A 40-year-old woman, Dawn Coleman from Shreveport, Louisiana, has pleaded guilty in Indiana for her involvement in the death of 5-year-old Cairo Jordan.
Cairo’s lifeless body was discovered in a suitcase in rural Indiana near Louisville, Kentucky, in April 2022, with the boy’s mother, Dejaune Ludie Anderson, 37, who is still at large, wanted in connection to his death.
Reports from WTHR, WLKY, and the Courier Journal reveal that Coleman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder as per the terms of her plea agreement. Fingerprint evidence reportedly links both Coleman and Anderson to items in the suitcase, and their phones were found near the location where Cairo’s body was found.
According to Coleman’s arrest affidavit, both women had allegedly posted social media content referring to the child as a “demon” before his tragic death.
Police previously stated in May 2022 that Cairo’s cause of death was attributed to an electrolyte imbalance likely caused by viral gastroenteritis, as per a toxicology and autopsy report.
The child’s blood toxicology was negative, and there was no physical trauma to the body. Cairo’s lifeless body was discovered inside a blue hard-case suitcase with a Las Vegas theme.
As part of her plea agreement, Coleman is set to serve 25 years in prison with five years of probation. Additionally, she will be required to testify against Anderson if any case related to Cairo’s death arises. Despite Coleman’s arrest in San Francisco in October 2022, Anderson remains on the run.
Court documents, as reported by WTHR, reveal that Coleman informed the police that upon returning home to their Louisville apartment, she found Anderson on top of Cairo, lying face down on the bed. Coleman claimed that “it was already done.”
She confessed to helping Anderson place the boy’s body in the suitcase, which they then transported to Indiana, where they discarded it in the woods.
