St. Robert woman charged in death of child

Alyssa S. Jackson, born 1998, is charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child - death of child, abuse or neglect of a child - resulting in death, abuse or neglect of a child - serious emotional or physical injury, and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child - serious physical injury. Jackson was incarcerated in the Pulaski County Jail on a $1 million bond.

A deputy with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department responded Aug. 13 to a report of an unconscious child in the 13000 block of Trinity Circle, according to the case’s probable cause statement. Upon arrival, Jackson was identified as the child’s foster parent. The statement says the child was sent to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Mercy Hospital in Springfield for treatment, where she was later pronounced dead. Another child was located, removed from Jackson’s care and sent to St. Louis Children’s Hospital for treatment.

During an interview Jackson is quoted in the statement as saying she was the only person around the children, they never left her sight, and she never left them alone. A search of Jackson’s residence found clothes piled to the ceiling, mold on the children’s beds, dishes piled in all the home’s sinks and human feces on the floor, walls, and soiling a mattress.

Medical staff at Mercy Springfield told authorities the prognosis for the deceased child was, "severe hemorrhagic retina changes, disc and retina edema in both eyes. Findings are consistent with non-accidental trauma."

Medical staff at St. Louis Children’s Hospital reported the other child was malnourished and dehydrated with facial bruises and marks that appeared to be caused by a slap. Testing also found a bilateral subdural hematoma in the process of healing as well as multiple compression fractures to the spine.

During a follow up interview, the statement says Jackson offered various reasons for the children’s trauma that could not explain the injuries. When the medical findings were reported to Jackson the statement says she requested an attorney. The statement concludes by stating Jackson has three more children she said were autistic.

In 2020, the Missouri General Assembly and the Governor enacted House Bill 1414 into law. The law required several reforms to Missouri’s Child Protection System, including establishing a Research and Evaluation Team to review and evaluate foster care case management in the state.

The purpose of the law is to “implement objective metrics to measure the quality of services for Missouri’s children in foster care,” according to DSS. The key components of the law, according to the DSS July 2024 Response and Evaluation Report, are requirements for the Children’s Division to:

• consider the safety and welfare of children the most important goal;

• establish a Research and Evaluation Team composed of representatives from the Children’s Division and key stakeholders;

• establish a uniform, transparent, objective, and consistent tool to evaluate foster care case management services;

• maximize successful outcomes for children and families served by the Children’s Division.

Children’s Division policy states that the caseworker should meet face-to-face with the child a minimum of one time per month, with the majority of the visits being in the placement to monitor and assess the safety of the child.

According to the Foster Care Case Management Dashboard in the July report, as a state, the measure for worker with child visits is “not being met.”

Only 18 out of 46 circuits met or exceeded the benchmark for visits each month during the period of January through March of 2024, according to the dashboard. One of the circuits that did not meet the benchmark for visits is the 25^th circuit, which encompasses Pulaski, Phelps, Maries and Texas counties.

The charges described above are merely an accusation and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.