A Mandeville area mother is in the parish jail along with her boyfriend and her brother, after taking her children from the legal custody of their grandmother.
Arrested are:
Jesilyn Morgan (135 Hickory Dr., Mandeville – DOB: 02/06/89)
Gene Morgan (135 Hickory Dr., Mandeville – DOB: 01/19/87)
Brandon Ferguson (228 Ronnie McAllister Rd., Provencal, LA – DOB: 01/24/87)
Deputies responded to a Mandeville area residence on October 16th, 2012 at approximately 9:45 p.m. The complainant reported that her two grandchildren were taken from her home by their mother, who is the complainant’s daughter. The grandmother produced court documents showing that she recently received temporary custody of her grandchildren. The court order was filed by the grandmother and alleged drug use by the mother.
According to the grandmother, her son, Gene Morgan came into her bedroom where she and the children were sleeping. Gene picked up the two kids and ran to the front door of the home where he passed them to someone outside. Gene blocked the door to the home and did not allow the grandmother to exit the residence. Gene’s step-father heard the commotion and went to the door where he forcefully removed Gene. Both grandparents observed the daughter, Jesilyn Morgan getting into a truck that they recognized as belonging to Jesilyn’s new boyfriend, Brandon Ferguson.
Deputies quickly reacted by putting the information out to surrounding jurisdictions. Detectives were successful in making contact with Jesilyn by cell phone. At one point in the conversation, Jesilyn told detectives that she was taking the kids to Canada. After repeated phone calls and conversations, detectives were able to talk Jesilyn into dropping the kids off with an acquaintance in Leesville, LA, which she did.
After the children were returned unharmed to the grandparents, detectives focused their attention on locating the two suspects. Believing that they were still in Leesville, detectives interviewed family and friends in the area. On October 18th, detectives located the couple at a friend’s home where they were taken into custody with the assistance of the Leesville Police Department. They were brought back to St. Tammany Parish where they were booked into the parish jail.
Detectives located Gene Morgan, Jesilyn’s brother, in St. Tammany Parish the day after the kidnapping and booked him into the parish jail.
All three were booked with two counts of LRS 14:45 – Simple kidnapping. Bond amounts for Jesilyn and Gene have been set at $10,000. Ferguson’s bond has been set at $25,000.
