Atlanta boy found dead in closet after caretaker calls father

Police found a 4-year-old boy dead in a closet in an Atlanta townhome on Monday evening.

Officers discovered the body of Colby Cooks around 7:20 p.m. during a welfare check. The child was hidden beneath a pile of clothes in a master bedroom closet. Authorities ruled the death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma. Medical examiners noted severe injuries, including a lacerated liver and spleen, burns, bruises, possible broken limbs, and older healed scars. Investigators believe Cooks died between 12 and 24 hours before his body was found.

Jasmaine Smoak, 32, had been acting as the primary caretaker for Cooks and four other children in the home. None of the children are related to her. Jasmine Tyree Jenkins, 30, a friend of Smoak, also lived in the townhome. Arrest warrants state the two women left the children unattended on Sunday evening to go out. On Monday, Smoak called her father, claiming an unresponsive child in the home had taken medication. Her father immediately called 911, reporting that Smoak had left the house.

Smoak left the home in a Mercedes-Benz with the four surviving children before police tracked her down. Officers arrested her in Wilkes County, hours away from the scene. Jenkins was arrested in the same county. Both women face charges of murder and first-degree cruelty to children. One surviving child, a 5-year-old, was hospitalized in Augusta for malnourishment and facial injuries. Doctors determined those injuries stemmed from abuse.

Smoak is being held at the Fulton County Jail. Jenkins remains in Wilkes County awaiting extradition. The four surviving children were with Smoak when she left the townhome.