Woman says she was on drugs when she killed 4-year-old, left 1-year-old alive in ditch

LAKE CHARLES, La. (TCN) -- A 25-year-old woman charged with allegedly killing her 4-year-old son and leaving her 1-year-old son alive in a ditch said she did it because she was "under the influence of drugs."

On Monday, July 8, Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office deputies went to the Vinton Welcome Center after receiving a call about a child's body in the water. The office's Marine Division recovered the boy's body and learned he was seen with his mother and younger brother on Saturday, July 6. KPLC-TV identified the deceased boy as Legend Dary Jack.

A judge issued a warrant for Aaliyah Jack's arrest for a charge of failure to report a missing child. She was found and arrested in Meridian, Mississippi, but did not have her 1-year-old son with her.

Deputies continued to search for the missing boy, and on the morning of July 9, the sheriff's office received a call from a driver who noticed a baby in a ditch on the side of I-10. The child was positively identified as Jack's infant. KPLC reports Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Stitch Guillory called the little boy a "miracle baby" because he survived for two days in the elements. The 1-year-old was reportedly "crawling toward the highway" when a trucker pulled over and called 911.

Legend Jack and his brother were found at the same time Tropical Storm Beryl was pummeling Texas and Louisiana with rain and power outages.

On July 11, the sheriff's office announced they upgraded Jack's charges to two counts of failure to report a missing child, cruelty to a juvenile, and second-degree murder.

Jack returned to Louisiana from Mississippi and was booked into the Calcasieu Correctional Center on July 20. When she was being escorted in, a KPLC reporter asked, "What happened to your children that day?"

Jack responded, "Um, I had did that to them."

When the reporter asked why she left her son on the freeway, she said, "I'm not sure. I was under the influence of drugs."

Jack also admitted to killing her son.

A judge set her bond at $9.1 million. The 1-year-old boy is reportedly in state custody.