Body of Missing 13-Year-Old Kei’Mani Latigue Found; Father Charged with Murder
Authorities confirmed the heartbreaking discovery of 13-year-old Kei’Mani Latigue, whose body was found Monday on the second floor of an abandoned, burned house on Miami Street in Toledo. Kei’Mani, a Spring Elementary School student, was reported missing last week.
An autopsy determined she died from multiple incised wounds to the neck, and her death has been ruled a homicide, according to the Lucas County Coroner’s Office. The devastating news comes just days before what would have been her 14th birthday. Kei’Mani was also set to receive a kindness award at school this week and had recently been honored at an Honor Roll Assembly.
Her father, Darnell Jones, 33, is now charged with murder. He was initially charged with abduction on Sunday, but after her body was found, police issued a murder charge and an active warrant for his arrest. Investigators say phone data and surveillance footage played a role in the charges, along with inconsistencies in Jones’ statements about his last interactions with Kei’Mani.
The community is devastated. Dozens gathered near the abandoned house where her body was found, demanding answers. Her mother, Tiara Kasten, expressed frustration as she waited for confirmation that the body was indeed her daughter.
Kei’Mani’s grandmother, Dorothy Latigue, reported that when she returned home on March 17, she found the house in disarray, the stove left on leaking gas, and Kei’Mani’s glasses and keys left behind—despite the fact that she couldn’t see without them.
