UPDATE: 6-month-old twin subject of AMBER Alert in December dies; Family releases statement

COLUMBUS — One of the twin boys who was the center of a statewide AMBER Alert in December has died.

Police confirmed to our news partners at WBNS that Ky’air Thomas was pronounced dead just before midnight Saturday.

Homicide detectives responded to the call for an unresponsive child and are investigating the baby’s death, according to WBNS.

>> RELATED: ‘It’s gut-wrenching;’ Family pleads for return of 5-month-old abducted from Columbus

Additional details about Ky’air’s death were not immediately available.

In December 2022, Ky’air and his brother Kason were both the subject of an AMBER Alert out of the Columbus area.

Police said the mother of the boys went inside a Donatos Pizza on North High Street for a DoorDash order and left her vehicle running and unlocked with the twins inside.

Nalah Jackson, 24, was inside the restaurant when the mother walked in. Jackson walked out the restaurant’s side door and got into the mother’s vehicle, police said.

>> RELATED: ‘There was a lapse of communication;’ Columbus Police provide new details to AMBER Alert case

Ky’air was found safe at the Dayton International Airport several hours later following the kidnapping. Kason was found safe in Indianapolis days later. Jackson was arrested and charged in connection with the kidnapping.

The Ky’air’s family released the following statement Sunday evening, according to WBNS:

“Tonight we are living a nightmare with the community for a second time in less than a month. I’m questioning God, ‘Lord why, Ky’air?’ None of this seems real!

I’m begging the community again to have some compassion and empathy while lifting up our family, Kason, and his mother Wilhemnia, LaChez, my son and the twins’ father in prayer.”

©2023 Cox Media Group