Mother arrested nearly 2 years after her son was found dead in a suitcase

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE/Gray News) - The mother of a young boy who authorities say is responsible for his death has been arrested.

WAVE reports DeJuane Anderson was taken into custody nearly two years after her 5-year-old son’s body was found in a suitcase in Southern Indiana.

Anderson was arrested in California and is currently in jail after reportedly being on the run since April 2022.

Police allege that Anderson killed her son Cairo Jordan at her Louisville-area home before she and another woman, Dawn Coleman, placed him in a suitcase with a Las Vegas logo on it, drove to Indiana, and dumped the suitcase in the woods in rural Washington County.

A mushroom hunter ended up finding the suitcase and called police. It took nearly six months for investigators to identify the boy.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s jail records, Anderson was arrested Thursday night near Santa Monica Beach in California.

Indiana State Police said they are working to bring her back to Washington County where she will face charges.

Coleman, the other woman involved in the case, who is from Louisiana, was arrested in San Francisco in October 2022.

In November 2023, Coleman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Cairo. In exchange for the plea, she was given a 30-year sentence with five years suspended.

Additionally, Coleman will have to testify against Anderson.

Anderson had previously posted on social media that she thought there was a demon inside her child.

An autopsy showed Cairo died from an electrolyte imbalance, most likely due to vomiting and diarrhea that led to dehydration. Police said he was found clean and clothed, and police believe he was already dead when he was placed in the suitcase.

The Southern Indiana community gathered for Cairo to give him a proper burial.

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