JACKSON, Miss. — A former teacher and basketball coach has been found guilty of conspiring to kidnap her cousin’s 6-year-old daughter to use as leverage in a land dispute. Jesse Mae Pollard had claimed she was insane at the time.
Jashayla Hopson was taken from East Kemper Elementary School in Kemper Count this spring. She was not hurt and was dropped off near a stranger’s home a day later. Pollard’s son, ex-University of Alabama basketball player Devonta Pollard had been charged in the case, but was given deferred prosecution for testifying against his mom.
Fiver others pleaded guilty earlier to their rolls in the kidnapping. All are waiting to be sentenced.
