After many witnesses watched her throw her 2-month-old child onto a road last year, suffering fatal severe blunt-force injuries, the 21-year-old woman will be imprisoned for the rest of her life.
District Attorney John Bramlett Jr. of the 20th Circuit Court reports that after Makaylia Jolley entered a guilty plea on November 6 for the capital murder of her daughter Khalysie Jolley, a judge sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of release.
According to Bramlett, on May 12, 2022, the Pearl Police Department responded to multiple 911 calls alleging that Jolley had repeatedly thrown her 2-month-old daughter into a concrete road while holding her by the ankles. His words summed up the day as one that “bystanders and others on North Bierdeman Road in Pearl, Mississippi, will never forget.”
According to reports, Jolley abandoned the baby on the street and ran into a nearby forested area, where she was discovered and arrested by authorities. After being sent to Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital, Khalysie Jolley passed away from her wounds two days later. The child had “major fractures of the skull, brain swelling, abrasions, haemorrhages to her eyes, a right elbow fracture, a left thumb fracture, and brain bleeding,” according to Bramlett. Due to blunt force injuries to her skull, officials declared Khalysie Jolley’s death to be a homicide.
Mississippi Mother Faces Death Penalty After Admitting to Fatally Abusing Her Baby
Jolley allegedly admitted to Pearl Police that she “hurt her baby, and she didn’t know why she did it, but it was an accident” following medical attention and assessment, according to Bramlett. Several eyewitnesses and some of Makaylia Jolley’s family members were also questioned by officials.
On November 17, 2022, a Rankin County jury convicted Jolley on a charge of capital murder. Bramlett claims that on May 15, 2023, his office declared that in the event that Jolley’s case proceeded to trial, the state of Mississippi would pursue the death penalty against him. Jolley had a mental evaluation a few months later on September 13 and was found to be competent to face trial. Jolley admitted to abusing and killing her daughter on November 6.
“This is an inexplicable and horrific crime against an innocent child,” Bramlett declared in a statement. He went on, “Khalysie’s death was brought on by the very woman who was meant to love and support her—a woman who ultimately chose drugs over her kids.” Makaylia Jolley will perish for her crimes against her daughter in prison, where she deserves.”