A judge in Louisville, Kentucky, refused to lower the $500,000 bond for a mother accused of killing her 5-year-old son, whose body a hunter found inside a suitcase in the woods days later.
Dejaune Anderson appeared in Jefferson Circuit Court on Friday as defense attorney Que Christian petitioned Judge Eric Haner for house arrest or a reduced bond.
Anderson faces charges of complicity to murder, complicity to first-degree manslaughter, and complicity to abuse of a corpse in the death of her son, Cairo Ammar Jordan.
“At this time, I am asking the court to release Ms. Anderson,” Christian told the judge while requesting that the judge reduce her to house arrest or a lower monetary bond, according to Court TV.
Haner rejected the request, saying Anderson remains a significant flight risk. The judge pointed to her criminal history, which includes previous convictions involving grand larceny, battery, and aggravated assault.
A mushroom hunter discovered Cairo’s body inside a hard-shell suitcase in a wooded area near Pekin, Indiana — roughly 35 miles northwest of Louisville — in April 2022. Anderson evaded law enforcement for nearly two years before federal marshals arrested her in California in March 2024.
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During Friday’s bond hearing, Christian challenged the prosecution’s cause-of-death theory, noting that the medical examiner could not classify the manner of death as a homicide.
The defense attorney argued that autopsy reports revealed no physical injuries consistent with assault and toxicology screens detected no drugs or poisonous substances.
“Manner is usually where we see homicide, or accident or suicide,” Christian told the court, emphasizing that the child showed no signs of trauma or intentional harm.
“He is free from injuries,” Christian said. “The toxicology came back with nothing, so nothing was given to him.”
Christian said the examination identified an electrolyte imbalance as the only notable medical finding. She argued that the condition could indicate Cairo had been sick before his death but maintained that nothing in the autopsy established that someone had intentionally harmed him.
Prosecutor Chris Foster disputed the defense’s interpretation of the evidence.
Foster told the court investigators believe someone smothered Cairo and expect a local medical examiner’s additional findings to support that conclusion. Prosecutors also believe Cairo died in Kentucky before someone transported his body across the state line and left it in Indiana.
Foster added, “If this child had been sick, Ms. Anderson certainly didn’t act like it.”
The two sides also disagreed over the condition in which investigators found Cairo.
Christian told the judge that the plastic bag and suitcase containing the child were clean and that Cairo himself appeared clean.
“The bag that he was in was clean. The suitcase was clean,” Christian said.
Investigators tied Anderson directly to the disposal of Cairo’s body through physical forensic evidence.
According to a probable cause affidavit, state police technicians recovered fingerprints from the plastic bags inside the suitcase that matched both Anderson and co-defendant Dawn Coleman.
Christian also questioned statements Coleman gave to investigators, including Coleman’s allegation that Anderson smothered her son. The defense attorney argued that the court must evaluate Coleman’s credibility and mental competency before assigning weight to her testimony.
Coleman told police she believed Cairo was possessed and said she cast spells to keep Ms. Anderson in jail.
Anderson has pleaded not guilty. She previously underwent a competency evaluation after making unusual claims during an earlier court appearance, including saying she had been “under NSA surveillance” and followed by members of the Space Force.
A judge set her next pretrial hearing for Dec. 8.
