Louisiana woman takes plea in death of Atlanta 5-year-old found dead in suitcase in Indiana

A woman who faced multiple charges for her alleged role in the death of a 5-year-old Atlanta boy whose body was found in a suitcase in Indiana has agreed to a plea deal and will be sentenced next week.

Dawn Coleman, 41, of Shreveport, is charged with aiding a murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, conspiracy to commit murder and felony obstruction, jail records show. She is accused of playing a part in the death of Cairo Ammar Jordan, who had been neglected but showed no other signs of physical trauma, according to investigators.

Jordan’s mother, Dejuane Ludie Anderson, is also charged in his death but remains at large and has eluded authorities for more than a year.

The child’s body was found inside a suitcase in the woods in southern Indiana about 35 miles northwest of Louisville, Kentucky, in April 2022. It took nearly six months for Indiana State Police investigators to identify Jordan and secure arrest warrants against Coleman and Anderson.

Coleman was arrested in San Francisco, California, in October 2022, but Anderson couldn’t be located.

Anderson traveled extensively around the country and had been in South Carolina and Kentucky in the weeks leading up to Jordan’s death, according to her arrest warrant. At the time of Coleman’s arrest, Anderson’s last known location was Los Angeles, California, an ISP spokesman said.

Coleman will be sentenced Tuesday morning, after which the details of her plea deal can be released, prosecutor Tara Coats Hunt told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.