Indiana mom says she hid young son's body for a year

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — An Indiana woman told police investigators she fed her 3-year-old son olive oil and vinegar until he stopped breathing and died, then wrapped his body in a blanket and hid it for more than a year, according to court documents.

Fort Wayne police arrested Latisha Ann Lawson on Tuesday, a day after family members reported her and her two children missing. Officers found Lawson and her 10-year-old daughter living in a house that a church had provided for them in recent weeks.

Investigators reported finding a child's remains inside a tote bag. An autopsy was planned to confirm they were the boy's and to determine a cause of death.

"It appeared that that child had been deceased for some time, so it does appear that she had been carrying the remains of that child with her," Officer Raquel Foster told television station WPTA.

Lawson, 31, told investigators that in November 2009 she fed her son, Jezaih King, the olive oil and vinegar because she was frustrated with his temper tantrums, according to Allen County court documents. She said she put his wrapped body in a blanket and put it in a closet at the home where she was then living, the documents say.

Lawson remained jailed Wednesday on a felony charge of neglect of a dependent causing death. A judge scheduled a court hearing for next week after ruling Tuesday that there was probable cause for her arrest. She didn't yet have a defense attorney Wednesday.

Lawson's daughter was taken into protective custody.

Elisha Harris, pastor of the Oakridge Temple Church and Ministry, said Lawson had approached the church, saying she and her daughter had no place to live. He arranged for them to stay in the house that was being renovated into a shelter.

"After some discussion, our church decided to give her a place to stay," Harris told The Journal Gazette. "We were just trying to help her from being hurt, from being out in the cold."

Harris said he didn't remember Lawson having a bag large enough to hold a body.

"When she came there, she just had a few bags; she didn't have nothing that big," he said. "Apparently, she must have gone back somewhere to get these other things."

Harris said he heard from others in his congregation that Lawson was running from her family or that she wanted no part of her family.

Bobbie Piper, who lives next to the home where Lawson was most recently staying, said she saw no signs of trouble.

"We only knew of the daughter, we never knew about the son," she said.