COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus woman who prompted an Amber Alert by stealing a car with twins inside in December 2022 was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Tuesday.
Nalah Jackson, 26, was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of kidnapping of a minor.
On the night of Dec. 19, 2022, the mom of twins Kason and Ky'Air Thomas parked her car in the Short North and ran inside to pick up a DoorDash order from Donatos Pizza, according to court documents. Authorities then said Jackson, who had been sitting inside the restaurant, walked out and got into car. She then drove off with the twins in the backseat. The twins were just 5 months old at the time.
Court documents state Jackson, who was 24 at the time, drove to the Dayton International Airport the next day at 3 a.m., and had left Ky'Air in the parking lot. Then, two days later, Jackson was found and arrested in Indianapolis. A woman in Indianapolis who gave Jackson a ride and her cellphone number later recognized Jackson in social media posts, alleging Jackson as the kidnapper. The woman called her cousin to come up with a plan to lead Jackson to law enforcement, which worked.
The two women then helped find the stolen car at a Papa John's pizza nearby with the other twin, Kason, still strapped in the car. Authorities said Kason had been in the car for more than two days.
“Jackson left one 5-month-old twin baby alone and strapped in a car seat in an airport parking lot in subzero temperatures. Then, she left the other twin baby strapped in his car seat in an abandoned vehicle in another state. Even if her crime had started as a crime of opportunity to steal a running vehicle, Jackson’s blatant disregard for the lives of two helpless infants is heinous,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker in a release. “Today’s sentence represents the serious and significant nature of harm Jackson caused to these children and our community.”
Jackson was charged federally in January 2023. Then, in February 2024, she pled guilty to the charges.
About a month after the kidnapping, Ky'Air suddenly died. Officials don't believe it was related to the kidnapping, but instead was caused "sudden unexplained infant death" and an "unsafe sleep environment."
As part of her sentence, Jackson will register as a sex offender, and she is required to be on supervised released for five years once she leaves prison, court documents state.