WASHINGTON COUNTY, INDIANA, Ind. — The lawyer for a woman charged in the death of a boy whose body was found in a suitcase in southern Indiana has filed a motion asking the court to dismiss the case against her.
Dawn Coleman, 40, of Louisiana, is charged with aiding, inducing or causing murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death and obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors say Coleman helped 37-year-old DeJaune Ludie Anderson, of Atlanta, dispose of her 5-year-old son's body in April of 2022.
At issue, her lawyer Ryan Bower said, is that Coleman is charged in Indiana, but the alleged crimes actually happened in Kentucky.
Bower made his argument in a motion to dismiss that was filed in the Circuit Court of Washington County on Sunday, Feb. 12.
The Crime
Cairo Jordan's body was found in a rural, secluded area of Washington County, Indiana, in April 2022.
It wasn't until November that there was a crack in the case. Investigators identified Cairo as the victim, named Anderson as the murderer and Coleman as her accomplice.
Documents say Coleman told investigators she walked into a bedroom of the trio's Louisville home and found Anderson on top of Cairo. The boy was face-down on the mattress and, Coleman said, "it was already done."
Coleman said she helped Anderson put Cairo's body in a hard-sided Las Vegas suitcase before they drove across the border into Indiana where Coleman dumped the suitcase in the woods.
Because they were still in Kentucky at the time, Bower argues Indiana prosecutors do not have the power to charge Coleman.
Lawyer: It's not up to Indiana
Bower said the fact she was charged in Indiana violates Indiana state law. He said it's actually up to officials in Jefferson County, Kentucky, to decide whether to pursue charges because that's where the crime was allegedly committed.
Bower also wrote that charging information didn't include sufficient detail on the place the crime happened, which is required to prove that it happened within the jurisdiction of the court where the charges are filed.
Lawyer: Unconstitutional, lack of evidence
Bower also argued the charges are unconstitutional because they fail to specify the acts that prompted Coleman to be charged. Without this specific evidence, he said, Coleman is not able to prepare a defense, which violates her 6th and 14th Amendment rights.
Call for case dismissal
Bower cited an Indiana case that he argues sets precedent, requiring the charges against Coleman to be dismissed. The case he referenced was Purcell v. State. It says that laws that call for a penalty (in this case Coleman being charged) must be strictly followed. Any ambiguity must be resolved in favor of the person who is accused.
Bower says if the court agrees with his argument, the charges should be dropped. If the court doesn't agree with his argument, he wants the court to schedule a hearing to discuss Coleman's charges being dropped.
Where is DeJaune Anderson?
Members of the San Francisco Police Department Tactical Unit and ISP arrested Coleman on an out-of-state warrant on Oct. 19 in San Francisco.
Anderson, on the other hand, remains at large.
According to the court documents, Coleman claims Anderson talked about her son being possessed as they got into the car and then drove to Indiana to dump the suitcase.
A felony murder arrest warrant was issued for Anderson in November 2022. She is currently still missing. Police searched for her in the Los Angeles metro area, but had no luck finding her.
Police say she's known to travel and in November 2022 police said she had recently been to San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas and Houston.
Anderson is about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and 135 pounds. She had short, dark brown hair in her last known photo, but she is known to often wear wigs or hair extensions.
