Jhet'leya was the daughter of Q'ret, and had one sister, Tynsiya. She was formerly known as Human Starfleet officer Lyndsay Ballard. In 2374 the remains of Lyndsay Ballard were found drifting in space by the Kobali, a Delta Quadrant species. After re-animating her, they told her that she was dead, but she refused to believe it until they showed her a scan of her corpse lying inside a torpedo casing. In the coming months they changed her Human form into a Kobali form by altering her DNA. When the transformation was complete, she was given the Kobali name Jhet'leya and placed in a Kobali family to help her acclimate.