Grandma Charged With Murder After Allegedly Baking Toddler to Death in Kitchen Oven

According to Fox News, Jones was the only person at home with her granddaughter when the murder is believed to have taken place.

Although Jones' motive is unknown, when police arrived it was clear that the little girl had been stabbed and placed into and baked in the oven.

Shaw Police Department officers were first to arrive at the home and they later called the Bolivar County Sheriff’s Department for assistance, according to WLOX.

Neighbors said they rarely saw anybody leave or enter the home. “I didn’t even know nobody was living in the house,” one person said, per WLOX. “That’s what’s really hurting me and shocked me.”

And many were disturbed that such a gruesome death could happen to a child.

"It’s a baby,” said neighbor Tomorrow Williams. “It’s an innocent child. She didn’t ask to be here. I mean, if they didn’t want her why keep her?”

Bolivar County Sheriff Kelvin Williams told NBC News that police have yet to figure out why this heinous act was committed. "We're trying to figure that out ourselves," he said. “We have no idea at this point. Again, we might get some closure once we sit down with the investigator and once they present that to a judge for official charges.”

WLOX reported that the girl's body has been sent to the Mississippi state crime lab for an autopsy, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the state crime lab have been called to investigate. A state pathologist will determine if the baby died prior to being placed in the oven.

“I’ve been in law enforcement a long time, 26 years almost," Williams said, per WLOX. "I’ve been from St. Louis to here and some of the most horrific scenes that I’ve seen in law enforcement involve children."

"My daughter would have been 21 months old on October 17, 2018," Jones wrote on her GoFundMe page. "Royalty was so beautiful & I loved her more than anything in the world."

Though it's still unclear where Vanessa Jones was at the time of Royalty's death, she did have this to say to WLOX: "All I know is that my mother stabbed my daughter and put her in the oven and cooked her. My mother was not a violent person. She loved Royalty and she always treated Royalty like royalty. My mom obviously was not herself."

“We see a lot but when you run across and have incidents that involve children it has an effect on you and doing our job,” Williams explained. “Dark days such as these can only be brightened when justice is served."

At the time, Carolyn Jones was placed on a $500,000 bond while the investigation was ongoing. It's unclear whether the case ever went to trial or if there was a conviction. An autopsy, however, did determine that Royalty was alive when she was placed in the oven.

If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child), or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.