Atlanta police charge two women with murder after finding 4-year-old in closet

Two women face murder charges after police found the body of a 4-year-old boy hidden beneath a pile of clothes in an Atlanta home. Officers discovered Colby Cooks inside a master bedroom closet at approximately 7:20 p.m. on Monday during a welfare check. Medical examiners ruled the death a homicide resulting from blunt force trauma. The autopsy revealed severe injuries, including a lacerated liver and spleen, burns, bruises, possible broken limbs, and older healed scars.

Authorities estimate Cooks died 12 to 24 hours before his body was located. Police arrested Jasmaine Smoak, 32, and Jasmine Tyree Jenkins, 30, in Wilkes County. Both women face charges of murder and first-degree cruelty to children. Warrants indicate Smoak served as the primary caretaker for Cooks and four other children in the townhome. None of the children were related to her. Jenkins, described as a friend of Smoak, also resided in the home.

Arrest warrants state the two women left the children unattended on Sunday evening to go out. The following day, Smoak called her father and claimed the unresponsive child had taken medication. Her father immediately contacted 911, reporting that his daughter had already left the house. Smoak departed the residence in a Mercedes-Benz with the four surviving children before police tracked her location. One of the children, a 5-year-old, was hospitalized in Augusta for malnourishment and facial injuries attributed to abuse.

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