Mom Who Was 'Hysterical' While Searching for 2-Year-Old Son Is Charged with Murder After Boy Found in Dumpster

Escher Walcott
·2-min read

Jacoby Robinson Jr. was discovered in a dumpster in Las Vegas on June 7

<p>Las Vegas Metro Police Department</p> Jacoby Robinson

Las Vegas Metro Police Department

Jacoby Robinson

The mother of a 2-year-old boy found dead in a dumpster in Las Vegas has been arrested in connection with the case.

Diaja Smith, 23, was arrested following the death of her 2-year-old son, whose body was discovered in a dumpster in Las Vegas in the early morning hours of June 7, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed in a press release. More than four hours prior, the boy was reported missing from his Las Vegas home,

“On June 7, 2024, at approximately 12:58 a.m., the missing 2-year-old was located inside a garbage dumpster in the 1300 block of Lewis Avenue. Medical personnel responded and pronounced the infant deceased at the scene,” the police said.

Authorities did not name the toddler in the release. He was later identified as Jacoby Robinson Jr. from a neighbor’s missing persons flyer that was given out to residents by police during the search and was obtained by FOX5.

Smith is currently being held at the Clark County Detention Center on open murder and child abuse charges, jail records show.

Additionally, a second suspect, Jacoby Robinson, who is believed to be the toddler's father, has been arrested in connection with the case. Jail records show Robinson faces two child abuse charges, but KTNV and 8 News Now, citing a prosecutor's comments in court, say his charges will be upgraded to include murder.

It's not clear if either suspect has entered pleas or retained attorneys.

Neighbor Kelvyn Barnett, who lives near where the toddler was found, spoke to WSAZ and recalled seeing Smith in a “hysterical” state while out seemingly searching for her son at around 9:00 p.m. on June 6.

"I saw the lady sitting there with her two other kids, really hysterical, and saying 'somebody took my kid, somebody took my kid,'" Barnett told the outlet. “To find out that she [allegedly] was the one that did this is the most shocking aspect of it all.”

Barnett also claimed to FOX5 that Smith had told him after her son vanished "that she was at the park and the kid was on the slide and she looked around and the kid was gone."

The victim's cause and manner of death will be released by the Clark County Coroner’s Office, per the release. 

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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