COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The family of 4-year-old Ja’Kai Smith is grappling with grief and seeking answers after the boy’s tragic death, allegedly at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend.
Prosecutors have charged Kailee Smith-Parks and Linwood Allison Jr. with aggravated murder and 22 counts of endangering children, accusing them of torturing the child.
“I didn’t have any idea it was to that extent. I knew something wasn’t right. That’s why I called Reynoldsburg officers,” Kashinda Green, Ja’Kai’s great aunt, said.
Prosecutors allege that Ja’Kai was beaten, locked in his room, starved, waterboarded, forced to take cold showers, and verbally berated, leading to his death.
A motion by prosecutors for the judge to withhold bond says Reynoldsburg police seized surveillance video from the child’s room. Video between March 21, 2025, and April 10, 2025, reportedly shows Smith-Parks and Allison Jr. torturing the child up to his death on April 10.
A hearing next week will determine if the judge will withhold bond. Smith-Parks will remain in jail pending the hearing. Her boyfriend passed on bond and will also stay in jail pending the outcome of the case.
Nakia Carter, another great aunt, expressed the family’s devastation:
“It is devastating to know that a helpless child was going through such awful conditions.”
The family had sought help from Franklin County Children Services, which confirmed receiving a report of neglect, not physical abuse, through its hotline on March 17. Privacy laws prevented the agency from releasing details of the complaint.
A spokesperson for the agency stated that a caseworker met with Ja’Kai and his mother once at their home within 48 hours, on March 19, and was actively assessing the family’s case when Ja’Kai died 22 days later.
“We wanted to go the legal way,” Kashinda Green said. “You just can’t go over there and try to take matters into your own hands. You have to go through the proper protocols and channels, and that’s what we were trying to do.”
The family believes the system failed them and is demanding answers.
“This will help us in the grieving process. To know. But to not know is terrible,” Carter said.
