The untimely death of two-year-old Taylen Mosley in St. Petersburg, Florida has weighed heavily on the hearts of the community.
On Thursday, the unimaginable occurred when Taylen’s mother, 20-year-old Pashun Jeffrey, was found fatally stabbed in her apartment. Later that same evening, St. Petersburg Police were made aware of a loud commotion in the vicinity of the apartment, yet they were never called.
A massive hunt for Taylen ensued over the following days with the help of federal, state and local agencies.
Numerous dive teams from agencies such as St. Petersburg Fire Rescue, Clearwater Fire Rescue, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and Tarpon Springs Fire Rescue joined forces and began to search surrounding ponds and lakes.
Simultaneously, Search and Rescue of Central Florida made use of cadaver dogs and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was available to provide help with reptiles.
After an all-day search, the police were made aware of an alligator in the vicinity with a peculiar object in its mouth. The reptile was shot at and the body of two-year-old Taylen was retrieved intact. The State Medical Examiner is in charge of determining the cause of death for the young child.
Friday night, the St. Petersburg Police Department reported that Taylen’s body had been recovered in Lake Maggiore. Chief Anthony Holloway released a statement which declared, “It is with deep sorrow I have to report that we have identified the body of Taylen Mosley. Our hearts go out to his family.”
Taylen’s father, Thomas Mosley, has been charged with two counts of first-degree homicide in relation to the deaths of his wife and son. It is reported that he went to his mother’s house 9 p.m. Wednesday with stab wounds to his arms and hands. He later voluntarily checked into a local hospital, where he has stayed since Friday night. He does not yet have a lawyer to speak on his defence.
The untimely and unimaginably awful event has left the whole of St. Petersburg in shock.