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'My Heart Has Been Ripped From My Chest,' Says Mother Of Baby Who Police Say Was Stabbed And Burned In Oven By Grandma
“She always treated Royalty like royalty and everybody that knows us knows that,” mother Veronica Jones wrote on social media about her mother's alleged horrific actions.
The mother of an infant that was found stabbed and burned inside the oven of a Mississippi home after allegedly being killed her grandmother took to social media this week about the incident.
Bolivar County Sheriff Kelvin Williams Sr. said Tuesday that 48-year-old Carolyn Jones was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 20-month-old Royalty Marie Floyd in the town of Shaw.
But Carolyn Jones’ own daughter and Royalty’s mother Veronica Jones wrote on social media that her mother had previously been nothing but caring and loving toward the infant prior to the horrific incident.
“Royalty Marie Floyd was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Veronica Jones wrote on Facebook on Tuesday, according to the New York Post (Veronica Jones’ profile was not accessible at press time). “She’s my one and only daughter. My first love. The hardest thing that I ever had to go through in my life. My heart has been ripped from my chest.”
Veronica Jones added that police informed her that her mother “stabbed” her daughter and “baked her in the oven.”
Still, she maintained that her mother had nothing but love for her granddaughter.
“She always treated Royalty like royalty and everybody that knows us knows that,” Jones wrote. “To my daughter Royalty, ‘Mommy will always love you and you will live in all our hearts forever.”
Williams told the Associated Press that Royalty’s death was “one of the most horrible things” he’s experienced on the job.
“I’ve been doing law enforcement for 25 or 26 years now,” he said. “The hardest part…is to see a child victim.”
He said authorities had no immediate answers in the death of the woman's granddaughter.
Jones made an initial appearance Tuesday evening before a judge, who set bail at $500,000. Jones remained jailed and it wasn't immediately clear if she had a lawyer who could speak for her.
Sheriff's officials said Floyd lived with Carolyn Jones while Floyd's mother Veronica lived elsewhere.
Williams said Jones' brother found the body Monday night and called police in Shaw, a town of about 2,000 people approximately 100 miles northwest of Jackson. Police in turn called the sheriff's office and others for assistance.
Spokesman Warren Strain at the Mississippi Department of Public Safety said investigators are still probing for the cause of the girl's death, as well as when exactly the girl died and whether that was before she was placed in the oven. The child's body has been sent to the state Crime Lab in Pearl for an autopsy, though Williams said autopsy results were not yet complete on Tuesday.
Carolyn Jones was arrested when police arrived at the home and held overnight for questioning while charges were readied, the sheriff said.
Veronica Jones also thanked people for their prayers and birthday greetings. She had also set up an online fundraiser with the aim of paying for her daughter’s funeral costs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
[Photo Credit: Bolivar Police Department]
