Cousins! Grandparents from a suburban area in Chicago have been arrested and charged with murder following the tragic beating of their young granddaughter!
The horrifying ordeal took place on July 14th as local officials were contacted about an unresponsive child. According to reports from the New York Post, a 911 call was made around 11 PM by Klent Elwoods as he stated, “ I was beating my little granddaughter and now she is out of it.”
Prosecutors state responding officers arrived and found five-year-old Jada, “lying on the couch completely nude.” EMTs are said to have performed CPR on the young girl before she was airlifted to Comer Children’s Hospital. Sadly she passed away the following day.
Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled the incident as a homicide caused by multiple injuries due to child abuse. An autopsy details that Jada was covered throughout her body from her head to toe in bruises, abrasions, and scars all in different stages of healing.
Sources state the 62-year-old said while in the back of the police cruiser to himself, “I was a little too rough with my grandbaby.”
Upon questioning Klent declared that his granddaughter had a history of “pooping on herself,”. He said that after Jada’s last bathroom accident, he warned her that he was going to whoop her with a belt if she were to soil herself again.
Reports read that on the night in question, Jada soiled herself again and that “Elwoods then reminded [Jada] what he would do if she defecated on herself again.”
“Elwoods then grabbed a belt and had [Jada] bend over. Elwoods then proceeded to strike [Jada] on her buttocks between 10 and 12 times.”
Park Forest Police Department
Jada’s grandmother Lisa Jones says that with each hit the child fell on the floor but after the last stroke she didn’t get back up.
Following a search of the home a pair of soiled children’s underwear was discovered alongside a belt, and a notarized letter from Jada’s mother providing the grandparent’s custody for school and medical decisions. There was also a calendar marked with four dates in June with notes of when Jada defecated on herself.
Sources state that Jada’s mom had fallen on hard times and had her daughter move in with her grandparents upon their promises of providing the child with a better life.
Prosecutors state that the grandparents admitted to beating Jada often with a belt, their bare hands, and a shoe.
The young girl is said to have suffered from internal avulsion and contusions discovered in her back, buttocks and legs.
“Avulsion pockets are commonly seen in car accident injuries due to the force required to cause such an injury,” saysprosecutors.
“The avulsion pockets are indicative of the victim losing blood into the soft tissue and are more dangerous in children due to their overall lower volume of blood.”
Jada also experienced bleeding in between the space of her brain and skull believed to be from a brain injury.
Klen and Lisa Jones have both been charged with first-degree murder following young Jada’s inhumane death. They were denied a bond hearing on July 17th and are scheduled to appear in court on August 2nd.