Jalen Vaden pleads guilty to child abuse resulting in death
Jalen Vaden has plead guilty. The 23-year-old Carl Junction man now faces 22 years in prison after he had originally plead not guilty to the December 2017 child abuse death of 3-year-old Jayda Kyle. Greene County Judge Michael Cordonnier accepted the guilty plea deal Thursday. Vaden was the live in boyfriend of Jayda’s mother.
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Below is a signed statement from Jalen Vaden
“Jalen continues to assert that his confession was not accurate or truthful. However, he does take responsibility for the reckless, tragic accident that resulted in the death of a beautiful child. He feels extreme guilt and remorse for all the families and individuals that continue to grieve for that precious little girl. It has taken a lot of time to look at every piece of evidence, and follow every lead.”
“After a thorough review of the evidence, and the addition of medical evidence only released last month, it became clear that Jayda’s death was the result of reckless action. Jalen had no intent to hurt or injury Jayda, and unfortunately that does not change the outcome. He wants to personally apologize to the Kyle and McPherson families for their loss.”
“He is also disgusted by how the families have been treated on social media, and asks that people allow the families to process their loss without any further bullying or mistreatment on social media or otherwise. While this is certainly not the outcome many hoped for, we promised to thoroughly review every aspect of this case to confirm that we had the truth. While there may be unanswered questions, we have done all we can do to find and stand on the truth.”
“Jalen hopes that taking responsibility will allow the families and the community to move toward healing. Unfortunately, this case resulted in a number of hurtful, inaccurate facts being shared. We hope this resolution will end the speculation and gossip that hurt so many.
“Jalen hopes the three families can heal and work together in spite of him, so that the two young boys can be reunited as brothers. They lost their sister and extended families members. There has been enough heartbreak. Jalen believes it is time to allow these families to heal together for the boys.” Signed Jalen Vaden 1-2-2019.