Vigil held for 5-year-old girl allegedly beaten to death by grandfather, wife in Park Forest
Klent Elwoods, Lisa Jones charged with first degree murder
PARK FOREST, Ill. (WLS) -- Loved ones, neighbors and members of the Park Forest Police Department gathered Thursday to remember 5-year-old Jada Moore, whose grandfather and his wife are charged with her death.
Police said Klent Elwoods, 62, and his wife, Lisa Jones, 57, both admitted to abusing their granddaughter, who had been temporarily placed in their custody.
Paramedics found Moore unresponsive, lying naked on a couch in the living room last Friday at a Park Forest home after Elwoods called 911.
Prosecutors said Elwoods told the dispatcher, "I was beating my granddaughter and now she is out of it." Moore was airlifted to Comer Children's Hospital and died the next day from a brain injury.
"This is a lot to deal with. Nobody is every prepared, especially to lose their child in that particular way," said her mother Kimberly Elwoods. "Like, I can't believe it."
Both Elwoods and Jones have been charged with first-degree murder, and face a life sentence if convicted.
The couple, investigators said, had taken custody of the girl on April 5, to give her mother, who lives in Georgia, time to improve her living situation there.
Prosecutors said a post-arrest confession provided by Jones indicates the beatings started about a month later, apparently provoked by several instances of the girl soiling herself. Each one was documented on a calendar found inside the home.
"What did she do? What did she do that was that bad? That's my question to him," said Terrance White, great uncle.
Kimberly Elwoods said she has no words for her father.
"I thought that man was a stand-up guy. And he's really a monster," she said. "I absolutely loved my daughter. I adored her. And I want her to know even up there she is well-loved."
Kimberly said Jada turned five in April, loved all things Barbie, and loved making people laugh. She said she's still working to raise money for a funeral. She says she had planned to pick up Jada next month to bring her back to Georgia.
Elwoods and Jones were denied bond and are due back in court on August 2.
