Article written and submitted by our contributor katyk – thanks!
Shemeeka Davis(L) and Jasmine Davis (R)
Antioch, CA - Jasmine Davis was a 15-year-old girl who should have just been getting home from the first day of school like other kids her age. Instead, at 3:15 pm on Tuesday, Sept. 2, police discovered her dead body. She had allegedly been beaten to death that morning. It was obvious she’d suffered abuse for a long time.Â
Shemeeka Davis admitted to police that she’d been abusing Jasmine and her twin brother.
Jasmine had been living with Shemeeka, although it’s unclear as to their relationship. Some newspapers state Shemeeka is the girl’s aunt, others say she was their foster parent, and others call her the adoptive mother.
It turns out Jasmine wouldn’t be on her way home from school anyway. According to police, the older children had been confined to an upstairs bedroom and hadn’t attended school in almost a year. School records show Jasmine, who liked to go by “Jazzmin,” was enrolled in Antioch High School for the 2007-2008 school year, but there is no record of attendance since October 2007, when the family withdrew her from school.
No teacher ever reported signs of abuse and no one questioned why she was withdrawn from school.
Lt. Leonard Orman, who has been on the force for 23 years, was one officer who responded to the scene. He told the press it was “the most extreme case of long-term abuse that I’ve ever seen.â€
On top of physical abuse, Jasmine and her twin brother had been living in a filthy upstairs bedroom and were rarely allowed to leave.
“It was the type of thing you’d see in a prisoner of war camp,” Orman said.
Shemeeka’s other 3 children, ages 18, 17, and 7, appeared to live in healthy, normal conditions.
If one good thing came out of this story, it’s that the death of Jasmine arguably saved her brother’s life.
Orman said Jasmine’s twin showed signs of severe beating as well, with “head to toe injuries.”
Her twin, along with the 7-year-old, are in protective custody. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday to determine the exact cause of death. Police say Jasmine’s twin has been detailing all the abuse they suffered to police, but it has not been released to the public.
Shemeeka is being held without bail on suspicion of murder and three counts of federal corporal punishment with enhancements for causing great bodily injury.
Updated 9/4/08: Preliminary autopsy reports on Jasmine Davis reveal the teenager was the victim of severe physical abuse. The autopsy began today and will be completed tomorrow, when the exact cause of death will be announced.
Results released today state that Jasmine had burns on many areas of her body and shows signs of being beat with belts and electrical cords.
Shemeeka told police that she just “loses control sometimes.”
Oh, and a new report says Shemeeka’s 7-year-old also shows signs of long term abuse, though no details have been released.
It was also revealed that the San Francisco DHS was supposed to be making regular visits to the Davis home, but the last visit made was September 2007. It’s not clear why San Francisco officials were in charge of the Davis case, since it is 45 miles away from Antioch.
And guess what? Tax payers in San Francisco were giving this monster $13,104 a year to take care of Jasmine and her twin. Shemeeka received another $1,700 a month in housing allowance from Costa County, and $9,800 a year to take care of her mother.
Still no word on what happened to Jasmine’s parents, but one report stated Shemeeka has been their foster parent since birth.
The Contra Costa District Attorney’s office said they plan to press charges on Friday. If that happens, Shemeeka would probably be arraigned that same day.
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Tags: Child Abuse, Murder
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