Father charged with murder after 2-year-old’s body found in alligator’s mouth, police say

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WWSB/Gray News) – A Florida man has been charged with murder for the deaths of his 2-year-old son – whose body was later found in an alligator’s mouth – and of the boy’s mother, police said.

According to the St. Petersburg Police Department, 21-year-old Thomas Mosley is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the death of 20-year-old Pashun Jeffery and their 2-year-old son, Taylen Mosley.

Jeffery and her son were last seen by family members around 5:20 p.m. Wednesday. Police said neighbors heard a loud commotion near their apartment around 8:30 p.m., but police were not called.

The next day, Jeffery’s mother contacted the apartment complex property manager after not hearing from her daughter.

Officers responded to the apartment complex Thursday and found what they described as a “very violent crime scene.” Jeffery was found dead, and police said she had been stabbed numerous times.

The 2-year-old boy was nowhere to be found, and an Amber Alert was issued.

After more than a day of intense searching, on Friday night, authorities looking for Taylen at a lake a few miles from the apartment complex noticed an alligator “with an object in its mouth.” They quickly realized the object was a child’s body, St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said.

Officers fired shots at the alligator, which dropped the body.

“We were able to retrieve Taylen’s body intact,” Holloway said. The alligator was euthanized.

Investigators are working to determine if the child was dead before the alligator got to him, or if the animal played a role in his death.

Thomas Mosley went to his mother’s house about 9 p.m. Wednesday with cuts on his arms and hands, Holloway said, and then admitted himself to a local hospital. Police initially said Thomas Mosley “wasn’t talking” to them.

After he was discharged from the hospital, Thomas Mosley was booked into the Pinellas County Jail, where he remains awaiting trial.

In a Facebook post, police thanked the community for their help in the search for Taylen.

“Unfortunately, the outcome was not as we had hoped,” the department wrote.

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