Couple Arrested On Murder Charges In Death Of 2-Year-Old In DeKalb

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA -- DeKalb County law enforcement officers recently arrested a Stone Mountain couple in connection to the death of a 2-year-old child, Patch has learned. Deputies received warrants last week for the arrests of 22 year-old Jalen Hendrix and 20-year-old Jazea Lyles.

The pair are charged with second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to a child in the March 7 death of the toddler, according to DeKalb Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Cynthia Baugh Williams. (To get notified of more local news like this, click here to sign up for the Stone Mountain Patch. Or find your Atlanta-area town here. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

The child, Aubree Hendrix, ingested a lethal amount of Oxycodone while in the custody of her parents, Lyles and Hendrix at a Summerview Drive home, the warrant alleges. The tot subsequently went into cardiac arrest and died, the warrant goes on to say.

In Georgia, a suspect doesn't have to have intended to kill someone to be charged with felony murder, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports about the parents.

Hendrix was apprehended by the DeKalb Sheriff’s Fugitive Unit at a business in Lithonia, while Lyles was arrested at a residence in Norcross, according to a news release.

The duo were brought into custody without incident and booked into the DeKalb County Jail.

Images via DeKalb County Sheriff's Office