WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ind. — A woman charged in the death of an Atlanta 5-year-old found in a suitcase in Indiana learned her sentence on Tuesday.
Court records show that Dawn Coleman will spend 25 years in prison followed by five years of probation connected to Cairo Jordan’s death.
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In April 2022, Indiana State Police found a boy’s body inside a Vegas suitcase on the side of the road. Months later in October 2022, officials identified the victim as Jordan and confirmed he was from Atlanta.
The autopsy report done on Jordan’s body showed he died from an electrolyte imbalance, likely due to dehydration.
Police also identified two suspects in his death: Jordan’s mother Dejuan Anderson and Coleman. Warrants alleged that Coleman helped Anderson dispose of Jordan’s body. Court documents said the 5-year-old died in Kentucky before the women dumped his body in the suitcase in Indiana.
Coleman struck a deal with prosecutors last week and entered a guilty plea on conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy results in death charges. Anderson remains on the run a year later.
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Channel 2 Action News spoke with Jordan’s family in 2022 after officials identified him. His paternal grandmother said they got the news just days before Jordan’s sixth birthday.
“Words cannot explain the heartache everyone feels,” she said. “And of course, we wish we would’ve been able to do more or do something.”
Cairo’s grandmother said her son, Cairo’s father, wanted to see the boy more, but his mother always kept him away.
“Hurt. Pain. Because he tried to you know, he wanted to get custody of his son but she disappeared and we didn’t know where they were,” she said.
They said they never expected this from his mother.
“She should turn herself in,” Jordan’s grandmother said. “She’s committed a crime. She needs to pay.”
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