A 23-year-old mother in Iowa is facing several decades behind bars in connection with the strangulation death of her 3-year-old son after she allegedly lied to authorities and told them the boy was choked to death by the chest strap on his car seat. Billie Mosier was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of child endangerment resulting in death, which carries a maximum penalty of 50 years, in the death of young Jordan Reed, authorities announced.
Billie Mosier (Iowa Department of Public Safety)
According to a press release from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, the investigation into Mosier began when she called 911 at about 7:55 a.m. on May 4, 2023, and reported that her toddler had been found unconscious and not breathing at a residence located in the 500 block of Maple Street in Battle Creek, Iowa, which is about 135 miles west of Des Moines.
Emergency medical technicians from the Battle Creek Community Ambulance Service responded to the address. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they found the 3-year-old unresponsive and immediately transported him to Horn Memorial Hospital in Ida Grove, Iowa. Due to the severity of his condition, Jordan was later transported to Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Unfortunately, the child succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead on May 5.
Per the release, an investigation conducted by the Ida County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), and Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner resulted in Mosier being arrested several months later and charged in connection with Jordan’s death.
A copy of the criminal complaint obtained by Sioux City, Iowa, ABC affiliate KCAU provided additional details about the evidence that led to the charges against Mosier.
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The report states that in an interview with police, Mosier said that earlier in the day she was traveling from Ida Grove to Battle Creek with her son, a trip of about eight miles. She said that when she got to her destination, Jordan was strapped in his car seat with his head slumped down and she believed the toddler was asleep. When she realized the child was not breathing, she allegedly told police that she believed he “strangled himself on the chest strap” of his car seat.
A subsequent autopsy performed by the state medical examiner’s office determined that Jordan’s cause of death was strangulation, but investigators reportedly said that the boy’s injuries did not align with Mosier’s story about the car seat chest strap.
While detectives continued investigating Jordan’s death, Mosier sat down for another interview with police in September 2023. During that interview, authorities say she admitted that the toddler was not in his car seat during the trip to Battle Creek.
Police allege Mosier admitted that when she found Jordan, he was “hanging” from the rear driver’s side window of the vehicle, the Sioux City Journal reported. Several witnesses reportedly also told police that they saw Jordan’s “head or upper body” sticking out of the window during Mosier’s drive that day.
Additional witness statements as well as photographs and videos recovered from Mosier’s phone reportedly showed that she regularly let Jordan roam freely throughout the car while she was driving instead of securing him in a child car seat, as required under Iowa state law for all kids under age 6.
Mosier turned herself in at the Ida County Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 30 and was released after posting bond of $25,000. She is scheduled to make her initial appearance in court on Thursday.
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