Jacksonville police have arrested the mother of missing toddler Lonzie Barton. Lonna Lauramore was arrested late Tuesday night on charges of child neglect and lying to police.
Investigations Chief Tom Hackney says Lauramore lied to investigators the night her son disappeared. She initially told police she didn’t know the man who she later admitted is her boyfriend, William “Ruben” Ebron. Ebron reported the baby missing.
“From the beginning involving Lonna Lauramore, there’s been a pattern of deception, of lies, whatever adjective you want to use to call it, it’s just not telling the truth,” Hackney said, “and if she’s not telling the truth in looking for her own 21-month-old, why? Why not?”
Hackney says two charges of child neglect are because Lauramore kept illegal drugs in a drawer where Lonzie and her 5-year-old daughter could easily access them.
Hackney also says the couple argued about a bruise Lauramore found on the baby’s head the night he disappeared. But, he says it’s unclear whether that injury may have been fatal. The baby was reported missing from the couple’s Old Kings Road apartment last month.
