The body of a missing Texas toddler who vanished from his aunt’s home overnight was located Thursday morning in a landfill, and police say the woman’s boyfriend confessed to placing the 1-year-old in a dumpster.
FOX 4 reports that on Thursday, officials with the Dallas Police Department confirmed that 18-month-old Cedric Jackson Jr. is deceased. Authorities found the boy’s body shortly after 11 a.m. in a landfill in Rowlett.
Police arrested a man identified as Sedrick Johnson after he allegedly admitted he took the baby’s body to a dumpster at around midnight on Wednesday morning.
Authorities first searched the Dallas dumpster for C.J., then learned it had already been emptied at the Rowlett landfill at least twice since midnight Wednesday.
Major Vincent Weddington of Dallas PD stated the motive it still unknown and the cause of death is pending. Johnson has been charged with a felony count of causing serious bodily injury to a child.
According to court documents, Johnson told police he swaddled C.J. tightly in a blanket so that the boy had limited movement, ABC 8 reports. Johnson allegedly said he swaddled the boy often, and during the latest incident, he wanted to restrict C.J.’s movement after the boy spilled ketchup packets.
Johnson said C.J.’s cries woke him up on the night in question, according to police. The suspect allegedly claimed that when he checked on C.J., the boy was throwing up, then subsequently passed out. Johnson said he later took the C.J.’s body to a dumpster.
***BREAKING***
Below is Sedrick Johnson, 27. Police say he swaddled 18 m/o CJ Jackson tightly for bed and woke up to CJ making noises.
Johnson said he unwrapped CJ, then CJ threw up, and became unresponsive.
He told police he put CJ in a dumpster after failed CPR attempts. pic.twitter.com/lTorZXNfKR
— Matt Howerton (@HowertonNews) July 11, 2019
As CrimeOnline previously reported, C.J.’s aunt, Crystal Jackson, said she woke up early Wednesday morning and the toddler was no longer in her apartment off of Whitehurst Drive. The little boy was reportedly sleeping in the same bed with his aunt when he vanished.
Texas Child Protective Services placed had recently placed C.J. in Jackson’s care. He lived with six other children in the apartment, along with Jackson and Johnson.
“It’s so crazy. I woke up and all I can remember is he wasn’t there. The first thing I did was start looking. He’s not going to get up and walk off on his own. He can’t even walk off curbs,” Jackson said.
Jackson said she put C.J. to bed at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday night. Around seven hours later, she reportedly woke up and noticed the boy had vanished. A little girl who also lived at Jackson’s home told police she saw a man that looked like a close family member take the baby, according to police. The girl hid when she saw the man and didn’t say anything until the next day.
The man in question, later identified as C.J.’s step-grandfather, was later questioned by authorities. Weddington said the man is not considered a suspect.
“The abduction … I don’t believe that,” a tenant who also lives in the complex told ABC 8.
Since Johnson’s arrest, Jackson told the outlet that “he wouldn’t do that,” but hasn’t said much else.
The other children who lived in the home with Jackson and Johnson have since been removed by social services. Two of the children belong to Jackson, while the others are Johnson’s children.
Meanwhile, C.J.’s mother, DiShundra Thomas, told FOX 8 that Jackson’s story is difficult to believe.
“It just baffles me that a child can get taken without anybody hearing anything or you supposedly say the child was sleeping next to you in your bed.”
The story continues to develop. Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
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[Feature Photo: C.J. Jackson/Handout]
