Jury convicts Wichita mom of murder in son’s methadone ingestion death
Jurors have convicted a Wichita mother of first-degree felony murder in the 2019 methadone ingestion death of her 2-year-old son, Zayden JayNesahkluah.
Kimberly Compass’ verdict came early Monday afternoon after about two hours of jury deliberations. Jurors received all the evidence in the case around 10:35 a.m. Monday morning after being instructed on the law and hearing attorneys’ closing arguments.
Judge Kevin O’Connor said in court he was notified that they had reached their verdict at 12:41 p.m.: Guilty as charged.
Standing outside of the courthouse after the verdict was announced, Zayden’s father, Caleb “Bear” JayNesahkluah, quietly said he was glad that the trial is over, “but I’m not really relieved. I’d just rather have my baby.”
“In seven days, it’s going to be two years since I lost him, and I’ve been waiting all this time.”
He said he “absolutely” agreed to the jury’s conclusion that Compass is guilty and hoped the verdict would help his family find peace.
“Had it not been for her actions my son would still be here. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him for him to have passed in this manner,” he said.
“In the beginning when I didn’t know (how he died), I tried to protect her as a grieving mother. But now . . . I’ve got nothing for her.”
Compass, 25, is facing a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years when she is sentenced at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 12. Until then, she will be held in the Sedgwick County Jail without bond, the judge said.
The guilty verdict caps a multi-day trial where prosecutors accused Compass of murdering Zayden by mishandling three bottles of methadone she’d been prescribed by a local addiction clinic to help her kick a heroin habit. Zayden was found dead the morning of May 31, 2019, in Room 19 of the Sunset Motel, 2328 S. Broadway in Wichita, following a night where he was described as acting unusual for a toddler, including being disoriented, snoring heavily and being hard to wake up.
Compass, Zayden and his older sister stayed in the room with Reginald “Reggie” Whiters, a friend who paid the nightly rental fee and later discovered Zayden dead in a pool of bright pink vomit the same color as his mother’s methadone.
Although, an autopsy determined Zayden had died from ingesting a lethal dose of the powerful synthetic opioid, it remains unclear exactly how and when he swallowed it. According to testimony presented to jurors last week, the boy’s DNA was found on the mouth of one of Compass’ prescription bottles; the contents of two drink containers in the motel room — a fruit punch juice bottle and a Coke can — also tested positive for methadone.
Prosecutors say a box Compass was supposed to keep the drugs in had a broken lock and that she brought it into the motel room where her children could reach it, knowing how dangerous it could be.
“This wasn’t a new thing for her. She’d been using it almost two months by the time Zayden dies,” Assistant District Attorney Alice Osburn said during her closing arguments.
They also floated a theory during the trial that Compass had “dosed” Zayden with the methadone because he was “hard for her to handle.”
“She killed him because of her recklessness, and I’m asking you to hold her accountable for that,” Osburn told jurors Monday.
Compass’ defense throughout the case, meanwhile, was that she didn’t know how or when Zayden ingested the drug and tried to point blame elsewhere.
She didn’t take the stand to testify in her own defense. But one witness, a neighbor of hers called Friday by the defense, told jurors that during a fight with Compass months after Zayden’s death, Whiters allegedly admitted to poisoning the boy.
“She didn’t know when she hooked up with Reggie, that Zayden was going to get killed,” defense attorney Steven Mank said during his closing arguments, adding that the fact pattern prosecutors presented “doesn’t make any sense.”
“She’s not guilty of felony murder.”
Compass’ reaction to Monday’s verdict was anything but calm. After it was read aloud in court, she continued to profess her innocence, saying that she “didn’t commit a crime” and that she wanted to know who to talk to about ensuring Whiters would be held responsible.
When the judge told her she was acting inappropriately and speaking out of turn, Compass told him:
“I’m not being inappropriate. I’m just asking politely what I can do as a human being.”
Her attorney, Mank, was quietly telling Compass to “stop it, stop it” throughout the exchange.
“This is crazy,” Compass said under her breath.
After a deputy handcuffed Compass, she turned to the gallery and told a loved one: “Please take care of my daughter and tell her that I love her.”
Moments later, she was escorted out of court.
This story was originally published May 24, 2021 at 1:43 PM.
