Thomas Mosley (left) stabbed Pashun Jeffery (center) more than 100 times, officers said. He was also charged after their son Taylen Mosley, 2, was found dead in an alligator’s mouth. (Images: St. Petersburg Police Department)
The man charged with murdering his toddler son and the boy’s mother allegedly stabbed the woman more than 100 times, according to the partially redacted affidavits in his case. Defendant Thomas Mosley, 21, went to his mother’s home Wednesday night with “severe lacerations to both of his hands and arms consistent with injuries caused by slippage during a knife attack and was admitted to St. Anthony’s Hospital.”
As previously reported, his missing son Taylen Mosley, 2, was found dead in an alligator’s mouth in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Family members of the child’s mother, Pashun Jeffery, 20, went to her apartment Wednesday at approximately 4:30 p.m. for Thomas Mosley’s birthday party, according to police documents. The relatives left at approximately 5:15 p.m., officers said. That left the defendant Mosley, alone with Jeffery and Taylen in the apartment.
Authorities did not immediately suggest a motive for the deaths, only saying that Thomas Mosley went to his mother’s home later that night with lacerations to his hands and arms.
Jeffery’s family on Thursday went to check on her and saw blood on the sidewalk leaving her apartment, according to cops. They called the complex’s management, who entered the residence to find Jeffery dead. It appeared she had been stabbed more than 100 times, police said.
Taylen wasn’t there, however.
“A bloody fingerprint on a cleaning bottle which had been intentionally placed under a bed in the crime scene was identified to the defendant,” police wrote. “A bloody shoe print with a ‘Gucci’ emblem was located on the bathroom floor where the victim was found.”
This sparked an effort to find the missing toddler, but it ended tragically Friday evening in Lake Maggiore, about 10 blocks from where Thomas Mosley’s mother lived, police said.
“After spending all day searching the area, this evening officers were alerted to an alligator seen with something in its mouth,” authorities wrote. “The alligator was killed in order to retrieve the body, confirmed as that of Taylen Mosley. The medical examiner will determine what caused his death.”
Officers said they “euthanized” the alligator and recovered the child’s body.
“We are heartbroken that we must begin putting them both to rest,” Jeffery’s mother Lakita Denson and great aunt Theo Brickhouse-Sails said in a statement released through police. “We have set up this gofundme as many of you have asked about how to support us beyond the thoughts and prayer. This is the only official gofundme campaign, and donations are appreciated and will be used for funeral services and to support the family during this time.”
The GoFundMe campaign already surpassed its $30,000 goal as of Monday morning.
“And a special thank you to our family, Pashun’s friends, and Pashun’s coworkers at CVS for reaching out during this time,” they said. “During their grieving, they also took the time to check in on us, wipe our tears, and give encouraging words. To all, we still need your prayers. #JusticeforPashunandTaylen.”
Thomas Mosley faces two counts of first-degree murder and is being held at the Pinellas County Jail. Records list no bond, but note that a bond hearing is set for April 11.
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