Mother, step-father indicted in Breathitt County child’s death

JACKSON, Ky. – The mother and step-father of a Breathitt County child have been indicted in his death.

According to commonwealth attorney Miranda King, the mother of 10-year-old Jayden Spicer, Felicia Gross, and his step-father, Joshua Gross, have been indicted on multiple charges in an ongoing death investigation.

The Kentucky State Police found Spicer buried last week in Jackson, Kentucky, where he was first reported missing.

Felicia Gross has been indicted on charges of murder, falsely reporting an incident which generates an emergency response, tampering with physical evidence, abuse of a corpse and two counts of tampering with a witness. Joshua Gross has been indicted on charges of complicity to murder, complicity to falsely reporting an incident which generates an emergency response, tampering with physical evidence, abuse of a corpse and two counts of complicity to tampering with a witness.

In a uniform citation, authorities say Felicia Gross initially told authorities Spicer went missing overnight between Aug. 5 and Aug. 6.

However, authorities say Felicia Gross later confessed to providing Spicer with sleeping medication on Aug. 12, and Spicer suffered a fatal medical emergency.

The Breathitt County grand jury indicted both individuals Monday morning.

King stated, “On a personal note, as a mom of two that are my life, even the idea of this event seems unfathomable, but here we are in this unimaginable place. In Jayden’s short life, he got less than he deserved, so we are going to give him everything we have got in ours.”

Both individuals are being held at the Kentucky River Regional Jail under a $1,000,000 bond each.