Atlanta child death: Two women charged after 4-year-old found beaten in closet

Two women face murder charges after a four-year-old boy was found dead inside an Atlanta home on Monday evening. Officers discovered Colby Cooks hidden beneath a pile of clothes in a master bedroom closet around 7:20 p.m. while conducting a welfare check. The body showed signs of severe physical trauma.

Authorities determined the cause of death was homicide resulting from blunt force trauma. Medical examiners noted a lacerated liver and spleen, burns, bruises, and possible broken limbs. Older, healed scars were also present on the child’s body. Investigators estimate Cooks died between 12 and 24 hours before discovery.

Jasmaine Smoak, 32, and Jasmine Tyree Jenkins, 30, were arrested in Wilkes County. Both face charges of murder and first-degree cruelty to children. Smoak acted as the primary caretaker for Cooks and four other unrelated children living in the townhome. Jenkins, a friend of Smoak, also resided at the property. Warrants indicate the women left the children unattended on Sunday evening to go out.

Smoak contacted her father the next day, claiming the unresponsive child had taken medication. Her father called 911 and reported that his daughter had left the residence. Smoak subsequently left the home in a Mercedes-Benz with the four surviving children before police located her. One survivor, a five-year-old, was hospitalized in Augusta for malnourishment and facial injuries attributed to abuse.

Smoak is currently held at the Fulton County Jail. Jenkins remains in Wilkes County while awaiting extradition to face charges in Fulton County.