Insets, from clockwise: Jeroen Jarrell Coombs, Jennifer Kendrick and Paisley Brown (Marion County Sheriff”s Office). Background: Trailer near Ocala, Florida, where Coombs allegedly killed his girlfriend’s toddler daughter (WFTV).
While at a salon getting her nails done, a Florida mother, Jennifer Kendrick, decided to check in on her children via FaceTime with her boyfriend, Jeroen Jarrell Coombs, who was babysitting them. The call turned alarming when Coombs informed her that her 3-year-old daughter, Paisley Brown, was unresponsive.
Kendrick was taken aback by the sudden change in the situation, as a previous call from just minutes earlier indicated everything was fine at home. In a state of disbelief, Kendrick reportedly demanded, “What the f— do you mean? Put her on the phone,” seeking to assess the situation herself.
Coombs complied, turning the camera towards Paisley, who appeared disturbingly pale and limp, her eyes barely open, as detailed in a probable cause arrest affidavit.
Despite the urgency of the situation, authorities claim that Kendrick chose to remain at the salon to finish her nail appointment before rushing home. During the drive, she contacted Coombs and her mother but did not immediately call 911.
Upon arriving at her residence, Kendrick found Paisley sitting listlessly in a high chair. Overcome with emotion, she reportedly cried out, “My baby is gone,” and urged someone to call 911.
“My baby is gone,” she yelled. “Call 911.”
Coombs then called cops. Forty minutes had passed, according to authorities. Paramedics rushed the girl to the hospital but it was too late. Paisley was dead.
Now the 26-year-old Kendrick faces two counts of child neglect after an investigation allegedly revealed she knew Coombs was abusing Paisley and her other kids but did nothing about it. Coombs already was facing an aggravated child abuse charge and cops on Wednesday tacked on a murder count.
Kendrick initially told cops she never saw Coombs abusing any of the children. But in an interview on Tuesday after receiving her Miranda rights, she allegedly admitted she “overlooked a lot for the sake of the relationship.” She also said her kids had lost weight because of Coombs’ strict rules about eating. Paisley was “significantly thinner” than she was a few months ago, cops noted. The other kids in the home, ages 9, 6, 4 and 1, also appeared lighter in weight, cops wrote.
The mother also acknowledged that she knew Coombs had been restraining Paisley at night with a robe tie and painter’s tape to prevent her from reaching into her diaper, cops wrote. Coombs also was allegedly handcuffing and beating another child, the affidavit stated. That child was handcuffed at the time of Paisley’s death, per police. Kendrick allegedly removed the handcuffs before calling 911.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office responded around noon Feb. 19 to a home in the 16500 block of NE 44th Avenue for an unresponsive child. Paramedics arrived and rushed Paisley to the hospital, where she died.
Deputies at the scene learned that Coombs was “the one who harmed Paisley” and took him into custody, the press release stated.
Another child at the home allegedly told deputies Coombs assaulted the child on the day in question and on previous occasions. Coombs was the only adult at the home when the abuse in question occurred, cops said. Paisley suffered bruises and ligature marks on her wrists and feet, suggesting she had been tied up.
Coombs initially claimed Paisley woke up “groggy.”
“However, when he was confronted about the bruising and ligature marks on the victim, Coombs admitted to causing the injuries that led to her death,” deputies wrote. “He advised that he had bound her hands with a robe tie and her legs with painter’s tape to prevent her from reaching into her diaper the night before.”
The defendant allegedly said he picked up Paisley while she was still bound and dropped her on the floor, causing her to begin gasping for air. He also admitted to punching and hitting the girl before realizing he “took it too far,” per cops. Coombs said he never called 911 because he was “scared.”
Coombs later said he “popped” Paisley three times in the chest and when she went limp he realized he “went too far,” cops said.
Paisley’s great-aunt Tabitha Harless told local NBC affiliate WESH that she owns the trailer where the alleged crimes took place. She arrived at the scene in the aftermath.
Coombs was “standing there with his arms folded up doing absolutely nothing,” Harless said.
“Nobody seemed to be in a, really, panic. I performed CPR, but in the meantime, I was looking at her — why is she wet? Where did these bruises come from?” she said.
One of Paisley’s older siblings told her what happened.
“He said, ‘Aunt Tabby, he killed her. He punched her in the chest and he punched her in the wall,’” she told the TV station.
Harless feels that Paisley and her siblings “slipped through the cracks” of the state’s child welfare system as they have been mistreated.
“These children were let down,” she said, per WESH. “Not only by their parents but by society, and it shouldn’t be that way. That’s why I am standing up today for Paisley and the children.”
Coombs and Kendrick are at the Marion County Jail without bond.
