Photo courtesy Meridian Police DepartmentJakie Toole

The Mississippi State Crime Lab has confirmed human remains found in a bag Sept. 11 on Crabapple Drive in Meridian are 5-year-old Jakie Toole.

The crime lab in Pearl released the results on Monday, Lauderdale County Coroner Clayton Cobler said Tuesday morning. Toole’s death was caused from a blunt force trauma.

Toole was reported missing on Sept. 4 but was last seen in April.

The child’s caregiver, Celeste Louise Smith, 35, of Meridian, is charged with capital murder and two counts of child neglect. Smith directed police to the child’s body, which was found in a bag in the basement of the house on Crabapple Drive.

Her case is pending a presentation to a Lauderdale County grand jury.

An autopsy in September revealed Jakie’s body was badly decomposed and had a broken rib on one side and cracked ribs on the other, Meridian Police Chief Benny Dubose said. There were also burns on the body, he said.

Smith told police that the child, who had special needs, was badly burned while she was bathing him, Dubose said. She told police that after giving Jakie a hot bath, she laid him on her stomach, Dubose said. When she woke up, the child was dead, he said.

Police believe Jakie and another child in Smith’s care were abused by Smith. 

The children’s mother, Teasia Warren, 24, has been charged with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Dubose said that in April, Warren left Jakie and a younger child with Smith. When Warren returned to get the children, Smith told her they were in Jackson, which wasn’t true, police said.

Warren’s case is also pending a presentation to a Lauderdale County grand jury.