Mother accused of murdering son and stuffing body in suitcase makes conspiracy claims in court appearance
A woman accused of murdering her five-year-old son, stuffing his body in a suitcase and leaving it by the side of a road in Indiana appeared in court making a string of conspiracy theory claims.
Cairo Jordan’s body was found on 16 April 2022, packed inside a novelty “Welcome to the fabulous Las Vegas” suitcase at the side of a highway in Washington County.
For months his name was unknown, but in October of that year, Indiana State Police identified the youngster as being from Atlanta, Georgia, while announcing two suspects, including the boy’s mother, Dejaune Ludie Anderson, 38.
She had vanished, however, and spent almost two years on the run.
Ms Anderson appeared in court on Thursday and named herself as a “Princess” representing “the entity of Dejaune Anderson”. She told the judge she was 63 and claimed she had been followed by the “Space Force”.
The mother’s claims reflected posts she made on social media around the time of her son’s death, in which she called him a demon.
The fugitive was tracked down to California and was arrested in March 2024.
State prosecutors asked that the court raise Ms Anderson’s bond to a level she would be unable to pay, as she had already disappeared once already. She objected to this, however.
"I’ve been under NSA surveillance for the past eight months and how can that qualify me as a fugitive on the run when I’ve also had a detail from Space Force that was following my every move?" Anderson told Washington County Circuit Judge Larry Medlock, who quickly cut her off, stating these claims were not valid objections.
In the months after Cairo’s death, Ms Anderson’s social media posts showed worrying signs about her mental health and her belief in conspiracy theories.
On April 12 2022, four days before his remains were found, she wrote on Facebook that her five-year-old son was actually a 100-year-old demon.
“I have survived the death attacks from my 5-year-old throughout the 5 years he has been alive. I have been able to weaken his powers through our blood. I have his real name and he is 100 years old. Need assistance,” she wrote, according to court documents obtained by The Independent at the time.
In the months leading up to his death, Cairo’s mother wrote about performing exorcisms and warned others to check to see if their children had souls.
Ms Anderson told the judge on Thursday that she wanted to represent herself, referencing a history degree as a qualification for this, which the judge told her was not enough to qualify her.
The suspect also claimed that only she could represent herself as she knew of other cases which would impact hers, appearing sure of her beliefs despite the judge calmly telling her that he would wait to hear from other courts if that were the situation.
In November 2023, another woman was jailed for her part in the case.
Dawn Elaine Coleman, 41, of Shreveport, Louisiana, was handed a 25-year prison sentence for helping to place the little boy’s body into the suitcase.
Investigators had picked up fingerprints matching both Ms Anderson and Ms Coleman from bags inside the suitcase, while photos online showed the 41-year-old with the distinctive luggage.
She told investigators that she had walked into a bedroom to find Ms Anderson sitting on top of Cairo, who was lying face-down on the mattress.
Ms Coleman admitted helping to stuff the body into the suitcase before driving Ms Anderson to Indiana to dump it.
Ms Anderson was remanded back into custody after hearing her charges Thursday, with a pre-trial conference set for 20 June.
