Breathitt County mother charged after admitting to giving son medication before his death

JACKSON, Ky. (ABC36 NEWS NOW) – A Breathitt County mother is facing multiple charges after investigators say she admitted to giving her 10-year-old son a type of sleeping medication before his death and burying his body in a wooded area.

Felicia Gross, 33, of Jackson, was arrested Tuesday after the body of her son, Jayden Spicer, who had been missing for a week, was found along Canoe Road.

According to an arrest citation, Gross confessed to providing Jayden with the medication, saying it caused him to have a medical emergency and that she believed he had died from that emergency. She told investigators she took Jayden’s body to a wooded area near the mouth of Joe Little Fork and buried him.

After obtaining a search warrant, investigators located Jayden’s remains buried underground in a plastic tote around 3 p.m. Tuesday. His body was sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Frankfort for an autopsy.

Gross is charged with manslaughter in the second degree, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and falsely reporting an incident. She is being held at the Kentucky River Regional Jail.

“This is not the outcome that we had hoped for,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Miranda King said. “We are grateful we were able to bring him out of the woods today. Jayden is now in good hands, and we’re going to take care of him.”

The Kentucky State Police investigation is ongoing.