Suspect in girl’s death on tribal land to remain in jail, judge rules
RENO — The man suspected of killing a 3-year-old girl on Ely Shoshone tribal land this year will remain detained pending his trial, a judge ruled Thursday.
Colon Jackson, a member of the Ely Shoshone Tribe, was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of Alyahna Bliss.
According to prosecutors, the girl’s mother, Maria Bliss, picked up Alyahna at day care on Jan. 9 and left her with Jackson while she went to work. Jackson called Maria Bliss later on and said that Alyahna was unconscious.
The girl’s mother took her to the hospital in Ely, but Alyahna was instead flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City to treat her “extensive injuries,” which included a bleed inside her head that put pressure on her brain, state records show. An autopsy completed in April concluded that Alyahna had a spinal fracture and injuries to her genitalia and buttocks.
Jackson also had a history of abuse that included three previously reported incidents dating to January 2018, Nevada U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich said this week.
Judge Carla Baldwin Carry said that given Jackson’s history of domestic and child abuse, “there would not be any sufficient conditions in this case that we could set to give myself, and I think others, the belief that this defendant could be adequately supervised.”
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.
