One of two twin boys who were abducted from a pizza shop in Columbus, Ohio in December has died in his mother’s care.
Kyair Thomas (right), was pronounced dead after choking on milk while feeding early Sunday morning.
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“I am like in a state of shock for real. I literally, I really am. I am devastated I’m hurt,” said Wilma Booker, the aunt of the mother of the twins.
Booker told ABC 6 that the mother of the twins, Wilhelmina Barnett is distraught following her son’s death.
“She’s doing really bad right now,” Booker said. “While I wasn’t exactly right there when it happened, my kids were there. Momo (the twins’ mother’s nickname) was feeding the babies, and one of them started choking on the milk and that’s what happened. She immediately called 911, trying to do chest compression and CPR things to get the baby back at that time. It was just like an accident that happened from feeding the babies and that was it.”
“I just want people to know that Momo is a really good mom,” Booker said. “She loves her babies. I don’t want people to judge her like they did last time. I just want that to be known. I’m like in a state of shock for real, I’m devastated, I’m hurt for Momo. I’m hurt for Chaz the father, I’m hurt for Kason his twin brother because he is a twin, but I’m mostly, mostly, mostly, mostly, worried about Wilhelmina. She’s been through so much in the way of social media and everybody has been treating her. I just don’t want her to take a toll on her and want her to keep being the great mom that she is.”.
An investigation into the child’s death is ongoing, police say.
Kyair and his twin brother, Kason, were left in a 2010 Honda Accord while their mother went inside a Donatos Pizza to pick up a DoorDash order, around 9:45 p.m. on Dec 19, 2022. In a desperate call to 911, Barnett said she left her car running with her then-5-month-old babies inside.
When she returned, her car was gone.
Kyair was found safe the next day in a parking lot at Dayton International Airport. His brother, Kason, was found safe later that week in Indianapolis. Police charged Nalah Jackson, a 24-year-old homeless woman, with kidnapping the twin boys, according to the Columbus Division of Police.
GoFundMe shut down a page created by Barnett in December to pay Kason’s ransom. The site does not allow crowdfunding to pay ransoms.
Barnett created another GoFundMe page in early January to purchase a used car. The 2nd GoFundme account has raised $1,240 of a $5,000 goal.
