A mother has been jailed for life after slamming her baby daughter into concrete, killing her
A 21-year-old Mississippi mother was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after she admitted to repeatedly hitting her 2-month-old daughter on concrete in what a prosecutor said was a “heinous and inexplicable crime.”
Multiple witnesses reported seeing Makelea Shaelyn Jolly “grab a child by the ankles and hit him” on May 12, 2022, Madison Rankin District Attorney Bubba Bramlett said in a statement. New release.
The child, Khalisi Lashay Jolly, was taken to the hospital, but she died of her injuries two days later. The prosecutor said she had swelling and bleeding on the brain, extensive skull fractures, fractures to her left and lower right thumbs, abrasions, and bleeding in her eyes.
Her death was ruled a homicide as a result of blunt force injuries to her head, according to the district attorney.
“Makelea took Julie Kahlessi by her ankles, slammed her into the pavement several times, and then left her there,” Assistant Prosecutor Katherine Newman said. NBC affiliate WLBT (Jackson, Mississippi).
Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliffe sentenced Jolly on Monday after she pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. She said very little during the sentencing, telling Ratcliffe “no, sir” and “yes, sir” when he questioned her, WLBT reported.
Bramlett told the news station that Jolie “will never get out of prison under any circumstances.”
“You will die in prison one day,” he said.
Jolie’s lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
On the day of the incident, the Pearl Police Department received several 911 calls regarding Julie’s vicious assault. When officers arrived, they were told Jolie had “knocked the child to the ground and left her lying in the road,” according to the district attorney’s office.
She then fled into the forest where she was later arrested.
Bramlett’s office said Jolie admitted to police that she had hurt her child but said it was just an accident. She told police she didn’t know why he hurt her daughter. Authorities said she had taken drugs on the morning of the incident, WLBT reported.
A Rankin County grand jury indicted her on murder charges last November.
The prosecutor had initially sought the death penalty in the case, but instead offered Jolly a plea deal. WLBT reported that one of the reasons it filed the petition was to prevent witnesses, family and law enforcement officials from having to relive what happened.
“Law enforcement, EMTs, firefighters, there were innocent people… The apartment owner witnessed it. The victim’s grandmother witnessed it. A truck driver witnessed it. A nice lady was about to visit a patient and it just happened.” “I drove by and saw these terrible things,” Newman said. “I don’t think you can ever get those images out of your mind.”
These bystanders will “never be forgotten,” Bramlett said in the news release.
