BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — The 911 call placed moments after 17-month-old Jaleah Boyd’s body was found was released today.
“Oh my God, there`s something wrong with the baby. Oh my God, please send an ambulance,” a woman frantically told a Calhoun County 911 Dispatcher.
“Ok ma`am I need you to calm down and tell me what`s wrong with the baby,” the dispatcher responded.
The female neighbor put the 17-year-old baby sitter on the phone. The baby sitter sounded calm and said he was trained to perform CPR.
Despite his efforts, Boyd didn`t make it. Now a mother and her family is grieving.
“It’s just painful right now because that was my granddaughter,” Josephine Sober, said of Jaleah.
Police believe Jaleah was killed by 22-year-old DePaul Brown. Brown dated the infant’s mother, Kenyora Boyd. Prosecutors said Brown was in the home alone with the baby when something went wrong.
“I’m not going to say what the young fella did, and I’m not going to say what he didn’t do. That’s up to the law to handle that,” Sober said.
Boyd has three other children that have since been taken away by Child Protective Services. The conditions of her home have been called ‘filthy’.
“She might have not been the cleanest person, but I can tell you one thing, she loved them kids,” Shirleen Taylor, Kenyora’s sister said.
“Them kids always had a roof over their head, and they always had food,” she added.
Taylor said Kenyora is torn about the death of her youngest. She said she knew DePaul as a young man, and this doesn’t fit his character.
“If you did it, say it. If you didn’t, just say it. Let’s just get to the bottom of it, and let my niece soul go and rest and my sister can move on,” Taylor said.
“Yes, it’s gonna be a long road, and it’s gone hurt, yes it is, but the Lord and his prayers and i keep Him… I know we’re going to get through this,” Sober said.
She said Jaleah’s funeral is scheduled for Saturday, August 10th. It will take place at Bachman Funeral Home. There is a fundraiser planned to help Jaleah’s family with her funeral expenses.
A family friend forwarded the following information:
What: Pop can and cash donations, to go directly to the funeral home for Jaleah.
Where: Hobby Lobby parking lot, in Battle Creek.
When: August 11, 18, and 25, 2-3 p.m.
SECOND donation drop-off: Feldpausch on Columbia Avenue.
When: August 11, 18, and 25, 6-7 p.m.
