Bond set at $9.1 million for mom accused of murdering 4-year-old, Louisiana cops say

A Louisiana mom has been charged with murder in connection with a dead 4-year-old boy found floating in water behind a welcome center in Louisiana, according to investigators.

Aaliyah Jack, 25, of Lake Charles, is also suspected of leaving an infant in a ditch not far from the same welcome center, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Her bond was set at $9.1 million, officials said.

The baby survived after a passerby reported seeing the child on Interstate 10 near the state’s Texas border, officials said. The child was listed as being in stable condition at a hospital.

Investigators are still not sure how or when the 4-year-old boy died.

“Although we have upgraded charges on Jack, our detectives still have a lot of work to do,” Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Stitch Guillory said in a news release.

“The investigation will continue while we wait for the autopsy results of the victim,” he said. “We are asking anyone who may have any information related to this case to call CPSO lead Detective Willie Fontenot at 491-3605.”

In addition to second-degree murder, Jack is charged with two counts of failure to report a missing child and cruelty to a juvenile.

The case against Jack began Monday, July 8, when someone reported a body floating in a pond behind the Vinton Welcome Center along Interstate 10. The body was later identified as a 4-year-old boy last seen July 6 with Jack, his mother, and a 1-year-old sibling, officials said.

On July 9, a passerby reported “a baby in a ditch” along the interstate, officials said. The child was still alive and identified as the 1-year-old last seen with Jack.

Jack was found in Mississippi and arrested by the Meridian Police Department, officials said.