The body of 10-year-old Jade Morris has been found and identified. Las Vegas police suspect 50-year-old casino worker Brenda Stokes Wilson is responsible for the young girl’s death. According to authorities, the incident occurred before Wilson went to a Las Vegas resort and allegedly slashed the face of a co-worker with razor blades.
USA Today reports:
The search for Jade Morris ended Friday afternoon when officials confirmed that it was her body that was found a day earlier in an undeveloped housing tract… On Thursday, Las Vegas police responding to a 911 call found a girl’s body in unkempt brush near palm trees in a small traffic circle about 10 miles from the downtown Las Vegas outlet mall where Stokes was to have taken the girl shopping.
The corner’s office confirmed that Jade died of multiple stab wounds. While, the Las Vegas police homicide Captain Chris Jones called the killing “unfathomable.”
Jade was last seen on December 21st with Brenda Stokes Wilson–a family friend. The two were expected to go Christmas shopping. But two hours later, Wilson returned the car she had borrowed without Jade.
Later that night, police caught up with Wilson–wrestling her to the ground with razors in each hand. They were called after Wilson allegedly slashed the face of a female co-worker at the Bellagio casino. After further investigation, police later found blood on the driver’s door and steering wheel of the 2007 Saab sedan driven by Wilson earlier.
According to USA Today, “A judge raised her bail to $600,000 from $60,000 Friday morning after she was identified as the prime suspect in the child’s killing.”
“It’s no secret the defendant is the suspect in the murder of 10-year-old Jade Morris,” prosecutor Robert Daskas told Senior Clark County District Court Judge Joseph Bonaventure at Wilson’s court hearing.
Wilson has been in jail since December 21st on charges of felony battery with a weapon, burglary and mayhem charges that could earn her decades in prison. Additional murder and kidnapping charges could get her life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
Philip Morris, Jade’s father, was removed from court on Wednesday after a grief-stricken outburst. Wilson and Morris were a couple for several years, and Jade is said to have had a longstanding trusting relationship with Wilson before the murder took place.
Authorities suspect Wilson believed the face-slashing victim was romantically involved with Philip Morris. However, they have not declared a definitive motive for Jade’s murder.
