Murder And Coverup? Couple Charged With Killing Jada Justice

CROWN POINT, Ind. - A babysitter and her boyfriend were charged Friday with killing a toddler, and trying desperately to cover it up.

The body of 2-year-old Jada Justice was found encased in concrete, and dumped in a swampy area in LaPorte County in northwest Indiana, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The toddler was reported missing on June 16 by her cousin, 18-year-old Engelica Castillo, who had been taking care of the child since June 8.

Castillo and 24-year-old Tim Tkachik, both of Hobart, Ind., were charged with murder, neglect of a dependent, battery and false informing. Each faces a sentence of 45 to 65 years if convicted of the killing.

They were being held without bond Friday in the Lake County Jail.

According to court documents, an autopsy showed Jada had numerous skull fractures.

“This tragic ending is not the outcome we were all hoping for,” said Lake County prosecutor Bernard Carter.

The affidavit gives details of an elaborate attempt to cover up the child’s apparent beating death.

Castillo had claimed that Jada disappeared from a car while the teenager went into a convenience store in Gary. The affidavit says Tkachik told police that Castillo had beaten the child severely on the head on June 13 after they had both used heroin, and they noticed Jada wasn't breathing when they drove to buy more heroin that evening.

“I told you to stop. I told you enough is enough,” Tkachik said he told Castillo, according to the affidavit. The pair allegedly repeatedly tried CPR to revive the child.

According to the affidavit, the pair took Jada home and, thinking she was still breathing, took her into the house. Once they realized she was dead, the document says, they decided to get rid of the body.

Tkachik allegedly put the body in garbage bags the next day and took it to a wooded area in LaPorte County, where he tried unsuccessfully to burn it, causing an explosion that burned his face and required hospital treatment. Tkachik blamed the burns on a propane grill, police said.

Castillo and Tkachik then took the body home again, the affidavit said, and on June 15 entombed the remains in a tub full of concrete. After the concrete dried, the pair took the toddler’s body to a rural area near Westville and sank it in a swamp, according to the document.

On Thursday, Tkachik led police to the area where the body was hidden and FBI agents recovered the remains that were later identified as Jada's, the affidavit said.

Police and the FBI took part in the 10-day search, and the FBI opened a hot line that received more than 100 tips.

According to the affidavit, Castillo told police that she routinely took care of the toddler for days and was scheduled to return the girl to her parents on June 20.

Castillo's attorney, T. Edward Page of Merrillville, did not return a phone message seeking comment Friday. Tkachik did not yet have a lawyer.

(previous posts about little Jada)

Body Found Believed to be missing Gary Toddler

(WLS) -- A body has been found in Indiana that may be the remains of 2-year-old Jada Justice. She disappeared last week.

Police were called to search an area of western LaPorte County Thursday morning based on information they had received in relation to the missing girl. A coroner was called to the scene early Thursday afternoon, after police found a body in the fields there.

Police will only say at this point that it appears that the body is the remains of 2-year-old Jada Justice. The little girl has been missing since a week and a half ago when her cousin told police she had disappeared.

Jada's cousin, Angelica Castillo, 18, of Hobart, was watching the girl at the time she disappeared. Castillo said she left Jada in a car while she went to buy some milk at a gas station in Gary. And when she came back Jada was gone.

"It is with deep sadness that I report this morning investigators discovered what are believed to be the remains of Jada Justice in rural LaPorte County east of Highway 421," said Chief Rod Gonzalez, Hobart Police Dept.

"You always have a hunch of what's going on. A mother knows, I'm a mother my own self, and when stories aren't adding up and stuff like that you just know something. And for it to happen like this, it's devastating right now," said Angie Balboa, family friend.

Police said they have two people in custody at this point. They have not charged them, however, so they are yet to release the names of those two people. They say if the investigation goes as anticipated, charges could be filed by Friday afternoon.

Indiana girl, 2, missing more than a Week

(CNN) -- The mother of a missing 2-year-old Indiana girl said police are working "around the clock" to find her daughter, who was apparently taken from a parked car while her baby sitter was in a convenience store.

Jada Justice was last seen about 9:40 p.m. on June 16, when her 18-year-old babysitter and cousin stopped at a Gary, Indiana, convenience store to buy milk and cigarettes.

The baby sitter, identified as Engelica Castillo, told authorities that when she came out, Jada -- who had been in the back seat of the car and in a car seat -- was gone.

Asked by HLN's Nancy Grace if she questioned why Castillo left Jada in the unlocked car -- which was parked to the side of the gas station, not in front -- Jada's mother, Melissa Swiontek, said Tuesday, "I've asked her, and she just keeps telling me 'I don't know, I don't know. I was just running in real quick.' "

Prosecutors met Monday with authorities to review the case, but are waiting to see how the case plays out before taking action, said Diane Poulton, spokeswoman for the Lake County prosecutor's office.

"Nothing's been rejected," she said. "Nothing's been filed."

Swiontek told Grace she had spoken with the attendant at the gas station, who confirmed Castillo was there, and said her demeanor was normal until she left and then returned "hysterical."

Authorities have received more than 100 tips, and leads are being followed, Wendy Osborn, spokeswoman for the FBI's Indianapolis, Indiana, office, said on Wednesday.

Swiontek said Tuesday she and Jada's father had taken polygraph tests in the case. The two get along well, she said, and Jada's father has regular visitation with her.

Castillo had not taken a polygraph test as of Tuesday, Swiontek said. Asked whether authorities had requested that Castillo take a polygraph, Swiontek said, "They couldn't tell me for sure they asked, but I'm assuming if they asked me and him, they asked her."

Swiontek said Jada had never opened a car door and Swiontek said she didn't believe Jada could have opened the door of Castillo's car, which Grace reported was a 1991 Cadillac.

Jada is described as an African-American child about 2 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 35 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and a light brown complexion. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing an orange skirt, a white tank top with orange and green stripes, white sandals and purple underwear, the FBI said.

To offer assistance in the case, call 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324).