REMEMBERING JAYDEN

Jayden Jesse Jay Noel was thirteen months old when he died on January 18, 2012.

His obituary remembers him as a happy and loving baby. He especially loved his little cars and toys, pushing them around while making his own “vroom” sounds.

Jayden was the son of Jerraco Noel and Chelsea Taylor. He was born in Shelbyville, Indiana, on December 15, 2010, and was surrounded by grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and an uncle who were part of his family.

At thirteen months old, Jayden was entering that wonderful stage when a baby becomes increasingly mobile, curious and expressive.

His cars mattered to him.

Making their sounds mattered to him.

Being loved and protected should have been the only things that mattered to the adults entrusted with his care.

Instead, months before Jayden died, his father became frightened that someone was hurting his son.

He tried to get help.

Five months later, Jayden was dead.

JAYDEN’S STORY

In July 2011, when Jayden was approximately seven months old, he was taken to an emergency room at Major Hospital in Shelbyville.

There was bruising and discoloration around his ear, another bruise on the side of his face and a cut on his lip.

The emergency room physician initially considered whether the injuries could indicate child abuse and questioned the adults caring for Jayden. The explanation given was that Ryan Worline had thrown a toy into Jayden's crib without realizing Jayden was inside.

The physician ultimately concluded that the explanation was plausible and did not make a report to the Indiana Department of Child Services.

Jayden's father, Jerraco Noel, learned about the hospital visit approximately three weeks later.

He was alarmed.

Jerraco contacted DCS himself and reported his concerns about his son's injuries.

DCS opened an investigation.

By the time a caseworker investigated, Jayden's visible injuries had healed. Records later showed inconsistencies between the explanations Chelsea and Ryan gave about what had happened, but DCS ultimately determined there was insufficient evidence to substantiate physical abuse.

Jayden remained in the home.

Five months later, on January 17, 2012, Jerraco met Chelsea and Jayden for a scheduled visit at the clubhouse of the apartment complex where Chelsea lived with Ryan.

Jerraco noticed that Jayden seemed tired and sick, but he did not see significant visible injuries other than a scratch on his forehead.

Before leaving, Jerraco and Ryan argued.

Later that afternoon, at approximately 4:30, Chelsea left for work.

Jayden was left in Ryan's care along with Ryan's nearly two year old daughter.

Over the next several hours, neighbors heard repeated loud thumping noises coming from the apartment.

One neighbor described the sounds as similar to weights being dropped.

Another heard a baby crying.

A downstairs neighbor became concerned enough to bang on her ceiling with a frying pan before going upstairs and knocking on Ryan's door.

No one opened it.

The noises eventually began again.

Chelsea returned from work at approximately 10:00 that night.

Jayden was in his crib.

The following day, at approximately noon, Ryan called 911.

When police arrived, they found him attempting CPR on Jayden on the living room floor.

Jayden was already dead.

The injuries were immediately visible.

There were numerous bruises and abrasions across Jayden's body, including his shoulders, arms, legs and back.

There were several injuries to his head.

His skull was fractured.

Investigators later found a bloody towel inside the washing machine. Testing established that the blood belonged to Jayden.

The autopsy revealed that Jayden had died from blunt force trauma to his head.

There was brain swelling and bleeding around his brain. There were also hemorrhages involving his eyes, optic nerves and nerve roots in his neck.

The medical examiner estimated that Jayden could have survived for four to twelve hours after his injuries were inflicted.

He may have been dead for as long as twelve hours before the 911 call was finally made.

Jayden was thirteen months old.

SYSTEM FAILURES & WARNING SIGNS

There were warnings before Jayden died.

In July 2011, approximately six months before his death, Jayden arrived at an emergency room with injuries that caused his physician to consider child abuse.

His ear was bruised and discolored.

There was bruising on his face.

His lip was cut.

The physician questioned the adults caring for him but ultimately accepted their explanation and did not report the suspected abuse to DCS.

Indiana law required individuals who had reason to believe a child was being abused or neglected to make a report.

The physician's own medical notes showed that abuse had been considered, yet no report was made.

Jayden's father eventually made that report himself.

Jerraco contacted DCS after learning about the emergency room visit and asked the agency to investigate.

But approximately three weeks had already passed.

The visible evidence of Jayden's injuries was gone.

There was another problem.

The adults' explanations did not remain consistent.

Chelsea reportedly told the DCS investigator that Jayden had rolled over onto a toy Ryan had placed in his crib.

Ryan said he had thrown the toy into the crib and accidentally struck Jayden.

Both explanations appeared in the DCS records.

Yet the discrepancy was not cited in the agency's final report.

The allegation of physical abuse was ultimately determined to be unsubstantiated.

Jayden remained in the home.

His father had seen an injury.

A doctor had considered abuse.

His father had contacted child protection authorities.

An investigation had occurred.

And still, five months later, Jayden was left in Ryan's care.

On January 17, 2012, neighbors heard repeated thumping and a crying baby inside the apartment.

By the following day, Jayden was dead.

After his son's death, Jerraco said he felt that the entire system, from the hospital to DCS, had failed Jayden.

The warning signs had existed.

His father had tried to make someone see them.

JUSTICE FOR JAYDEN

Ryan Worline was prosecuted for Jayden's murder.

At trial, prosecutors presented the medical evidence, testimony from neighbors who heard the disturbances inside the apartment, forensic evidence and messages Ryan had sent before Jayden's death.

Those messages revealed hostility and resentment toward Jayden. The evidence also included a photograph taken the day before Jayden died showing Ryan holding the crying baby while mocking him.

A jury convicted Ryan of murder and neglect of a dependent resulting in death.

Because of double jeopardy concerns, the court did not impose a separate sentence for the neglect conviction.

Ryan was sentenced to sixty five years, with ten years suspended and five years of probation, leaving fifty five years to be served in the Indiana Department of Correction.

Ryan appealed.

On August 28, 2014, the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed his murder conviction and sentence.

Ryan Worline

Relationship to Jayden: Mother’s Boyfriend and Caregiver

Conviction(s): Murder; Neglect of a dependent resulting in death

Sentence: 65 years, with 10 years suspended and 5 years of probation

Chelsea Taylor, Jayden's mother, was separately prosecuted for failing to protect her son.

A jury convicted Chelsea of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, and she received a thirty year sentence with twenty years suspended.

But her case did not end there.

Chelsea appealed her conviction.

On March 25, 2015, the Indiana Court of Appeals concluded that prosecutors had failed to present sufficient evidence to support her conviction.

The court reversed it.

Because Chelsea's conviction was reversed for insufficient evidence, she should not be listed on Jayden's memorial as a convicted perpetrator responsible for his death.

Ryan Worline's murder conviction remains the legally established conviction for killing Jayden.

FOREVER REMEMBERED

There is something particularly painful about Jayden's story because someone was trying to protect him.

His father saw something that frightened him.

He made the call.

He asked the system responsible for protecting children to look at what was happening to his baby.

Months later, Jerraco lost his son.

But Jayden's life should not be remembered only through the warnings that were missed.

His obituary gives us something far more important.

It gives us Jayden.

A happy and loving baby.

A thirteen month old little boy pushing cars and toys around and making his own engine noises.

It is such a wonderfully ordinary picture of a baby.

And it belongs in his story.

Jayden should have spent years pushing bigger cars across floors, then perhaps riding toy cars, learning to ride a bicycle and eventually discovering whatever interests would replace those first beloved toys.

His father should have watched all of it happen.

Instead, Jayden's life stopped at thirteen months.

His death led to investigations, criminal trials, appeals and questions about whether the adults and institutions around him recognized the danger soon enough.

Those questions matter.

But Jayden matters more.

He was not born to become evidence of a child protection failure.

He was born December 15, 2010, to Jerraco Noel and Chelsea Taylor.

His family knew him.

They loved him.

They buried him at Forest Hill Cemetery.

And somewhere within those thirteen months was a little boy happily pushing his cars around and saying “vroom.”

That is Jayden too.

Abuse Angels remembers Jayden Jesse Jay Noel.

Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.