By Doha Madani and Ava Kelley – NBC News
A baby that was returned to his mother following an alleged kidnapping in Ohio died this Saturday following being rushed to the hospital, authorities said.
Ky’air Thomas and his twin brother, Kason, were found alive in December following a woman stole a vehicle with them inside when the boys’ mother entered a business to pick up a DoorDash order.
After the rescue, both children were returned to their family.The Columbus police then reported.
On Saturday authorities received emergency calls to a house due to the report of a baby who was not breathing. Ky’air was pronounced dead following being transported to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, police said. The cause of death has not been released.
A woman identified as Nalah Jackson was accused of stealing a 2010 Honda Accord where the twins were on Dec. 19, outside a restaurant in the Short North neighborhood. Ky’air was found at the Dayton International Airport, but not his brother.
The Honda Accord was later located, with Kason inside, abandoned near a Papa John’s restaurant in Indianapolis.
Shyann Belmar told WCMHan affiliate of NBC News, sister network of Noticias Telemundo, who picked up Jackson and took her to a gas station on December 20 and later saw her picture on Facebook in connection with the kidnapping allegations.
“I didn’t move away from the photo until I might find out where I knew her from, and I said to myself, ‘I hope I don’t know her,’ but something told me that she looked like the woman who was in my vehicle,” Belmar explained.
She and Jackson had exchanged numbers, Belmar told WCMH, so she and her cousin, Mecka Curry, agreed to take her to various stores and called police to provide her location.
The two women testified that, following the suspect’s arrest, they went out to eat and saw the Honda with Kason inside.
Local authorities charged Jackson with two counts of kidnapping in December. This month, a federal grand jury indicted him on two counts of kidnapping.
The woman has not pleaded guilty in the federal case, according to court records. It was not immediately clear if she pleaded guilty in the state case, which is due for a hearing on Tuesday, according to Franklin County inmate records.
