Kansas mother Jackquailine Hardin mourns baby Jhornee Bland found dead in field, Tyerria Miles arrested
A Kansas family is still reeling after the shocking death of two-year-old Jhornee Bland, found dead in a field after the mother, Jackquailine Hardin, left her with a friend.
“I just buried my mother a year ago,” Hardin said Tuesday, her voice wavering. “Now I’ve got to bury my own child. This is going to be very hard for me.”
Tyerria Miles, 25, has been arrested in connection with Jhornee’s death. Her bond has been set at $100,000, said police spokeswoman Nikki Woodrow, who added that evidence in the case will be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office later this week.
Police are awaiting autopsy results to determine how Jhornee died.
Jhornee Bland
Hardin detailed to the press the account (summarized here via Kansas.com), leaving Jhornee and two of Jhornee’s older sisters with Miles while attending a pool party. The mother said she contacted Miles to check on Jhornee and Miles told her she had taken Jhornee to a mutual friend’s apartment, claiming Hardin told her to take there toddler there.
“She says I called her,” Hardin said. “I never spoke with her all day until I called her to see how Jhornee was doing.”
Miles drove Hardin to an apartment complex, but the mutual friend doesn’t live there, Hardin said. “I don’t know nobody out there,” she said. “It’s very strange.”
The child was dropped to a woman in the doorway according to Hardin as she described Miles’ strange behavior as she “punched the steering wheel real hard.” She was uttering a profanity and asked, “What did I do?”
“I’m like, ‘What did you do?’ ” Hardin said.
“She was with me,” Hardin said Miles told her. “I was supposed to be watching her.”
No one there admitted ton seeing the girl and they called 911.
Miles, who is pregnant, is being housed in the Sedgwick County Jail’s medical clinic, police said. She is being held on suspicion of aggravated child endangerment and stolen property, but those offenses could be amended depending on what the autopsy reveals.
Hardin is hoping the autopsy will offer some answers.
Hardin said she doesn’t just struggle with the loss of her baby, she’s stunned by Miles’ possible role in it. Police have said they have no other suspects in the case.
“This was my best friend,” she said. “I never thought she would do me like that. … I have so much hatred towards her.”
Hardin said she’s grateful for all the support expressed on social media by residents of the community. She’s going to need a lot of support to get through the days ahead, she said.
“I just wish I could have my baby back and hold her and kiss her, and that she’d have a chance to live her life,” Hardin said.
KSN News asked police why an Amber Alert wasn’t issued. Police say the case didn’t meet the strict, nationwide guidelines to issue an alert.
“Guidelines include abduction, which was never the case,” said Woodrow. “The police department was confident that they were speaking to the person that had the information about where Jhornee was located.”
