The End of the Story

Mary Jane King reported her 3-year-old son Ahmad King missing on January 24, 2006 from a Jessup, Georgia Wal-Mart parking lot. She told authorities at the time of the reported disappearance that she had left her son near the car while she went to get a cart. When she returned the boy was gone.

Ahmad had been a foster child of Mary Jane King and her husband for approximately 2 years and they had just finalized his adoption the previous fall.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation organized an extensive search of the area but could not find the boy.

At one point Mary Jane King told reporters and authorities she felt that her son had been abducted and it was possibly and ‘planned abduction’ because Ahmad had disappeared so quickly.

She made the following plea to the kidnapper:

“Just bring him back, please, just bring him back or just leave him with somebody,” she said. “Leave him at a store, something. We just want him back.” [Source]

Two days after Mrs. King reported Ahmad’s disappearance she confessed to murdering him, dumping his body, and making up the abduction story to cover her crime.

Ahmad’s body was found by searchers on a tree farm off a dirt road in Appling County, about 15 miles from his South Georgia home.

“The body was approximately 20 yards off the road in a row of pines and concealed with straw,” said Jeff Evans, special agent in charge of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation office in Douglas. [Source]

Mrs King was arrested and charged with murder in Bacon County and concealing the death in Appling County.

*Note: Some articles refer to the mother as Mary Jane King and other articles refer to her as Mary Jean King.

[Source]

Mary Jane King’s trial was held in Bacon County, Georgia in November 2006.

During the trial testimony it was revealed that Mary Jane King had beaten Ahmad King to death with a 2 foot section of PVC pipe because he had called her a name.

A quote from District Attorney Rick Currie:

“She beat that little boy with a belt and a pipe … and she left him to die and then she hid the body. There is no doubt she is a child killer,” Currie said. [Source]

Surprisingly enough Mrs. King took the stand as the only witness in her defense. Some of her quoted testimony:

She told jurors that she lost control while spanking him. When she realized he was dead, King testified that she panicked, hid his body and told police that he had been abducted.
“If I had wanted to kill the child, I would have used a knife or I would have hit him with a brick, but I didn’t,” said King, the sole defense witness. [Source]

Unfortunately for Mrs. King forensic evidence told the truth of what happened on the day Ahmad died:

The autopsy revealed that Ahman had been struck more than 50 times with the pipe and a belt buckle, causing internal injuries resulting in his death. [Source]

Mrs. King was also convicted of child cruelty for beating Ahmad’s 3-year-old foster sister.

The jury took just 3 hours to find Mrs. King guilty on all charges.

Superior Court Judge Dewayne Gillis sentenced King to the maximum penalty possible, as recommended by District Attorney Rick Currie.
King was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole for murder. In addition, she received a 20-year term for child cruelty. The sentences will run consecutively, Gillis ordered. [Source]

Defense attorney John Thigpen said he will appeal the conviction. King will have to serve at least 14-years before she is eligible for parole.