2-Year-Old's Death Leads To 47-Year Prison Sentence For Caretaker

Philadelphia PA

30 August, 2021

2:26 PM

Description

PHILADELPHIA — The caretaker of a 2-year-old boy was sentenced to nearly 50 years in state prison in connection with the boy's 2017 death, Philadelphia authorities said Monday. Jedayah Nesmith, 27, was hit with a 47-year sentence after she pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child, abuse of corpse, and related crimes on Aug. 17. Nesmith was charged after the child's mother asked Nesmith to take temporary custody of the child due to a change in the mother's work schedule. Nesmith agreed, and the child began living full-time with her in her apartment, located on the 7100 block of North 15th Street. The mother, who lived at a different location, maintained regular contact with Nesmith, who falsely claimed on numerous occasions that the child was residing with Nesmith's mother in the Poconos, and that she could not reach the mother by phone. Authorities discovered the child on March 22, 2017, after Nesmith arranged to pay her ex-boyfriend $1,000 in order to dispose of the child's body. The ex-boyfriend discovered the body in the apartment and later notified police. The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office determined that the child likely died from numerous physical injuries to the head and body, in addition to starvation and dehydration. Antifreeze was also found in the child's system. "The criminal justice system can never bring back this beautiful two-year-old boy's life," District Attorney Larry Krasner said. "But I'm grateful to ADA Nora Nienhagan Greenberg for helping to hold this defendant accountable. I also cannot stress enough the important role that the public has in notifying social services and law enforcement if you believe a child's life is in danger. By working together, we can protect the lives of our most precious residents and avoid terrible, heartbreaking tragedies like this."