Inset, left to right: Tynisha Lashae Jones (Anderson County Sheriff's Office) and Talayah Lucille Donaldson (Marcus D. Brown Funeral Home). Background: The area in S.C. where Jones allegedly killed Talayah (Google Maps).
A 34-year-old South Carolina mother is accused of killing her 10-month-old daughter, allegedly giving the infant a lethal dose of morphine at their family home.
Tynisha Lashae Jones was arrested and charged with one count of homicide by child abuse in connection with the death of Talayah Lucille Donaldson, court records show.
The investigation began Dec. 12, 2025, when emergency medical personnel responded to a home on Howland Drive at 11:44 a.m. regarding an unresponsive infant, according to Greenville, South Carolina, Fox affiliate WHNS.
Upon arriving, first responders attempted lifesaving measures before transporting the victim to AnMed Health Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. The Anderson County Coroner's Office later identified the victim as Talayah.
Detectives interviewed Jones and several others and searched the Howland Drive home. Investigators also collected a blood sample from the victim that was sent to a laboratory for testing, Greenville NBC affiliate WYFF reported.
Months after Talayah died, the first laboratory results came back, which reportedly showed a lethal amount of morphine in the baby's blood. The death was subsequently ruled a homicide.
"What this case came down to was, the specimen was sent, the results were received and then our suspicions were immediately raised because children should not have morphine at all in their system, it's not administered by any hospital or EMS staff that we knew of in Anderson County," Anderson County Sheriff's Sgt. Kendall Cash told WYFF.
He noted there was so much of the drug in the child's system that it would have been "enough (morphine) for a grown person to overdose."
The blood sample was reportedly tested a second and third time at the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) laboratory to confirm the initial result.
Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said authorities wanted to make sure the test result was accurate before determining what role the drug played in the infant's death.
"When we have a positive test we certainly want to make sure that it is positive and those drugs are indeed in fact a factor in that death, so in this case, the test was run more times," he told WYFF.
Following additional interviews and a review of the evidence, detectives determined Jones allegedly administered the fatal dose of morphine to her daughter.
Investigators have not revealed a possible motive.
Jones was booked into the Anderson County Detention Center, where she is currently being held without bond, records show. It was not immediately clear when she was scheduled to appear in court.
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