Missing 2-year-old boy found dead in gator’s mouth after mom murdered in Florida, cops say
The statewide search for 2-year-old Taylen Mosley ended Friday when the young boy was found dead inside an alligator’s mouth in a Tampa Bay area lake a day after police discovered his mother’s stabbed body, authorities said.
“We are sorry it had to end this way,” St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said in a news conference Friday.
Thomas Mosley,the child’s father, is facing two charges of first-degree murder in connection to their deaths, police said. The 21-year-old man had checked himself into a hospital with cuts on his hands and arms before he was booked into a Pinellas County jail Friday night.
On Friday afternoon, the investigation led detectives to Dell Holmes Park, near Lake Maggiore, where they found an alligator with something in its mouth — Taylen’s body, Holloway said. As deputies got closer, they fired a shot into the alligator and retrieved the remains.
In an arrest report, police said Thomas killed Taylen by throwing him into the lake where the alligator later got him. The reptile was later euthanized, Holloway said.
READ MORE: Missing 2-year-old ‘could be in danger’ after his mom is found dead, Florida police say
An Amber Alert was issued for Taylen Thursday after his mother, Pashun Jeffery, 20, was found stabbed to death in their apartment. Taylen’s body was found in the lake several miles from that apartment complex.
Holloway said Jeffery was stabbed multiple times, but officers still can not confirm the cause of death until the medical examiner looks at her body.
Miami Herald staff writer Omar Rodríguez Ortiz contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 31, 2023 at 10:12 PM.
%20Cropped%20(2).jpg)