Local charges likely to be dropped for federal case against twins kidnapping suspect

Jordan Laird and Bethany Bruner, The Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
Columbus police say Nalah T. Jackson, 24, seen here at a convenience store in Huber Heights near Dayton, abducted the 5-month-old twin Thomas boys Dec. 19 when she stole their mother's running 2010 Honda Accord from outside the Donatos Pizza in the Short North while she was inside picking up a Door Dash order for delivery. One twin, Ky'air Thomas, was recovered Dec. 20 in child car carrier seat in parking lot at Dayton International Airport. Kason Thomas was recovered Dec. 22 inside his mother's stolen car in parking lot of a pizza shop in Indianapolis, hours after Jackson's arrest by Indianapolis police with the help of two women cousins.

A Columbus woman accused of stealing a car with 5-month-old twins inside last month and setting off a national search will have a federal detention hearing soon, after which her local charges will likely be dismissed, according to Columbus police.

Nalah Jackson, 24, is currently facing kidnapping charges in a federal court in Columbus and similar state charges in a Franklin County court. But a person can only be tried for a crime once.

More:A chance encounter and mother's intuition: How 2 Indy women helped find missing Ohio twin

More:Was lost custody of her son a motive in suspect Nalah Jackson's kidnapping of twins?

A detention hearing in federal court was rescheduled from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon, but snow and icy weather forecast Wednesday morning could postpone it further. At that hearing, federal prosecutors will ask the federal judge to order Jackson to remain in jail pending her trial.

After that hearing, "it is anticipated that her state charges will be dismissed," Columbus Division of Police spokesman Sgt. David Scarpitti told The Dispatch.

Franklin County First Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Janet Grubb, who oversees the office's criminal division, declined to comment Tuesday on Jackson's case, saying the matter is under active review.

Jennifer Thornton, a spokeswoman for the United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Ohio, said Jackson's case will proceed in federal court.

Jackson was in Franklin County jail on Tuesday on two kidnapping charges filed by Columbus police in Franklin County Municipal Court. The kidnapping charges were filed on Dec. 20 while Jackson and the babies were still missing.

During an initial appearance on the charges on Monday, Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Cynthia Ebner ordered Jackson be held on a $1.5 million bond.

Last week, in federal court, U.S. District Magistrate Judge Kimberly A. Jolson ordered Jackson to be held pending her detention hearing.

Jackson is accused of taking a Honda Accord on Dec. 19 that Wilhemina Barnett, the mother of 5-month-old twin boys Kason and Ky'air Thomas, had left running with them in the backseat while she went into a Donatos Pizza in the Short North to pick up food to deliver.

Jackson is also facing misdemeanor charges in Franklin County of telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing from an unrelated incident that occurred in November in Gahanna. Additionally, Jackson is charged with multiple traffic violations, including driving while under suspension and failure to stop at an accident from an incident that occurred on Dec. 2 at the intersection of Route 33 and Frantz Road.

The Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Ohio, which is representing Jackson in federal court, and the Franklin County Public Defender's office did not return messages Tuesday left by The Dispatch seeking comment.

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Twins kidnapping suspect's local charges likely to be dropped