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Mother arrested in connection with death of Iowa 5-year-old

Her boyfriend fled the Davenport area and remains at large, police said.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa woman wanted in connection with the death of her 5-year-old son has been arrested on a charge of first-degree murder and her former boyfriend is still at large, police said Thursday.

Jacqueline Majanise Rambert, of Davenport, was taken into custody Tuesday in Chicago, a Davenport police spokesman said.

Murder warrants were issued for Rambert, 24, and Tre DeSean Henderson, 26, in the death of 5-year-old Ja’Shawn Bussell, the Quad-City Times reported . The boy died on May 1 — 10 days after authorities say he was assaulted.

Henderson fled the Davenport area and remains at large, police said.

Rambert’s pastor in Chicago, Brad Beier, said Rambert was never on the run from police and has been in regular contact with detectives about her son’s death. He said Rambert returned to Chicago, where she had previously lived before moving to Davenport, after her son’s death and has since been attending Beier’s Living Hope Church, where Rambert’s mother is a member.

Investigators have said that Henderson is Rambert’s boyfriend, but Beier said the two haven’t been a couple since her son’s death.

Beier said he was with Rambert on Tuesday when she called her primary contact at the Davenport Police Department to suggest an idea about the case.

“At that time she even provided her current location, which was our church, and within 30 minutes, a Cook County sheriff’s task force was at our church serving her warrant,” Beier said.

Authorities say Henderson assaulted Ja’Shawn, causing head and other injuries that resulted in the boy vomiting several times over a four-day period. The child was taken to a Davenport hospital and then airlifted to Iowa City, where he died after being taken off life support.

Beier said Rambert knew she was facing a charge of child endangerment with serious injury, but that he, church members and Rambert were shocked to learn upon her arrest that she is now facing a first-degree murder charge.

A first-degree murder conviction under Iowa law carries an automatic sentence of life in prison. Rambert and Henderson also face child endangerment charges.

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