The mother of a 5-year-old boy whose body was found inside a suitcase in Indiana in April 2022 appeared in court for the first time on Tuesday, where she was denied bond and declared her intent to represent herself in her pending murder trial.
Dejaune Anderson, 38, was arrested last week in California after being on the run for nearly two years. She’s charged with murder, neglect and obstruction of justice in the death of Cairo Ammar Jordan — who was found by a mushroom hunter in a wooded area in southern Indiana on April 16, 2022.
The body of the young victim had been stuffed into a brightly colored Las Vegas-themed suitcase.
Anderson is accused of killing the 5-year-old just outside Louisville, Ky., then driving to Indiana with a friend, Dawn Coleman, to dump the body.
During a bizarre court appearance on Tuesday, Anderson identified herself as “Princess Khalifa Hatan Tupac Bay II, representing the entity Dejaune Anderson,” with a birthdate of Feb. 2, 1961.
“That would make you how old?” Washington County Circuit Judge Larry Medlock asked in response.
“That would make me 63 years old,” Anderson responded, without missing a beat.
Appearing calm and sometimes even smiling, Anderson told the judge she understood the charges against her, adding she wanted to “file a motion for self-representation.”
When asked if she could afford a lawyer, she told the judge that finding someone to represent her wasn’t the issue.
“It’s not that I can’t afford a lawyer,” she said. “I want to do self-representation due to the nature of my case.”
Speaking on her own behalf, Anderson objected to the state prosecutor’s position characterizing her as a fugitive.
“I’ve been under NSA surveillance for the past eight months,” she said. “And how can that qualify me as a fugitive on the run when I’ve also had a detail from Space Force that was following my every move?”
“That is not a valid legal objection,” Medlock replied. “Objection overruled.”
“If Space Force comes forward and tells me they’re willing to monitor you, we’ll take up the issue of bond at a later time,” he added.
