S2E6: The Murder of Kei'Mani Latigue — The Full Case Breakdown

Kei'Mani Latigue was thirteen years old — an honor-roll student at Spring Elementary School in Toledo, Ohio, days from her fourteenth birthday — when she disappeared from her grandmother's home in March 2025. Six days later, she was found dead inside an abandoned house. Her father was charged with her murder within hours. This is the full case breakdown behind this week's episode of The Last Known Moment.

Case Background

Kei'Mani lived with her grandmother, Dorothy Latigue, in North Toledo. Her mother, Tiara Kasten, described their relationship as close and simple: school, basketball, home. The week she disappeared, Spring Elementary School had planned to present her with a kindness award, and she had recently been recognized at the school's Honor Roll Assembly. Her father, Darnell Jones, 33, saw her regularly, including a visit on March 15, 2025, that her mother remembers as an ordinary, loving afternoon of playing video games.

Timeline

• ◦March 15, 2025 — Darnell Jones brings Kei'Mani to her mother's home for a visit; the two play video games together.
• ◦March 16, 2025 — Jones later tells a local news crew he saw Kei'Mani again that night after she called him, frightened, saying it sounded like someone was trying to break into the house. He says he and a cousin sat outside for about an hour before leaving around 12:30 a.m.
• ◦March 17, 2025 — Dorothy Latigue returns home to find the house in disarray: the stove left on, a smell of gas, and Kei'Mani's glasses, keys, and pajamas left behind — items she would not have left voluntarily.
• ◦March 18, 2025 — Kei'Mani is reported missing. Family and community members begin organizing search efforts across North Toledo.
• ◦March 21–22, 2025 — Family organizes a search party and distributes flyers.
• ◦March 23, 2025 — Darnell Jones is charged with abduction.
• ◦March 24, 2025 — Investigators find a body on the second floor of a burned, abandoned house on Miami Street in East Toledo. The Lucas County Coroner's Office confirms it is Kei'Mani and rules her death a homicide caused by multiple incised wounds to the neck. Jones is charged with murder that night, and a warrant is issued for his arrest.
• ◦March 25, 2025 — Police in Columbus, Ohio, locate and shoot Jones during a confrontation as he evades arrest. He survives.
• ◦April 2025 — Toledo holds a public walk-through memorial, a 13-mile community walk, and funeral services through Dale-Riggs Funeral Home. The house where Kei'Mani's body was found catches fire again and is later demolished, with volunteers relocating the makeshift memorial beforehand. Lucas County Children Services faces public backlash after its internal review finds no evidence to justify removing Kei'Mani from her home; protesters march outside its offices, including on what would have been her birthday. A task force is formed to review the agency's policies.
• ◦April 18, 2025 — Bond is set for Jones; charging records reportedly claim he admitted to killing Kei'Mani.
• ◦April 23, 2025 — Jones is indicted on a broad slate of charges connected to Kei'Mani's death, including capital specifications that would make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
• ◦April 30, 2025 — Jones pleads not guilty.
• ◦May 23, 2025 — A tentative trial date is set as records detailing the extent of the evidence become public.
• ◦July 28, 2025 — Jones's defense moves to have the death penalty specifications dropped.
• ◦September 4, 2025 — A judge denies that motion.
• ◦December 8, 2025 — The court orders Jones be evaluated over a claim of serious mental illness.
• ◦January 20, 2026 — A judge denies three separate defense motions to suppress evidence gathered from Jones's home and vehicle, ruling the search warrants were properly supported.
• ◦August 6, 2026 — Jones is indicted on an entirely new set of charges: seven counts of rape, four counts of kidnapping, one count of strangulation, and one count of gross sexual imposition, tied to alleged conduct between 2013 and 2024, involving other victims unrelated to Kei'Mani.

Key Evidence & Court Proceedings

The Lucas County Coroner's Office ruled Kei'Mani's death a homicide caused by multiple incised wounds to the neck. Charging records reportedly claim Jones admitted to police that he was responsible for her death.

A woman who was living with Jones at the time, Nina Turner, cooperated with investigators — her account is credited with helping lead police to Jones, and she allowed officers to search the home and his vehicle in the days after Kei'Mani went missing. When Jones's defense later moved to suppress the evidence gathered from those searches — including material from a home security system and his Ford Explorer — a judge denied all three motions in January 2026, finding the warrants were supported by sufficient probable cause.

Jones faces capital murder charges, meaning prosecutors could seek the death penalty if he is convicted. His defense has twice sought to have those death penalty specifications removed; both attempts have been denied. In December 2025, the court ordered an evaluation related to a claim of serious mental illness, a step that can affect how — or whether — a capital case proceeds to trial.

The August 2026 Indictment — What We Know

On August 6, 2026, Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates announced that Jones had been indicted on new charges unconnected to Kei'Mani's death directly: seven counts of rape, four counts of kidnapping, one count of strangulation, and one count of gross sexual imposition. According to reporting on the indictments, the alleged conduct spans several distinct time periods:

• ◦August 28, 2019 — two counts of rape and one count of kidnapping
• ◦June 30, 2013 – June 30, 2015 — two counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping, one count of gross sexual imposition, involving a victim who was six years old at the time (this victim is confirmed by court records to not be Kei'Mani)
• ◦July 24, 2024 — three counts of rape, one count of kidnapping, one count of strangulation

The charges carry additional specifications, including firearm use, a sexually violent predator designation, and sexual motivation. "We remain determined to seek justice not only for Kei'Mani Latigue," Bates said in a statement, "but also for those additional victims affected by these indictments."

These are allegations, not convictions. Jones is presumed innocent of this new set of charges unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Where the Case Stands

As of this recording, Darnell Jones remains in custody, facing capital murder charges in Kei'Mani's death alongside this newly expanded set of charges involving other alleged victims spanning more than a decade. No confirmed trial date has been reported following the August 2026 indictment. Kei'Mani's case — and the questions it raised about Lucas County Children Services' prior involvement with the family — remains an active area of scrutiny in Toledo.

🎧 Hear the full episode breakdown on this week's episode of The Last Known Moment. [Listen here](/podcast#episode-s2-ep-6)

If you have information related to this case, please contact the Toledo Police Department.

Sources

• ◦13 Action News / WTVG — ongoing coverage of the disappearance, death, and prosecution of Darnell Jones, including "Missing Toledo girl's body found in abandoned home; father faces murder charge" (March 2025) and "Man accused of killing Kei'Mani Latigue indicted on new series of charges" (August 2026)
• ◦The Toledo Blade — "Judge denies 3 evidence-suppression motions in Kei'mani Latigue case" (January 2026)
• ◦WTOL — "Judge denies another motion to suppress key evidence in Kei'Mani Latigue murder case"
• ◦People — reporting on the cause of death findings
• ◦Official statements from the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office and the Lucas County Coroner's Office

This article is based on publicly available information and is for educational and informational purposes only. NaturalQueen77 TV strives for accuracy but cannot guarantee completeness. All individuals discussed are presumed innocent of any uncharged or unproven conduct unless proven otherwise in a court of law.