A Texas mother who was charged with murdering her seven-month-old son allegedly started a fundraiser to pay for his funeral.
On 6 November, police responded to reports of an unresponsive baby; paramedics said the child died at the scene.
Now, Angel Lynn Marie Varner, 20, has been accused of killing her son, Jackson Knight Blackmon.
She started a GoFundMe page the day after her son died, the KVII reported, writing: “We are raising money for the funeral, memorial, and cremation of mine and Sean’s baby boy,” said Varner. “He was the light of our life and soon we will know what happened.” On top of buying an urn, she wrote she intended to “get a few jewelry items that has his ashes in them so he will always be with us.”
The outlet reported that the fundraiser earned more than $200 before it was taken down.
“The fundraiser has been removed from the platform and all donors have been refunded,” a GoFundMe spokesperson told the outlet. “The organizer did not receive any of the funds raised.”
A post written on Baby Jackson’s Facebook account read: “My poor baby.... He’s no longer with us... I don’t know the details... But he’s gone....” The account featured many photos and videos of the late child, including a QR code to the GoFundMe page on 7 November. She was arrested the following day, records show.
GoFundMe for Jackson posted on Facebook— (Baby Jackson / Facebook)
Ms Varner apparently told police that she threw her child on a bed and pressed on his stomach until he stopped crying, according to court documents obtained by KFDA.
The outlet also reported that Ms Varner lived with the baby’s father as well as two roommates.
On top of Ms Varner’s statements to authorities, one roommate told officers that Jackson had been crying in the living room so she carried him into the bedroom. That’s when the roommate said she “heard a ‘thud’ from the bedroom.”
Jackson’s autopsy report, according to KVII, shows that he died from blunt force trauma.
Public records show that she is currently being held in custody at Potter County Jail on a murder charge.
