(Updated) Mother of Slain Columbia Toddler Indicted on Child Abuse, Assault Charges
Joaquinia LaJeuness' bond was reduced at a hearing Monday afternoon.
Photos
This story was updated at 3:30 p.m. Monday to include details in the first 11 paragraphs on the indictment and bond reduction of Joaquinia LaJeuness. The correct bond amount was updated at 5:50 p.m.
A Howard County grand jury has indicted the mother of Elijah LaJeuness, the 3-year-old boy whose killing at his Columbia home has gone unsolved for almost nine months, on two counts of child abuse and one count of assault.
The charges are for abuse police said occurred in November of 2010.
Howard County State's Attorney Colleen McGuinn said during a bond review hearing that while investigating Elijah's death, police learned of new information that was enough to produce the current indictment, though details of the new information were not released.
Joaquinia LaJeuness, 28, whom police said did not cooperate in the investigation of her son’s death, is charged with two counts of second-degree child abuse and one count of second-degree assault, as well as contributing to acts and omission, according to court records.
She has not been charged in her son's homicide.
Howard County police said Monday that the Department of Social Services received a report on Nov. 3, 2010 that Elijah LaJeuness, then 2, had marks and bruises on his face. A doctor's review said the injuries were not accidental.
Joaquinia LaJeuness' indictment at a Wednesday grand jury meeting was released Thursday, but without her name. The indictment was unsealed Monday, according to online court records.
Joaquinia LaJeuness' $250,000 bond was reduced Monday to $25,000. She was initially being held at the Howard County Detention Center after being detained Saturday at 11 a.m., said Cpl. Freeman with the Howard County Department of Corrections, who declined to give his first name. Police said she was arrested Friday in Meridian, MI.
On April 13 of last year, Elijah was found unresponsive and not breathing, according to police. Police said three people were in the house at the 9600 block of Basket Ring Road in Columbia -- his mother, her boyfriend and an 8-year-old sibling. The child was taken to Howard County General Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to records.
Details of the case were released by police July 28. The death was ruled homicide by asphyxia.
Repeated efforts to reach Joaquinia LaJeuness have been unsuccessful, though she attended a funeral service for her son in April, from which the accompanying photo was taken.
Her marriage to Elijah’s father, Robert LaJeuness, also 28, has been annulled, according to documents obtained by Patch. The October 2006 marriage was registered in Fairfax County, VA, according to a marriage certificate.
Shayla-René Little, director of the Elsie M. Brown School of the Arts, a series of dance classes offered at community centers in Columbia, said in August that Joaquinia had taught hip-hop to children at the dance school for the past year.
According to Joaquinia’s online bio on the dance school website, she danced for various dance teams during college at California State University, Sacramento, and has a bachelor’s degree from that institution in child development.
Little told Patch in August that Joaquinia was devoted to her children, whom she sometimes brought with her to dance classes. Joaquinia has another child in addition to Elijah, a daughter, according to child protective service documents.
“Her children were her priority," Little said. "They were her main concern.”
Friends and family of the slain child have been publicly calling for answers since the homicide was announced.
In August, Patch published an investigation into the child’s life that showed that the year before he died, many adults, including doctors and social workers, investigated injuries to Elijah, ranging from bruises to his forehead and ears to burns on the tops of his feet.
“Nothing was ever done,” said Bethany Kennedy, a former roommate of Robert LaJeuness, who lives in Hyattsville. “They brushed it off. 'He was 3 years old, it was normal bumps and bruises.' … It was too constant to be the normal wear and tear of a child. A child doesn’t burn his feet.”
Police said at the time the allegations were part of the ongoing investigation. There was no word on any charges relating directly to the boy's death.
In December, friends of Robert LaJeuness and Elijah gathered to celebrate what would have been the child’s fourth birthday.
At the time, Robert LaJeuness said he had “faith in Detective [Aaron] Miller and his staff to solve this case.”
“I have confidence there will be justice,” he said during the gathering. “I don’t know how much confidence I have in the state for allowing this to happen."
Elijah LaJeuness’s death is one of two unsolved homicides in 2011 in Howard County, which recorded a total of seven.
The other is that of Kevin Patrick Molony, a quadriplegic from Ellicott City, whose February oxycodone overdose death was declared a homicide in November.
See our past coverage of the Elijah LaJeuness case:
Documents Show Burns, Bruises, Neglect Complaints in Year Before Columbia Toddler’s Death
Howard County Police: 3-year-old’s Mother Not Cooperating with Homicide Investigation
Slain Toddler’s Grandmother: ‘It Could Have Been Prevented
Friends, Family Remember Slain Child, Ask for Answers (VIDEO)
Tiff Starz
12:14 pm on Monday, January 9, 2012
I'm happy to see that there has been some movement on this case!!!!! Elijah deserves justice and his father/friends and family will not rest until he has received it. She and anyone involved in Elijah not being on this earth anymore deserve to rot in hell, but a jail cell will serve the same purpose!
hmj
2:09 pm on Monday, January 9, 2012
So sad to read again about the death of this little boy. Those responsible for the killing should be in jail forever. Columbia is not safe with dangerous morons like this in our neighborhoods.
Cedric Cedy Ced Lyons
3:58 pm on Monday, January 9, 2012
Columbia did a horrible job on this case. They had no evidence for like 9 months and then try to blame that girl for hurting her own son which she adored and is backed up by everyone who knew her. The testimonies are thru the roof concerning her character. It's sad what they are doing to her.
Inez
4:39 pm on Monday, January 9, 2012
If the mother has nothing to hide, then why didn't she cooperate with the police to find the killer of her baby? The mother knows what was going on behind close doors. So,
how much did she really adored her baby? Not enough to tell the police who killed her baby.
Cedric Cedy Ced Lyons
5:12 pm on Monday, January 9, 2012
First of all they were fishing for information having no information. and she thousands of miles from her homeland. They are not basing thier evidence on stuff found at the scene. They just trying to build a case against her. SMH. Her lawyer told her not to say nothing and I would have done the same thing. The odds are against her out there. She should have never moved out there.
Justice4Elijah
6:22 pm on Monday, January 9, 2012
What kind of mother would not cooperate with the authorities if she had nothing to hide??? What kind of mother would allow her child to be abused by her boyfriend and do nothing about it...No man or relationship is worth ignoring parenting duties. Also, if she is innocent why was she hiding out in another state???? THE WOMAN IS GUILTY... I suppose it is possible that she didn't kill her son, but she allowed someone dangerous to be around her children, so in my opinion she it's just as if she did do it!!!!! I'm happy that there is something happening in this case finally, it has been a long 9 months. What more evidence do they need to convict the mother and boyfriend... There are several reports of abuse... Social services failed Elijah and his Father... He should have never been in that womans care!!!!! I hope and pray that she never gets custody of her daughter again!
Elijah's Voice
7:21 pm on Monday, January 9, 2012
Just because the police don't make press releases every other day doesn't mean that they didn't have evidence. It shows that they wanted to take their time and do it right. The facts about people speaking out that know her, the people here and that have seen how she is have spoken out and continue to do so. If the bf was the abuser, sham on her for the burns to his feet. The second time with the sever bruising to Elijah's head from ear to ear, show she knew it was happening and she didn't care or had something to do with it. You should always put you children first. Elijah died because she didn't protect him. I hope she never gets her daughter back.
Flowers
6:34 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Justice does need to be served but not against the mother and no one knows what she went through or had to go through behind closed doors...thatisall
DT
1:45 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Elijah's Voice and Justice4Elijah have been purposefully misrepresenting information on this website since this investigation began. There is this wonderful thing called the 5th amendment that states when police refuse to rule you out as a suspect but still want you to answer all their questions, you do not have to because more than likely your handing them your butt on a silver platter. A child was MURDERED and what are they doing? An unsubstantiated "abuse" charge and "hindering a police officer" because she invoked her constitutional rights.Elijah's father is a great place to start looking at real abuse charges, and meanwhile the person they suspect of actually committing murder goes without being charged. Welcome to politics and justice. "This is columbia so this doesn't happen here and we need to show something to public". That is what this is, the fast food approach to "justice".
oldmantroy
9:58 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
do you by chance wanna go on a date tonight?? i likes the way you brain lacks massively. thats all ive been looking for in a another person!!!! a perfect match<3
Elijah's Voice
3:09 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
She wasn't arrested on a murder charge; she was arrested for the abuse that she allowed against her son. If you were closer to the case you would know that throughout the 2010 year there were multiple reports of abuse against the mother from Elijah's day care, doctors, and even friends of Joaquinia's. If Joaquinia's ex-boyfriend is the one that did the abuse, then she is still responsible. Elijah had 2nd degree burns to his feet, bad bruising to his head and other area of his body. The mother would consistently take Elijah to day care in dirty clothes, solid with dirt, pee, and bm. There have been times that she even took him to daycare with no underwear at all on and no clean clothes to change him into. Does this sound like that pretty picture that she painted for you? I know both the mother and father very well. I know that the mother filled a CPS report against the father which was investigated. When they went to visit with both the father and Elijah, he had no marks. They interviewed Elijah about his father just as they did with the mother; however the father was found clear of all reports against him, where some against the mother were not cleared up. Did you also know that when social service put a family care order in place to prevent the mother's boyfriend from being around the children, it was the mother that filled a petition to get him allowed to be back around the kids.