Fla. Toddler Found Dead in Alligator's Jaws Had Just Turned 2, 'Brought the Greatest Joy': Family

The family of the Florida toddler discovered inside the mouth of an alligator after authorities allege his dad threw him into a lake says he had just celebrated his 2nd birthday weeks before his death.

Loved ones say Taylen Mosley marked the special day with a Hot Wheels-themed birthday party on March 12, thrown by his mom, Pashun Jeffrey.

Last week, authorities said Pashun was stabbed to death, allegedly by Taylen's father, Thomas Mosley, at her St. Petersburg, Fla., apartment. The next day, authorities found Taylen's body inside the jaws of an alligator in Lake Maggiore.

The toddler's cause of death is still under investigation, according to the Pinellas County Medical Examiner.

Authorities have not yet disclosed a motive in the killings of the young mother and her son, but they allege the pair were killed following a get-together marking the suspect's 21st birthday on March 29.

"We've had to prepare funeral arrangements the last two days and it's so very, very difficult to bury one [person]. But then to turn around and bury two — a mother and a son — you can't even realize the pain," Theo Brickhouse-Sails, the aunt of Pashun and the great aunt of Taylen, tells PEOPLE.

Brickhouse-Sails says Pashun was more like a daughter to her. She shared a tight bond with the 20-year-old aspiring medical assistant, and she says an even tighter bond with Pashun's "Minions-loving" 2-year-old son Taylen.

"He was an absolutely beautiful baby," Brickhouse-Sails, 59, recalls of the first time she laid on eyes on little Taylen. "I thought he was the most bright-eyed baby I had ever seen. And I fell in love, immediately."

Brickhouse-Sails says she typically spoke with Pashun three to four times per day, but when she couldn't get a hold of her Thursday for their usual morning phone chat, she "got a bad feeling."

"I was like, 'Something's not right,' because she never has her phone off like this,'' Brickhouse-Sails explains.

That afternoon, she went to check on Pashun and Taylen at their apartment.

"I saw blood droplets all the way on the sidewalk and up the stairs to the apartment. And I knocked, and knocked, and knocked, and I couldn't get anybody — no answer. It was quiet," she recalls.

A maintenance man entered the apartment and found Pashun brutally stabbed to death on the bathroom floor — more than 100 times, according to authorities — but her son was missing.

"My heart wanted Taylen to be somewhere safe," says Brickhouse-Sails. "But my mind was afraid because I knew his mother had been killed."

Authorities found Taylen's remains in a St. Petersburg lake the next day. They retrieved his lifeless body from an alligator's mouth, according to a news release.

Mosley was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with their deaths.

His defense attorney Margaret Russell previously said in a statement to PEOPLE: "Due to the extremely serious allegations surrounding these tragic losses, our investigation is currently focused on gathering information about the facts and circumstances of the case, as well as our client's mental state."

Mosley has not yet entered a plea to the charges against him. He is scheduled to appear in court April 11.

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Brickhouse-Sails says she's determined to keep the memories of Pashun and Taylen alive.

"He [Taylen] brought the greatest joy to her life and to our lives," she says. "And she brought great joy to our lives. She's been my baby since she was born. And I just want everybody to know that they were good kids and that they did not deserve this."

A GoFundMe has been organized to help defray funeral costs for the pair.

Memorial services are scheduled for Friday.

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