The mother of a Lady Lake child who died this summer has been charged with manslaughter in the child’s death. Her live-in boyfriend has also been charged.
Nicole M. Jean, 23,of 484 Winners Circle, and her live-in boyfriend, Eric Jefferson, 20, were arrested Tuesday and taken to the Lake County Jail.
Emergency personnel were called to Jean’s home on July 11 and told that her 3-year-old daughter, Jaliyah Vaughan had suffered a seizure.
The child was transported to Leesburg Regional Medical Center where she was discovered to have life-threatening injuries to the head and various injuries to the abdomen. The child was transferred to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando where she underwent emergency surgery for a brain injury.
Detectives from the Lady Lake Police Department responded to the hospital where they were briefed by hospital surgeons that the child was dying as a result of injuries caused by blunt force trauma.
On July 12, the child was determined to be brain dead and the family removed life support the following day.
The investigation revealed, in addition to a pattern of abuse, that the fatal blunt force trauma injuries reported as a seizure had been inflicted several days prior to seeking medical attention and had gone untreated until July 11.
On Tuesday, enough information was obtained and reviewed by the 5th Circuit State Attorney’s Office and found to provide probable cause for the arrest of the pair.
If you have information regarding this crime, contact the Lady Lake Police Department at 751-1565. If you wish to remain anonymous, call The Central Florida Crimeline toll free at 1-800-423-TIPS (8477) or online at crimeline.org.
