A young couple from Nevada, aged 23 and 24, have been apprehended and charged with the murder of their two-year-old son. The toddler was reported missing last week, only to be found dead in a dumpster, his body covered in bruises from head to toe. The parents, Diaja M. Smith and Jacoby Robinson, are now in custody, facing charges of open murder and child abuse in connection with the death of their son, Jacoby Robinson, Jr.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reported that officers responded to a call at approximately 8:25 p.m. concerning a missing two-year-old at a residence on South 15th Street. Upon arrival, the search for the missing boy, later identified as Robinson Jr., began immediately. The police issued an Endangered Missing Juvenile notice, stating that the boy was last seen alive around 7:45 p.m. on Thursday, June 6, near his family’s home in Las Vegas. He was wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt, blue jeans, and blue Crocs. Hospitals were asked to check their registries for the boy and alert authorities.
In the early hours of Friday, June 7, authorities discovered Robinson Jr.’s body in a garbage dumpster on Lewis Avenue. Medical personnel declared the child dead at the scene. The LVMPD Homicide Section was alerted and took over the investigation. Detectives identified the boy’s mother, Diaja Smith, as the primary suspect. Smith was arrested and is currently being processed for booking into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of open murder and other felonies.
A local resident, Kelvyn Barnett, told Fox Las Vegas affiliate KVVU that he saw Smith with her two other children near the dumpster on Thursday evening. He recalled Smith appearing hysterical, claiming that her child had been taken. Barnett expressed shock upon learning that Smith was implicated in the crime.
During a court hearing over the weekend prosecutors revealed that Robinson confessed to being present in the home while the child was beaten and whipped to the point of vomiting. Prosecutors also alleged that Robinson Jr. had sustained numerous severe injuries, including abrasions in his genital area from rubber bands found in the home. Authorities reported that nearly the entire body of the child showed signs of injury from the beatings.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of. Smith and Robinson currently held without bond at the Clark County Detention Center and are due to appear in court again on Tuesday.