Press conference
Chief - I want to start off by first of all sending condolences to the family of 2 yr. old, Ezekiel Harry.
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Thanks LE agencies and citizens in the community for their support and assistance)
Yesterday, around 12 noon our agency received a call about a possible abduction within the area of East Houma near Bayou Terrebonne in Mahler St. It was initially reported that a subject in a grey vehicle took Maya Jones' 2 yr. old child while she was near the waterway with her children. Based on information released by Maya Jones and intel received by LE, we were able to immediately learn that her accounts of what was being reported were false. At this point our investigators suspected foul play and it was our immediate goal to find 2 yr. old Ezekiel Harry.
As you all know around 6 pm. we located the lifeless body of Ezekiel Harry on Daspit St. As our investigation continued, Maya Jones was thoroughly interviewed where numerous inconsistencies in her allegations were discovered. Representatives from the Houma PD., (lists a number of agencies) rendered resources to assist with the search of Ezekiel Harry. After locating the lifeless body of Ezekiel Harry on Daspit St....He was located in a black duffle bag disposed of in a garbage can.
The discovery of this precious child was a result of numerous experienced investigators from the aforementioned agencies who were driven to see this investigation through. During this intense investigation surveillance images were recovered showing Maya Jones and Jermaine Robinson leaving the area of Cadiere St.
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media shown images and video of Jones and Robinson "carrying lifeless body of Ezekiel in a black duffle bag")
As you can see on the next slide there's also another image of Maya and Jermaine near a business...and as you can see they also still have the black bag.
Around 5 am. those individuals returned to the area of Cadiere St., and as you can see in the still photo up on the screen behind us they no longer have the black bag. On July 12th when we received this report, shortly before the incident was reported to us, we obtained images of Maya Jones carrying an infant carrier along with her 3 other children walking near Bayou Terrebonne, which is adjacent to the neighbourhood of Mahler St. We've learned when these images were captured the carrier was empty. As a result of our investigation and the hard work and dedication of representatives with each of these departments up here, Maya Jones who was already in police custody, Jermaine Robinson who was taken into custody a short distance from Bayou Terrebonne, where we were searching, was arrested for 1 count of 1st degree murder, obstruction of justice and both was transported to our local jail to be booked accordingly.
One thing I want to say is that each one of our partners here, and I'm going to say it again...our condolences to the family of little Ezekiel Harry, and as you can see a precious gift in our community was taken from us. Children like this make up a small percentage of our population but they are definitely 100% of our future. The future of Ezekiel Harry was taken away from us by these two, Maya Jones and Jermaine Robinson.
Reporter - Was there any history of child abuse in this household?
Chief - That is being looked at as we continue our investigation. The body of Ezekiel Harry is now in the custody of our coroner and we do suspect that there was some physical abuse that led to the death of Ezekiel Harry, but like I said that's still being investigated.
Reporter - Is there any motive that we know of yet?
Chief - Still under investigation.
Reporter - Do we have the cause of death just yet?
Chief - Not yet, still under investigation.
Reporter - And so was it those images that led you guys to finding this trash can where this child was located?
Chief - That led through some co-operation with one of those individuals, as well as some experienced investigators that was conducting these interviews.
Reporter - When you get false information about a situation like this, how long does it usually take to find out if it's true or false?
Chief - That has to be determined. Whenever we get these types of reports, we dot our i's cross our t's, you would hope that whoever is making these reports are telling you the truth. But when you start poking holes into these stories it sends red flags and that's when we turn our focus into another gear.
Reporter - Did you all have problems with her story from the initial interrogations of her? Or was it the fact that people called in offering some information as to problems with the child, problems in the home, problems with her story early on?
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Chief - We had problems with her story from the onset. There was some things that she was releasing to us that I'm not going to get into in this press conference, but as we talked to her we just found several holes in her story. Stuff that didn't line up with what she was telling us and immediately we suspected foul play.
Reporter - Who found the child?
Chief - Our Investigators did, she led us to him.
Reporter - Any idea how long she walked around with the child in the duffel bag?
Chief - We're thinking between maybe a 2 hr. window, possibly a 2 hr. window.
Reporter - Anytime you have a death of a child and you guys are trying to work to find that child because you don't know if they're alive or not - How much resources go into something like this?
Chief - Lots of resources. We pool our resources together. We may wear different uniforms but we all have one mission. A problem that's in the City of Houma is not just our issue, we all come together to solve these issues.
Reporter - The neighbours had told me earlier that they had reached out saying they'd heard arguments and children crying - Have you guys seen any reports from CPS or police from other neighbours complaining about what's going on?
Chief - That's still being looked at by our investigators.
Reporter - Do we know the exact cause of death?
Chief - No we don't. That's still being looked at by our coroner's office.
Reporter - What was Jermaine Robinson's relationship to this child?
Chief - I would say live-in boyfriend.
Reporter - Do we know if he's the boy's father?
Chief - He's not the boy's father.
Reporter - The other children were walking with her in the original release...is that the boyfriend's children or...
Chief - That's her children.
Reporter - Ezekiel father's children?
Chief - That is Ezekiel father's children - Yes.
Reporter - Do we know if where the body was dumped meant anything to the family or if they specifically chose this trash can?
Chief - That's being investigated..Yes.
Reporter - (
question for DA) The 1st Degree Murder is eligible for death if convicted - Are you going to be pushing for that?
DA - First of all, let me start off from the get go (
offers condolences to family and thanks LE).
As far as the prosecution of this thing - this is absolutely a potential death penalty case. We are aware of abusive patterns in the past involving this young child. Some of the stuff that early on in the investigation showed, it just shocks the conscious that this type of abuse would go on and it certainly would establish that this case is potentially a death penalty case. (
that would be an affirmative on DCFS prior involvement then).
My office's practice and procedure is to meet with the family. I want the entire investigative report that we can make an educated decision with the families, and the input of the families. The wants and desires of the family is very very important to me, so that is a decision we will make at some point in the future. In all probability this case will be taken to the grand jury in relatively short order and I anticipate 1st Degree Murder indictments on both.
Reporter - Does the murder charge mean no indication of natural death? (
inaudible but sounds like he asked about Ezekiel being dead before he was placed in the trash can)
Chief - Yes.
Reporter - Can you say whether the mother has given you any information about the method of killing? Is she cooperating at all with you all in the investigation?
Chief - She cooperated with the discovery of Ezekiel but what occurred to Ezekiel is still being investigated.
Reporter - Is this the first time that a situation like this has happened here in Houma?
Chief - No, this is not the first time. We have our share of issues here.
Reporter - I guess there are people who say that there were problems in the household - they reached out to us on social media. What do you want to say to people who may feel that they live near a situation where children are in danger?.
Chief - If you see something, say something. If you make a report and you see something not being handled accordingly, by all means, push that envelope. Reach out to your LE professionals because we are here for those innocent kids. One comment I said yesterday is - we had several hundred years of experience of law enforcement that was out searching for this innocent child. Even with the hundreds and hundreds of experience, whatever happened to little Ezekiel Harry happened in the safe haven of his home, places that we only enter when we're called. We patrol the streets day in and day out but we're only called to these homes and enter these homes when we're called. So whatever happened to this innocent child we suspect may have happened in his safe haven.
Reporter - What would you say to the family that are trying to find justice for this 2 yr. old boy?
Chief - Continue supporting your LE - we're here for you. They were extremely cooperative with us yesterday. My heart breaks for what happened to this kid - we all have children within our family's around this age and they're innocent. They look up to parent's for support, they look up to parent's to be nurtured and what we endured yesterday just rocked our community.
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Reporter asks about the other children)
Chief - They were being talked to by DCFS and I don't know the outcome of where they are at this point.
