Janet & Gavin Irvin: White Mother & Son Were the Last People With Quawan Charles

Janet and Gavin Irvin are a white mother and son who were the last people confirmed to have been with Quawan Charles before he was found dead on November 3. Quawan’s family reported him missing on October 30. That day, Quawan, 15, who was Black, had been picked up by Gavin Irvin, 17, and his mother Janet Irvin, who is 37, according to public records.

Quawan’s father, Kenneth Jacko, said Gavin Irvin later confirmed to authorities that Quawan came to their home for a while. This means that the Irvin family were the last people confirmed to have been with Quawan before his body was found.

Quawan, who was nicknamed “Bobby,” was found dead three days later. His body was discovered in a sugar cane field in rural Louisiana, after authorities used cell towers to locate his cell phone. His face was disfigured. A preliminary autopsy report cited “drowning” as the cause of death, but the sheriff’s office has since confirmed they are treating his death as a homicide investigation.

Quawan’s family released the photo of his disfigured face after it reminded them of the death of Emmett Till, local activist Andre Arceneaux told The New York Times. His mother, Roxanne Nelson, told The Washington Post that she wants Janet Irvin to be held “accountable” for what happened to Quawan.

Here’s what you need to know:

Quawan Charles Was Picked up at His Father’s House by Janet & Gavin Irvin Without His Parents’ Permission

Lafayette MugshotsJanet Irvin.

On October 30, Quawan was first believed to be missing when his mother, who had expected to pick him up at his father’s house for a haircut at 3 p.m., still hadn’t heard from him by 7 p.m. “His father forced down his locked bedroom door,” The New York Times reported, and found Quawan gone.

According to The New York Times, police initially “assured Quawan’s parents that he was probably at a football game or with friends,” and they did not issue an Amber Alert. Quawan’s family investigated on their own, according to The Washington Post, and learned that the child had been picked up by Janet and Gavin Irvin at around 3 p.m. that day. They then drove to their home in Iberia Parish, a neighboring area where Quawan’s body was later found on November 3, The New York Times reported.

Jacko told The Washington Post that neither he nor Quawan’s mother know the Irvins, nor did they give them permission to take their child. He told The Washington Post that authorities have since visited the Irvin’s home, and that Gavin Irvin confirmed what had happened to the authorities.

“[Gavin] said Quawan got up and said he was leaving,” Jacko told The Post. “[Gavin] asked about where Quawan was going, and after that, he disappeared.”

The Irvins live in a trailer park in Loreauville, Louisiana, and were recently evicted, The Post reported. The sheriff’s office in charge of the investigation into Quawan’s death has not indicated that any of the Irvins are suspects and “did not find anything suspicious” during a search of the Irvins’ home, The Post reported. Police have also not called the death a homicide.

Still, Quawan’s mother sees it differently. According to The Post, at a recent vigil for her son, Nelson said, “I want the lady who came to get my son without my permission, his dad’s permission, to be held accountable. She took them to her house. He was alive and well when he was here, and now he is dead.”

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