Maryland mom of murdered teen speaks out after high school classmate arrested, blames bullying for stabbing
Categories: US Education News
The mother of a Maryland 17-year-old who went missing for three days earlier this year before turning up stabbed to death in a shallow creek is speaking out for the first time since her son’s high school classmate was arrested and charged this week with murder in the brutal slaying.Alexis McDaniel, the mother of homicide victim Jai’lyn Jones, was escorted from a Montgomery County District courtroom following a heated exchange with the family of Ta’Quawn Deon Henderson. The grieving woman shouted, "I’m glad they got you," toward the monitor showing the 17-year-old suspect from Germantown, Maryland, appearing virtually for his bond hearing this week, FOX 5 DC reported. "Anger, pity, so many things were going through my mind. Really, I just want answers that I know I might not ever get. I just – I just want answers," McDaniel said in an on-camera interview afterward.Jones was reported missing by his mother on Jan. 21, and doorbell camera footage showed the teen leaving their home at around 4:30 p.m. to never return. Three days later, his body was found beaten and stabbed multiple times in his head and torso in a small creek in Montgomery County, police said. Investigators learned Jones told several people that he was going to meet "Tay," determined to be Henderson, a classmate at Northwest High School. A search warrant obtained his DNA, which came back as a match to blood found on boots and jeans recovered with Jones’ body, police said.McDaniel told FOX 5 she believes her son was killed as a result of bullying at the high school. Jones’ mother said she found a social media account with her son’s picture mocking his homicide. One Instagram post shared the school principal’s Jan. 25 letter to parents announcing Jones’ death and remembering the 12th grade student for his "large personality, infectious smile, and overall amazing spirit." The next slide shows a poem that begins with the line "I’m dead as hell," and describes Jones as a "snitch," before suggesting he was "found under a bridge" and "got kicked in the head."