MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A mental evaluation for Brittney Jackson, the mother charged in the death of her 4-year-old daughter, has determined she is mentally competent to move forward in her case, according to her attorney.
Jackson’s case in the death of Sequoia Samuels is now headed to a grand jury.
“We’ve worked so hard to get her to a place where she kind of has some peace. So, I think in her best interest and because we’ve kind of waited, the risk doesn’t seem worth the reward,” said Jackson’s court-appointed attorney Kenneth W. Brashier.
Samuels was reported missing from her North Memphis home on June 15, but an investigation revealed Samuels was actually dead and her body had been placed in garbage bags near her home.
Jackson is charged with abuse of a corpse, aggravated child abuse and neglect, and making a false report.
She was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Thursday morning where the state would present its reasoning and justification for her arrest. It’s also believed her statement to detectives would’ve also been played in court.
However, Brashier told WREG that after meeting with the state, they decided it would not be in her best interest to move forward with the hearing.
“I feel that if we do the preliminary hearing today and they put on the statement of what she told police had happened out there, I feel like that puts her back to where she was day one,” Brashier said.
According to court documents, Jackson told detectives that her boyfriend Jaylon Hobson beat Samuels to death weeks before she was reported missing.
Jackson reportedly said she didn’t render aid to her daughter but instead placed the child’s body in garbage bags. He said when he first met Jackson, she was on suicide watch, and therefore, he requested a mental evaluation.
“They determined that she’s competent. That she did understand what was happening and the difference between right and wrong,” Brashier said.
Despite the mental evaluation determining Jackson was mentally competent, Brashier said he fears having her sit through the preliminary hearing would set her back.
“What we were going to gain from the preliminary hearing wasn’t worth what might happen after the preliminary hearing with Brittney’s emotional state,” Brashier said.
Brashier said they are waiting for an indictment in which he expects additional charges.
“Nobody thinks that what happened to that baby is right. Nobody. Not me, not Brittney Jackson, not Brittney’s family. But we have to deal with the consequences of that,” he said.
Jackson is still in jail on a $500,000 bond.
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