The mother of a 5-year-old boy found dead in a Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas suitcase in rural Indiana in 2022 was ordered held without bond on Tuesday.
Dejaune Anderson gave an alias to Washington County Circuit Court Judge Larry Medlock in court, said she wanted to represent herself, and said that the federal government had been following her for months, WDRB reported.
“I’ve been under NSA surveillance for the past eight months, and how can that qualify me as a fugitive on the run when I’ve also had a detail from Space Force that was following my every move?” she said.
“I’m gonna set your bond at no bond at this particular point in time, and if Space Force comes forward and tells me that they’re willing to monitor you, we’ll take up the issue of bond at a later time,” Medlock told her.
As for the request to represent herself, Medlock said that he would have a public defender appointed for now, but he would reconsider if Anderson files a written request and the public defender certifies that she is capable of understanding how to represent herself.
Anderson had been on the run until she was arrested last month in Arcadia, California, as CrimeOnline reported. She is accused of killing her son, Cairo Jordan, who was found in the colorful suitcase on April 16, 2022. A warrant for Anderson’s arrest was issued in October of that year after he was finally identified. At the same time, they identified a second woman, Dawn Elaine Coleman, as a suspect.
Coleman was arrested shortly afterward in San Francisco. She pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in November and was sentenced to 25 years in prison with five years probation.
Coleman told investigators she helped Anderson put Cairo’s body in the suitcase in Louisville, Kentucky, and then they drove across the Ohio River into Indiana, where Coleman left the suitcase in the woods.
Court documents also said that Coleman and Anderson made several social media posts referring to Cairo as a “demon,” and Anderson reported said she had written a “book about living with a demonic child.”
Police in Washington County said that Cairo’s death was probably caused by vomiting and diarrhea, resulting in dehydration.
