Jeziah King

Jeziah King

Indiana Woman Charged In Son's Oil And Vinegar Death

December 29, 2010

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — An Indiana woman accused of feeding her young son olive oil and vinegar until he stopped breathing and died and then hiding his body more than a year has been formally charged.

Latisha Lawson, 31, of Fort Wayne faces two felony counts of battery and three felony counts of neglect of a dependent, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday in Allen County Superior Court. The document also provides details from an interview with Lawson's 10-year-old daughter, who was also allegedly neglected.

DNA results are still pending to definitively determine whether remains found Dec. 21 at a home in which Lawson was living are those of her 3-year-old son, Jezaih King. An autopsy found the cause of death for the young child found in the house to be asphyxia due to compression of the neck.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Lawson told authorities that Jezaih died more than a year ago after she gave him three doses of oil and vinegar and then held his mouth shut for 10 minutes until he stopped struggling.

No attorney for Lawson was listed in court records Wednesday. She was being held in the Allen County Jail on $130,000 bond. An initial court hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

During an initial interview, Lawson said she believed her children were possessed by demons, according to police. She also said she could not take Jezaih's temper tantrums.

Police said she told them she gave both children doses of oil and vinegar, but that she left her 10-year-old daughter alone when she spit it out.

According to the court document, the daughter told police how Lawson put Jezaih's body on a couch and called her over to say goodbye to her brother. The girl said her mother then placed Jezaih on a bed and told her to pray over her dead sibling.

A former roommate told police Jezaih died in an apartment on Nov. 19, 2009, according to court records.

Lawson was taken into custody on Dec. 21. Someone tipped off authorities about where she was after media reported that Fort Wayne police were looking for a missing family of three. Lawson's daughter was placed in protective custody.

UPDATE:

June 24, 2011

FORT WAYNE - A Fort Wayne woman who forced her 2-year-old son to drink a concoction of olive oil and vinegar because she thought it would exorcise a demon from him has been sentenced to 62 years in prison for his murder and other charges.

Latisha Lawson was convicted in May of the 2009 death of toddler Jezaih King, who died from asphyxia due to neck compression and suffocation. The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne reports that Lawson was sentenced Friday to 62 years in prison for murder, neglect and battery charges.

Allen Superior Court Judge Fran Gull said Friday that children look to parents to protect them and keep them safe, but Lawson did neither.

Lawson's roommate is scheduled to stand trial later this year on neglect and battery charges.

Aiyana Gauvin

Aiyana Gauvin

Girl Who Died Was Bound, Gagged

Father, Stepmother Arrested On Neglect Charges

POSTED: 9:35 pm EST March 17, 2005

LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A Lafayette woman told police she left her stepdaughter gagged and bound at the wrists in a bedroom the night before the 4-year-old girl was found dead, according to a court document filed Thursday.

The stepmother, Michelle Gauvin, 33, and Aiyana's father, Christian Gauvin, 33, were arrested Wednesday on preliminary charges of neglect of a dependent causing death.Information on the cause of death wasn't released Thursday.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the girl's body had bruises, scrapes and cuts. Michelle Gauvin allegedly told police that she put tape over the child's mouth Tuesday night, and that the girl's wrists were bound.The woman told police that she left the child bound and gagged in the girl's bedroom that night, according to the affidavit.Michelle Gauvin said that on Wednesday morning, she saw the girl lying on her stomach, still bound and gagged, according to the affidavit.Police said Michelle Gauvin told them that Aiyana and two other children, aged 12 and 9, were left at the home Wednesday morning while she took Christian Gauvin to work.

When she returned, she realized something was wrong with Aiyana and called 911, the affidavit said.According to the affidavit, Michelle Gauvin said that she occasionally hit the child with a broken cutting board.Christian Gauvin told police that he knew that his wife had on occasion hit the girl, bound her and placed a gag over her mouth, according to the affidavit.The man said he didn't seek medical treatment for the injuries Aiyana would receive because he feared he would be arrested on abuse accusations, the document said.

Christian and Michelle Gauvin

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Stepmother's appeal to life sentence denied

This stepmonster, Michelle Gauvin, disiplined her young stepdaughter Aiyana Gauvin to death in March 2005. She admitted tying Aiyana up, using duct tape over her mouth, and beating her with a broken cutting board as punishment for her misbehavior. This week, the Court of Appeals rejected the claim that Indiana’s definition of torture should not apply to parents disciplining their children, even if the disciplinary measures seem extreme.

The opinion, written by Chief Justice Randall Shepard, said, "Michelle submitted Aiyana to abuse so far in excess of its claimed purpose that her actions surely constituted torture." It also listed several actions that amounted to torture, including weeks of beatings leading up to the girl’s death, force-feeding her an “unpalatable blend of foods, causing Aiyana to vomit,” and photographing her in different states of bondage and forcing her to view the images.

Michelle’s husband, Christian Gauvin, who was the girl’s biological father, was convicted of neglect of a dependent in the case, and was sentenced to the maximum 50 years in prison.

Aiyana's mother, who did not have custody of her 4-year old daughter, tried numerous times to get the authorities to help her daughter, whom she suspected of being abused.