Authorities in Camden County say a woman who is awaiting trial in the death of her 17-month-old son and her boyfriend have both been charged in a murder-for-hire plot.

43-year-old Heather Reynolds of Sicklerville and 44-year-old Jeffrey Callahan of Clayton have been charged with one count of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder.

Acting Camden County Prosecutor Jill Mayer and Gloucester Township Police Chief David Harkins say Reynolds is currently being held on multiple charges, including first-degree murder in connection to the May 10, 2018, death of her son, Axel.

According to earlier reporting by the Townsquare News Network, Reynolds was arrested in the summer of 2019 after a grand jury handed up indictments in the case. Prosecutors had presented the panel with a post-mortem examination of the toddler's body. The medical examiner determined that the cause of the child’s death was asphyxia and the manner of death was homicide. He was found dead on the front lawn of his Gloucester Township home.

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NJ.com reports a Camden County assistant prosecutor told a judge in Superior Court in 2019 that Reynolds, 'suffocated her toddler by holding a cleansing wipe over his nose and mouth...because she felt the 17-month-old boy was getting in the way of her extramarital affair.'

Axel Jayce Reynolds
Axel Jayce Reynolds (LuAnn Fischer via Facebook)
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"This was an absolutely brutal murder and a helpless victim," Assistant Prosecutor Peter Gallagher said.

Mayer's office says during the investigation into Axel’s death, "detectives uncovered evidence that Reynolds and Callahan were allegedly conspiring to have another individual killed."

Callahan was arrested on Tuesday at his home in Clayton by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. Reynolds was charged on Wednesday at the Camden County Correctional Facility. Both are awaiting detention hearings.

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