This article says the hole had been filled with sand and concrete mixture that had washed away in heavy rain.
"The hole was left behind from a sewage pipe that was filled with a sand and concrete mixture. But the mixture was washed away during a heavy rain, according to city officials."
http://www.wbrz.com/news/mother-and-city-blame-the-other-for-child-s-death/
We have had an unusually wet few months where i am ( just NW of baton Rouge). For those who are unfamiliar with Louisiana, our state is on average 5 ft above sea level. So if that hole were say 15 feet, then it would likely have a good bit of water or wet conditions at those depths which would make it hard to get concrete to set or for dirt to form a solid surface. (dig a few feet down in our land and you will usually hit water or get a puddle that fills with water, this is why so many of our dead are buried above ground).
As the hole was lower than the surrounding ground, it could likely attract a good bit of any water when it rained, thus creating a very quicksand like muck which would wash away easily while leaving a puddle of water which looked deceptively shallow like any ordinary puddle. I see the boards and they were an attempt to cover the hole and were there must have been a better way to prevent such a freak accident.
It is entirely possible that the boards were up against each other, covering the hole and Jassiah was simply jumping on them, enjoying their bounce like a kind of trampoline or enjoying the way the water or mud squashed out when he jumped. The jumping could have caused them to loosen, and cause the gap that he fell thru. Or he may have seen an already open gap or curiously enlarged the gap and threw rock in it or leaned over used a stick to see how deep it went. How sad that he was only 25 feet from his house yet his mom (or family and neighbors) did not hear a thing.
At age 4 My son was only allowed to be outdoors by himself IN our backyard, beneath an open window, playing in my rock garden (I was 10-15 feet from the open window, cooking) where i could hear him clearly and notice if he got quiet or see him if got up.
This charges in this case are important to me because they hold a parent accountable for the death of a child and the lack of parental responsibility in allowing a child to be unattended and unreported. How many children have simply gone missing (or been killed) under mysterious circumstances and no charges were ever brought, or their bodies were discarded so that when they were found there was often no way to get the cause of death or who simply never reported as missing. I'm thinking of cases like: (the children's ages are to the best of my recollection and may be off a year or so).
Caylee Anthony (30 days missing and never reported by her mother).
2 year old Sky Metawala - His mother Julia claimed she left him in her car when it ran out of gas while she and her 4 year old walk to get gas, leaving him alone well over an hour and he was missing when she got back (but of course many of feel she killed him before then and this was her ridiculous alibi and she was never charged and Sky has never been found).
Dontell Melvin - He had not been seen for months even though the family had been under the care of DFS. The parents told others that he was with other relatives. When the police finally caught on and did a search, little Dontrell was found buried in the back yard. Brittany (the "mom") was briefly arrested but allowed ro be bailed out seeing as she was pregnant and has now had another child.
Oh I could go on and on, an ya'll could probably add dozens more to this post.
There should be stiff laws that if a child is missing you either report it or face jail time.
If a child dies, you report it or go to jail.
If you dispose of a child's body like trash - you go to jail for it.
etc,etc,etc
There many other cases of missing (most likely died at the hands of their parents/caretaker) where children are missing and presumed dead and yet no charges have ever been brought against them.
