Missing St. Pete 2-year-old found dead in alligator’s mouth drowned; Father charged with murder
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Deputies say they now know what killed a missing two-year-old St. Petersburg boy who was found dead in an alligator’s mouth a day after his mother was discovered stabbed to death.
The medical examiner announced on Monday that Taylen Mosely died from drowning.
Pinellas Jail: Father accused of killing St. Pete mother, toddler booked after hospital release
Thomas Mosley, who was charged on two counts of first-degree murder, has been booked into jail. He's accused of stabbing St. Pete mother Pashun Jeffrey and his two-year-old son, Taylen Mosley. Court records show the mother was stabbed more than 100 times in her St. Pete apartment two days before the toddler was found dead.
The child’s body was discovered the next day inside the jaws of an alligator in Lake Maggiore, which is near Dell Holmes Park, following an Amber Alert.
The park is several miles from where the toddler was last seen at the Lincoln Shores Apartments.
READ: Family lays murdered mother, 2-year-old son to rest in private funeral service
When the boy was discovered, St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said the boy’s body was intact and the alligator had been killed.
"We didn’t want to find him this way, but at least we can bring some closure to that family now," Chief Holloway said in March. "Again, there are emotions up and down, because as they’re investigating, they were following up leads, and we were hoping we could find him alive."
The child’s father, Thomas Mosely, 21, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Jeffery and his son and is being held on no bond.
He has pleaded not guilty.