A Statesboro woman was charged Tuesday with the 2020 murder of her son after a years-long investigation finally determined the cause of the 2-year-old’s death.

According to a release from Capt. Jared Akins with the Statesboro Police Department, SPD officers responded on June 14, 2020 to a report of a 2-year-old boy not breathing at a residence on Best Street in Statesboro. The child was later transported to a hospital in Augusta but died shortly thereafter, Akins said. 

Detectives began an investigation and conducted multiple interviews, as well as obtaining documentation on the child’s medical and family history. 

“A long period of work by medical examiners began in determining the cause and manner of the child’s death,” Akins said in the release. “After an exhaustive examination, the findings were turned over to the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit’s District Attorney’s Office along with SPD’s investigative files.’

On Monday, the circumstances of the child’s death were presented to the Bulloch County Grand Jury, which then returned a True Bill of Indictment against Dorothy Deshay Johnson, 27, of South College St., in Statesboro on charges of felony murder, cruelty to children – first degree and aggravated assault.

Johnson was arrested Tuesday and transported to the Bulloch County Jail where she awaits further judicial action. 

Anyone with information on the case may contact Senior Det. Eric Short at (912) 764-9911 or submit an anonymous tip to www.cityprotect.com/forms/statesboroga.gov/anonymous