R.I.P. Ja'Shawn Powell
Police: Father Admits To Killing 2-Year-Old Son
Father Says He Made Up Story Of Kidnapping
POSTED: 11:21 am CST January 3, 2009
UPDATED: 7:17 pm CST January 3, 2009
NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans Police Department confirmed Saturday afternoon that missing 2-year-old Ja’ Shawn Powell was found dead.
A media advisory was issued for the boy early Saturday to the New Orleans area media outlets in effort to assist NOPD in the recovery of the child.
His father, 22-year-old Danny Platt, said he was taken from him by armed men at about 11:30 p.m. Friday near the area of Brainard Street and Jackson Avenue.
Later Saturday afternoon, Platt confessed to killing his son and fabricating the kidnapping, police said.
According to investigators, Ja' Shawn's father said a dark-colored sport utility vehicle stopped next to him and his son near the intersection and three men got out of the vehicle armed with assault rifles.
Platt said the men forced him to the ground at gunpoint, took his son and fled the area in the SUV.
However, he later confessed that this was a lie and that he killed Ja' Shawn because he did not want to pay child support, police said.
Detectives Anthony Pardo and Harold Wischan learned that Platt had discarded the body after the homicide in the 1900 block of Jackson Avenue.
Police said Platt will be charged with first-degree murder.
