jeffery was found dead in her apartment on 30 March with more than 100 stab wounds.
Taylen’s father, Thomas Mosley, was arrested on Friday night on two charges of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of the boy and his mother.
“Due to the extremely serious allegations surrounding these tragic losses, our investigation is currently focused on gathering information about the facts and circumstances of the case, as well as our client’s mental state,” a spokesperson for Sixth Judicial Circuit public defender Sara Mollo said.
Mr Mosley, 21, allegedly “did throw or place” his son into a lake, inflicting “mortal wounds” that caused the child’s death, according to the affidavit.
Theo Brickhouse-Sails, who is the great-aunt of Jeffery, said she felt something was wrong when the calls ended up in voicemail.
“And nobody answered. And just kept going to voicemail, and my gut told me something was wrong,” she told WFLA.
Ms Brickhouse-Sails drove to St Petersburg and knocked on her great-niece's door, only to find a trail of blood leading from the door to the car outside.
"I would have never, in a million years, when this week started, ever thought that something like this would happen,” she said. "We were supposed to have taken Taylen Saturday."
Ms Brickhouse-Sails said she wants people to remember the mother and son as "two kids who absolutely loved each other".
“Adjusting without them in life is going to be hard.”
Ms Brickhouse-Sails said the family is trying to move forward now, and appreciate all the love they have received from people. “I feel like the community has wrapped their arms around us,” she added.
