Gun Barrel City, TX- There’s not a whole lot of info. on this one, but I believe these two deserve their fifteen minutes of shame after what happened to their baby boy. Investigators were called to the East Texas Medical Center in Gun Barrel City on May 5 and found a deceased 4-month old child in an emergency room. Officers noted that the baby boy was severely underweight. The boy’s bones were visible through his skin and his eyes were sunken into his head. The child had been taken to the hospital after he was found not breathing. After a three month investigation, the parents of the child have been arrested. Shawn Davis Wagner, 22, and Kristina Faye Tello, 21, are now charged with manslaughter after an autopsy report revealed their son, Hayden, died of starvation and his death was ruled a homicide. They are each being held on a $1,000,000 bond.

Shawn Wagner, Kristina Tello, and Hayden

Source | Kristina’s MySpace

Dallas, TX – Abner Santiago and his family had long been concerned for the safety and well-being of his sister Abneris and her young children – since she met Alfred Santiago in Florida several years ago and abruptly moved out of state and away from her family. After a recent telephone call to her mother in which she relayed that Alfred was abusive to her and her children, Abner set out from Ohio to find his sister. On July 2, Abner caught up with his sister at a BBQ restaurant where she was employed – the two placed a call to the local sheriff’s department to request a police escort in order to safely remove Abneris’ four children from their room at the Budget Suites motel. When their escort arrived, they found Alfred sitting inside the suite with the couple’s healthy 1-year-old baby girl. Abneris’ other three children, ages 6, 10, and 11, were found emaciated and shut inside the bathroom – where they spent the majority of their time. And damn…those kids really had a tale to tell.

The children had been starved – their ribs protruded, their cheeks and eyes sunk in their faces. When given their first real meal in god knows how long, they vomited.  According to court records, the three children, who were not fathered by Alfred, informed investigators that they had been locked in the bathroom since October – whether that was October of 2007 or 2008 is unclear. The only time they were allowed to leave the bathroom was when Alfred needed to shower. Abneris’ 11-year-old daughter said her and her two siblings were rarely fed, and when they were, they hoarded food because they weren’t sure when they would be able to eat again. The girl also told investigators that Alfred had been raping her for years – a fact that she had also shared with her mother several times – to no avail.

Abneris’ 10-year-old son said when the family was living in Florida, Alfred was a “nice, nice, gentle man,” but after moving to Texas, “That is when my living nightmare began.” The children stated that Alfred repeatedly called them “rapists,” and told their mother that they had molested their youngest sister, and she believed him. The 10-year-old explained that was why they were locked in the bathroom – to keep them away from their sister and other children. None of the three have attended school in several years. After spending 10 days at the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, the kids were placed in foster homes. When the 10-year-old, who was covered in bruises, was asked if there was anything he needed, replied, “I’m safe now, that’s all I need.”

If that shit doesn’t turn your stomach, the crap flowing out of Alfred and Abneris’ mouth will. Alfred says he is the victim in all of this, not those pesky kids! “The one who is being disrespected right now is I, because I’m the one who’s being abused,” he stated in a jailhouse interview. He went on to say that Abneris’ three older children were baby rapers and had poured urine on his daughter. “What I was doing is protecting my baby daughter from her (Abneris) kids,” Santiago said. “What I did was I did not let my daughter out of my sight.” Wouldn’t you know it, this is all one big conspiracy against him. “I’m a man in the United States. We’re treated very unfairly when it comes to a woman. If people will start looking for what they need to be looking for,” he said, “they will find the truth.” I don’t know what the fuck that’s supposed to mean, but hey, whatever helps you sleep at night, dickhead. And, of course, he denies responsibility for locking the children in the bathroom – according to him, that was all Abneris’ doing.

And what about good ‘ol mom? What does she have to say about all this? Well, you know she’s saying she was scared of Alfred and that’s why she did absolutely nothing to protect her children. She said she fed the children breakfast and dinner, and tried to sneak them food every now and then “at the risk of a beating.” She left the children in Alfred’s care six days a week while she held down a job. Though the toilet in the bathroom had been broken for months, she made sure to flush it and clean it every morning so her kids “would be in a clean place.” She stated that she was aware Alfred wasn’t feeding the kids because “they weren’t his responsibility.” Abneris also stated that she’s hungry too…I mean, geez, she was unable to eat for two whole days because she was so upset. But this statement, above all others, is the most jaw-dropping, nauseating, self-serving statement I have heard in a long time: “You have no idea what I’ve been through.” And, as an afterthought, “Or the children.”

Alfred Santiago, 37, is being held on charges of aggravated sexual assault and continuous sexual abuse. His bond has been set at $125,000. Abneris Santiago, 30, is facing charges of injury to a child. Bond for her was set at $50,000. (The two aren’t married and the last names are pure coincidence).

Source | Source w/video

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Black Diamond, WA –  Christopher Wise, 41, was a lazy son who didn’t have a job and lived with his mother.  That alone isn’t a crime, but allowing Ruby Wise, 88, to slowly starve to death is.  He lived downstairs while his mother was confined to the upstairs of their home.  Out of sight doesn’t always mean out of mind. Wise’s mother began to wail and moan in pain.  He bought himself a pair of earplugs.  Her cries of pain and anguish went on for hours, for days, neighbors were disturbed.

Christopher Wise

Christopher Wise brushed off neighbors’ concerns for his mother saying she had fallen from her bed in April, and had dementia.  I assume he made the diagnosis himself, as his mother hadn’t been seen by a doctor in over two years.  Finally the cries stopped, Ruby Wise was dead, released from her living hell, weighing only 70 pounds. Medics found several extremely deep and open bed sores on Ruby Wise that exposed her bones. The woman was also extremely emaciated with “no apparent muscle or fatty mass,” the document said. The woman was wearing a hospital gown and an adult diaper, which was heavily soiled, statement said, and lying in a dusty bedroom in between bed sheets that were stained with dried blood, urine, feces and possibly pus.

Christopher Wise was arrested for Homicide by Abuse,  his bond set at $250,000.  He admitted in his statement, “he guessed he should have got more help for her”.  Rest in peace Ruby Wise, your son has already put you through hell.

Source

Alyssia Johnson & Curtis Durham

Chandler, TX- There’s far too many innocent and defenseless people being mistreated in this world every day by low-life scum-sucking assholes. We see quite a few of the victims and their perpetrators here on the Dreamin’Demon. The two young adults pictured above claim they were set-up by Alyssia’s parents and are not the ones to blame. What do you think?

It all started when Deputy Fire Marshal Danny Wilson responded on a call he received due to a report of illegal dumping at the Johnson residence. He went to the home, took pictures and ran Johnson’s name. He found out the Chandler police were looking for the owner, Roy Johnson, who was wanted on felony theft charges. Sounds like the police were not looking too hard.

On March 4, 2009, Chandler Assistant Police Chief James Lehman and Deputy Fire Marshal Danny Wilson went to the Johnson home to serve a felony warrant on Roy Johnson. When they arrived, Johnson’s 18-year old daughter, Alyssia Johnson, said he was not home.

The officers could smell a strong odor coming from inside the house when Alyssia opened the front door. They asked to search the home and began to make their way through the house. The officers said they had to watch where they were walking because there were holes in the floor everywhere and there were even holes in the ceiling with stuff hanging down. They said despite the home’s dilapidated conditions, there were nice computers and a nice television inside.

As the officers reached the end of the hall, they noticed a bedroom door closed with a latch on the outside. The latch was to lock someone or something in. When they asked Alyssia what was in there, she told them it was just her retarded uncle and they might not want to go inside.

The officers opened the door and found a 42-year-old man wearing a sweater and an adult diaper sitting on a bare twin bed. His long hair was matted and his beard was shaggy and long. He was covered in feces as was the entire room. The man could only make grunting noises and when he stood, the diaper hung down to his knees. The man was very thin and appeared to be suffering from malnutrition.

When the man realized the door was unlocked, he ran to the kitchen and was so hungry he tried to eat frozen bacon and a TV dinner through the box. Officers said there is no way of knowing how long he had been locked in that room or how long he would have stayed in there if they hadn’t showed up. Allysia Johnson said they kept her uncle confined so he wouldn’t steal their food.

The man was identified as Kerry Cotton. He is a brother to Lea Johnson, who is Allysia’s step-mother. Alyssia’s father, Roy Johnson, and her step-mother were not found in the home at the time and police issued warrants for both of their arrests. It is believed they had prior knowledge that the police were coming and fled leaving their daughter in charge.

Kerry Cotton was treated at East Texas Medical Center in Athens for emaciation and dehydration and is now in the custody of Adult Services. Alyssia Johnson was arrested on site for injury to a mentally ill person, along with her 19-year-old boyfriend, Curtis Durham, who lives next door. Durham was charged of failure to report a felony. Alyssia Johnson remains in the Henderson County Jail with a bond set at $100,000. Durham was released Thursday on a $25,000 bond.

Alyssia’s father Roy Johnson and her stepmother Lea Johnson were arrested by Tyler police at a Tyler fast food restaurant Friday afternoon. They were arrested on charges of injury to the disabled which is a first-degree felony that carries a prison term of five to 99 years.

I agree that there should be two more mugshots up there, but, unfortunately, I was unable to find them. Durham and his mother have spoken out to the news about this. They said they have made previous complaints to the police and APS, which neither were confirmed, and nothing was done. I have witnessed a lot in life to believe in the old adage that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, except at supermarkets, of course. So, why didn’t anyone think of calling 911? I mean, come on! Even the McNugget Queen did it! Were these two fearful of getting blamed or did they really just not care?

Thanks to Special2bme who has this in the forums.

Marketta McCray & Kevin Isaac

Sumter, SC–Children should never be made to go hungry…ever. Hunger hurts and death by starvation is a long, slow, painful process. A set of 18-month-old twins in the Isaac/McCray home know all about hunger. One of those twins died from starvation on Monday…he weighed in at a whoppin’ 4 pounds.

On Monday, police were called to the home of Marketta McCray, 23, and Kevin Isaac, 25, on a report of an unresponsive child. The home was filthy and had a foul odor throughout. There was dirty laundry and garbage everywhere. A dog was locked in a room covered in feces…there were roaches and rats, alive and dead. The responding officer observed a ‘pale, small frame infant, lying in a chair near the front door.’ EMT’s arrived and transported the child to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. That child’s twin, a girl, and three other children were removed from the home.

An autopsy revealed the child died from starvation. A police report listed the toddler’s weight at 4 pounds. His death is probably what saved his sister’s life. The surviving twin was hospitalized for malnutrition…she’s in critical condition at a whoppin’ 9 pounds. WTF? The weight of these two children combined don’t even add up to what a normal 1-year-old should weigh. Police say they don’t know the last time the toddler’s were fed.

The three other children removed from the home seemed healthy; a 4-year-old male at 40 lbs., a 6-year-old female at 35 lbs., and a 9-year-old male at 60 lbs. They are now in the custody of DSS.

Neighbors say the three older children look like they never missed a meal. Why were the younger two forgotten? There were three adults in that home…McCray, Isaac, and an unnamed adult. McCray was a stay at home mom! None of them cared enough to feed those babies? Fuck you people.

Marketta McCray and Kevin Issac were both arrested and charged with homicide by child abuse or neglect and unlawful conduct. They are being held in Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center. Bail has not yet been set, but Police Chief Patty Patterson said police would request that bail be denied when the hearing is held.

Edit: While the police report indicates that the child weighed 4 lbs., other sources put him at slightly under 9 lbs. Not that it makes much difference, the child still starved to death, but I just wanted to have the facts in the story.

…and parenting.

Captioned on her Myspace…’Drop and give me 20”

Johnstown, PA–‘Drop and give me 20′ was a phrase often used in 19-year-old Dawn Schrock’s household. She commanded her mentally disabled younger brother to do push-ups when he talked back or played his music too loud. Push-ups were probably the kindest punishment she doled out to him. Withholding food may be the worst. At 6′5″, her 18-year-old brother weighed all of 118 pounds. Her brother wasn’t the only victim of abuse and neglect…her 6-month-old baby boy also suffered.

A semi-alert relative called police on November 30 to report concern of the living conditions at Schrock’s home. When police arrived, they walked into a disaster area. Overflowing garbage, vomit and dog crap littered the home. Her baby boy, Dakota, was in a playpen amid the dog crap and garbage. Flies were buzzing around in an open baby formula container. There was very little food in the home. The baby looked very thin and his eyes had a sunken look. Two adult dogs and a puppy were also hungry. They hadn’t eaten in at least five days.

Police found Schrock’s younger brother upstairs. He was bloodied and bruised. The left side of his face was bruised and swollen, he had bruising on his arms and legs, he had blood around his mouth and stuck to his teeth. How did he get that way? When he annoyed his sister, who was solely responsible for his care, she would beat him. She also liked to lock him in a closet…daily. She forced him to do sit-ups and push-ups. An officer at the scene said the teen ‘appeared to be exceptionally thin and frail, with bones protruding from his frame.’ The teen is said to have the mentality of a 7-year-old. When questioned about her brother’s emaciated condition, Schrock replied, ‘He eats too much. I have to portion his food.’ Check out her pictures on Myspace, notice how healthy she looks? Schrock admitted to using her brother’s disability checks to take care of household expenses and to buy food for herself and her boyfriend. Everybody else got to starve.

Speaking of boyfriend, Schrock had a little help in her abuse of the teen. Police also arrested 25-year-old  Christopher Shoopman. He didn’t let Schrock have all the fun…he had to get a few licks in too. They are both being held in lieu of $75,000 bond. They are both facing counts of false imprisonment, neglect of a care-dependent person, unlawful restraint, criminal conspiracy, and reckless endangerment. Because of the neglect of her baby, Schrock is looking at child neglect charges as well. Oh…and on top of all that, Dawn Schrock is also facing charges of forgery, receiving stolen property, and theft by deception after buying a pizza with a counterfeit $20 bill!

Schrock’s brother was treated at a local hospital and released. It is unclear where he is now. Baby Dakota was turned over to his father. After being seen by a pediatrician, Dakota is said to be in decent health. The only concern is his flat and misshapened head, which is likely the result of not being picked up for long periods of time…a typical sign of neglect. Dakota’s father will now try to regain custody.

While browsing through her photos, I noticed another little boy she claims is hers. I haven’t found any information regarding that child. I do have to wonder though, where was/is he?

For your viewing enjoyment, I am including a picture of the penis, Christopher Shoopman. Is it just me, or does he look a little scrawny too?

Lashonda Riggsbee and Roberto Demming

Homestead, FL – Meet Roberto Demming.   Demming, 34, had at least two girlfriends and at least two children.  But he wasn’t very nice to any of them, it seems.   On October 1st, Demming and girlfriend number 1, Lashonda Riggsbee, 34, were arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse when their 10-year-old daughter was found sleeping on the floor of their locked garage.

The arrest affadavit states that officers found the girl “sitting on the ground in the fetal position in front of a vehicle . . . There was a training toilet located next to the victim that was full of urine.”   Her body was covered with scars. The garage had no air conditioning or windows.   The girl said in a later interview that “she was frequently locked away without food, drink, pillows, toys, light or any company in the garage as punishment, and that she was very scared at night alone in the garage and would ask to come inside, but was not allowed to do so.”

Are you angry yet?   Me, too.  But wait, there’s so much more to this story!!

Apparently, Ms. Riggsbee was not Mr. Demming’s only girlfriend.  In fact, she wasn’t the only girlfriend living in that house!   You with me??   Roberto Demming’s other girlfriend was Shirley Hill, and apparently, Mr. Demming wasn’t very nice to girlfriend number 2.   Shirley Hill is lucky enough to have a sister who had the presence of mind to call the police on September 29th to report the situation.  That got the ball rolling.  (Sending out a big Dreamin’ Demon salute to that woman, whose name has not been published.)

When police arrived at the home, Demming initially refused to let officers in.  When he finally did, they found Ms. Hill in hysterics, badly beaten, with ankles swollen to 10-12″ in diameter.

”My child doesn’t have a childhood. He doesn’t allow us to go places,” Hill cried.

She told police that she was beaten daily with a wooden stick or belt.  Demming expected her to turn up Real Estate leads for his business, and if she fell asleep or failed to find leads, he’d beat her.  Other punishments included making her stand for up to 20 hours at a time, choking her, and threatening her with weapons from an arsenal that included an AK-47 machine gun.

Some boyfriend, huh?

He didn’t want her to get close to their 3-year-old daughter, for fear that she’d “turn her against him,” so he tried his best to keep them apart.  In fact, he often had girlfriend number 1, Riggsbee, care for their child in order to keep Ms. Hill away from her.   Ms. Hill states that she was often not allowed to give her child adequate food, bathe her, or change her diaper.

Unfortunately, the little peanut suffers from an enzyme deficiency disorder known as maple syrup urine disease and is developmentally delayed, so she really needs regular medical care.  Do you think Mr. Demming allowed that?  No, sir!   In fact, when the little girl recently began losing weight and behaving “oddly,” he not only refused to allow her to see a doctor, he separated her from her mother completely.

Incidentally — and not surprisingly — this isn’t the first time Mr. Demming has treated his “loved ones” like crap.  Another Miami-Dade woman, also the mother of one of his children, was granted a permanent restraining order against him in 1997.   I can hear your exclamations of shock from here, Demons, but yes, it’s true:  he’s done it before.

Roberto Demming is being held without bail and his charges include kidnapping, aggravated child abuse, attempted murder, and child neglect.   Here’s hoping Ms. Hill and the children find a way back to normalcy, and that Mr. Demming and Ms Riggsbee spend many a long year in a very small cell thinking about ways they could have been nicer.

Carnation, WA–What do you think of when you look at the 2 oz. paper cup pictured above? I think condiments. Those little paper cups are pretty useless for anything other than a place to put your ketchup. For one 14-year-old girl, we’ll call her N.P., that cup signified her daily intake of water. One 2 oz. paper cup of water, per day.

On August 13, a sheriff’s deputy was sent to the home of Jon Pomeroy and Rebecca Long to do a welfare check after a call from CPS. A neighbor had called CPS after hearing screaming coming from the house the night before. The deputy spoke privately with N.P. after her father admitted that she had been the one doing the screaming. He noted that the girl was pale and skinny and looked to be about 7-8 years old. At 4′7″ and weighing in at 47 pounds, N.P. had quite a story to tell.

Upon investigation, detectives found that N.P.’s stepmother, Rebecca Long, used deprivation as discipline. She deprived the child of food and water. Long restricted the girl’s water intake to half a small dixie cup a day. Long monitored the girl’s showers and bathroom habits to keep her from drinking water. Showers were only allowed once every two or three weeks. And since Long didn’t want the girl sneaking any water, brushing her teeth wasn’t an option. She was primarily given toast to eat.

She was locked in her room with a double-key deadbolt, day and night. At one point, her younger brother had access to a key, and he let her out occasionally. She would then sneak into the bathroom to drink from the toilet. She was afraid to turn on the faucet because her stepmother might hear the water running. Long eventually found out the girl was drinking from the toilet. N.P.’s punishment for drinking out of the toilet? Long duct-taped the child’s hands behind her back and dunked her head in the toilet. Bitch. Both of the children were then forced to sleep on the floor in their parents bedroom. A heavy dresser was pushed in front of the door each night, so neither of the children could sneak out.

N.P. told detectives that at one point, it got so bad during the winter, she would wait for water to condense on the window in her room and she would suck up what water she could with a straw. At some point, Long found the straw and took it.

This wasn’t the first time CPS had been called on this family. In 2005, a teacher called CPS with concerns about the girl. N.P. had told one of her teachers that her stepmother kept her locked in her room.  Caseworkers did find evidence of neglect and they knew that Long was locking the girl in the bedroom. Yet, they didn’t remove the children at that time. Why? Because Long admitted that she knew it was wrong and promised not to do it anymore. CPS recommended counseling and closed the case about a month later. Shortly after that, Long and Pomeroy decided to ‘home-school.’

Bet ya wonder what the stepmonster has to say about all this, don’t ya? In the charging documents, Long admits to all of the abuse, stating that N.P. doesn’t get along with her because of a ‘power struggle.’ I can’t see much of a struggle between a grown woman and a malnourished, dehydrated teen-ager. When confronted about the 2 oz. dixie cups for water, Long admitted that’s what she used. She admitted to dunking the child’s head in the toilet. Long also admits that neither child has been to the doctor in years because, ‘they do not get germs and they do not get sick,’

And Mr. Pomeroy? He was fully aware that his wife was using deprivation as discipline, but did not intervene. And he did admit that he thought it was ‘odd’ that his 14-year-old daughter looked like she was 7, but he didn’t think to seek out any professional help or treatment for her. (Or maybe give the child some FOOD AND WATER)!! As far as the power struggle between the two, he said ‘that the conflict was concerning, but he thought they could just handle it themselves.’ He also admitted to the fact that his daughter had not received any medical care since about 2002 or 2003.

A search warrant was served on the residence on August 22. The Sheriff’s Office seized evidence showing that the family neglected to get her medical care, despite having health insurance. The family’s two dogs, however, were in great health and had recently been taken to a vet. The girl’s 12-year-old brother had also visited a doctor within the past few years.

N.P. spent two weeks at Seattle Children’s for severe malnutrition. Every one of her teeth were eroded, chipped, or loose. She had 6 teeth extracted and the remaining were all crowned. She had to limit her intake of food and water in those two weeks, after not being allowed to eat or drink for so long, it wreaked havoc on her stomach. In a psychiatric assessment, N.P. spoke of suicidal thoughts and fear of being returned to her home. There was no indication of any antisocial behaviors, oppositional behaviors, or eating disorders. During her two week stay at the hospital, she had already started to put on weight. Doctor’s estimate that N.P. hadn’t gained any weight since she was 9.

N.P. and her brother are both doing well in foster care now. In the past six weeks, she has put on 20 pounds! Her foster father says that she goes to a private school, she’s making friends, and is showing no signs of any behavioral issues.

If any of you are wondering about the bio mom, this is what I could dig up…Pomeroy and the bio mom married in the early 1990’s. The mother’s father, Robert Stokes, said that Pomeroy was ‘quiet, just a little odd.’ The couple divorced in the mid 90’s and Pomeroy took custody of the children. Robert Stokes lost touch with the children and learned that they had been taken into custody when he received a message from a DHS caseworker.

Rebecca Long and Jon Pomeroy were charged with first and second-degree criminal mistreatment. If convicted, they face three to four years in prison. Bond was set at $20,000, both have bonded out.

To you, Rebecca, I say…you are not fit to be breathing my oxygen. Fuck off and drown. And to you Jon, I say…grow a spine, you pussy-whipped POS.

This story written and submitted by our member Katyk – Thanks, and welcome to the front page! – imp

Larry and Becky Tortellet

Tucson, AZ - A 9-year-old boy, whose name is being withheld, was found last Saturday locked in a bedroom closet surrounded by feces and urine. He was severely malnourished, weighing only 48 pounds and looked “pale” according to the arresting deputy.

Becky Lee Tortellet, 50, and her husband Larry Alan Tortellet, 52, are the grandparents of the deteriorating little boy. They were arrested on child abuse charges after the sheriff’s department had been tipped off to the child’s condition by a behavioral health center employee.
See, the Tortellet’s didn’t believe in feeding or nurturing the child, but expected him to behave “normally.” So, naturally, they sought help at the center.

The clinic worker knew something was wrong immediately because besides his shocking appearance, the 9-year-old could not read or write. Turns out he’s never been enrolled in school.

Instead, he’s been living out his days in a closet measuring 49” x 41”, sleeping on a urine and feces soaked sleeping bag – and from the the description of his condition, doing nothing else.

The Tortellets have been raising the child, along with his 8-year-old brother since birth. Becky said their mother dropped them off and they haven’t heard from her in years.

Thankfully, it appears the 8-year-old was spared the abuse and has been attending public school. Both children are now in CPS custody. The Tortellets are both being held in the Pima County Jail on $50,000 bond.

Troy Edwards and Jathiya Wooden

Norfolk, VA - When I was a kid, I liked to play hide and seek.  And apparently Jathiya Wooden and her boyfriend, Troy Edwards, like to play hide and seek too.  In this case, they hid Jathiya’s four-year-old daughter Tamera Wooden and forgot to seek her.  For a really, really long time. 

On Sunday, Wooden inexplicably remembered that Tamera was missing, or so her story goes.  She called police at about 3:00 p.m. Some reports say that her ex, Tamera’s father, made the call, but most of the things I’ve seen indicate that Jathiya Wooden did the dialing.  She told police that her four year daughter was missing.  But when Wooden wasn’t able to give police a straight timeline, they searched her house – and lo and behold, there was little Tamera.  And Tamera was not just hiding quietly – she was dead.

I know, I’m so surprised.  Are you surprised?  Dead preschooler shocker in Norfolk, yeah?

On Monday, Wooden and Edwards, who is not Tamera’s daddy, were arrested on suspicion of child neglect. Probably that was because little Tamera was emaciated and appeared to have starved to death.  Sure enough, by Monday the medical examiner ruled Tamera Wooden’s death was caused by starvation and dehydration.   But the medical examiner didn’t think it was accidental month-long hide and seek, and ruled little Tamera’s death a homicide.

Okay, what is the deal with people starving the kids all of a sudden?   Was August Forget To Feed The Babies Month and nobody told me?  Sheez.

Both Troy Allen Edwards, 29, and Jathiya Wooden, 26, are being held at the Norfolk City Jail without bail.  They are charged with murder and felony child neglect and are expected back in court for preliminary hearings in November.  I sure hope they didn’t forget anyone else in that apartment, because they won’t be back there for awhile.

Lizard is talking about this case in our forums – thanks!

Kimberly’s parents, Scott and Terri Sullivan

Tucson, AZ – Little Kimberly Sullivan was only six weeks old when she was pronounced dead at her Tucson home on Saturday.  Her tiny body was emaciated, starved to skin and bones.  Too bad the same can’t be said for her parents, Scott and Terri Sullivan.   They look healthy enough in those mugshots, don’t you think?

Tucson police were called to the family’s east side apartment at about 2:00 p.m. Saturday to do a “welfare check”.   News reports say that Terri Sullivan called 911 to report that the couple had found their baby daughter unresponsive.

When police arrived, it was all too obvious that nothing could be done to save to save little Kimberly. She was gone, had been gone for awhile.  A medical examiner’s report is due within the next few days that should shed some light on Kimberly’s condition, but officers at the scene described the newborn as “starved” and “emaciated”.

Something here stinks, and it’s not the dead baby.  Well, not exactly, anyway.  Seriously, people, how do you just accidentally happen upon your treasured infant, only to find that she’s inexplicably become skin and bones and died?  Did they lose her behind the couch?  Did they entrust her to a toddler, or a flesh-sucking vampire?  I’m a little confused.  Because to me, there’s a very short list of Stuff To Do With A Newborn, and food tops that list.  Feed her, change her, keep her clean and warm and dry, and rock her and sing to her.  That’s really about all that is required.  So to “find the baby unresponsive”, when “unresponsive” = “starved to death”, is just inexcusable.

Apparently Pima County thinks so, too.  Scott Sullivan, 27, was arrested along with his wife, Terri Sullivan, 26.  Both Sullivans were taken to Pima County Jail, where they are being held on bonds totaling 1.25 million.  They are being held on suspicion of child abuse, although authorities say more charges are likely once the medical examiner’s report is released.

9/5/08 – I have been fortunate to have had some contact with Jamie Hallam, and she shared some wonderful memories of Ariana and Tyler with me. She has given me permission to share these with you–scroll to the end of the article to get a glimpse into the happier days of these wonderful children. – Lizard

Tucson, AZ – It’s a relatively common phenomenon–someone signs an agreement for a rental storage unit, gets assigned a space, stows his stuff…and then doesn’t keep up with the payments. It happened in Tucson at a rental facility called the U-Store-It, and in February 2007, the unit in question got cleaned out.

Among other items, employees found a plastic tub. A plastic tub that smelled horrible. The tub and the unit’s other contents went into the trash dumpster. Apparently at least one employee worried over that tub overnight, because the next day, police were called to investigate. They found the cause of the unpleasant odor: the remains of a little girl. 

An autopsy showed the little girl had many broken bones, in various stages of healing. Half of her ribs were broken. Her right shoulder was broken. There were signs of trauma to leg and jaw bones, a neck bone, and the back of the skull. And at or near her time of death, her back had been broken.

Her body was decomposed to the point that her date of death could be specified only as sometime between March and September 2006.

It took a couple of weeks, but finally officials released the identity of the child: Ariana Payne, age 4.

Ariana & Tyler Payne

Ariana was born to Christopher Payne and Jamie Hallam in October 2002. She was their second child, following Tyler, who was born the year before. When Payne and Hallam divorced in 2003, Hallam was awarded full custody; Payne wasn’t even allowed visitation. By early 2006, it looked like Payne might’ve worked out some of the issues that led to the divorce and custody arrangements, and Hallam allowed him some visitation, including overnight stays. And then Payne refused to return the children.

Hallam contacted Child Protective Services (CPS) and Tucson police to try to get her children back. At the time, CPS was investigating Hallam for suspected child neglect and instructed police to leave the children with Payne. Even though Hallam had legal custody. Even though there was no investigation into whether Payne was a suitable guardian.

Subsequently, the allegations against Hallam were found to be unsubstantiated, but CPS made no effort to return Ariana and Tyler to their mother. In fact, CPS never even checked on Ariana and Tyler.

Arrested and charged with Ariana’s and Tyler’s murders were their father Christopher Matthew Payne and Payne’s live-in girlfriend Reina Irene Gonzales. It is believed both children were starved to death.

Reina Gonzales, Christopher Payne

Until this week, it looked like Gonzales, now 24, would get a shot at the death penalty for her role in the deaths of Ariana and Tyler. However, she pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of second-degree murder as part of a plea agreement. In exchange for testifying against Payne at his upcoming trial, she sidestepped the needle and will be sentenced to two concurrent prison terms of 22 years.

This week’s hearing shed further light on Ariana’s and Tyler’s suffering in the weeks and months before they died. While Christopher Payne beat the children, locked them in a closet for punishment, and denied them food and water, Gonzalez…well, she didn’t do a damn thing. “He told me not to worry, they were his children,” she said. “After that I started getting high on heroin more so I could block what was happening to the children.”

Regarding a particular beating of Tyler, Gonzales said that “Chris had hit him with a belt and opened his head up.” She also reported that she “knew it was getting infected.” And, no, she told the judge, she did not seek treatment for the infected wound.

After Ariana and and then Tyler died, Gonzales and Payne abandoned the apartment, leaving behind the corpses in a plastic tub in a closet. Later, they returned long enough to clean out the closet and transport the tub to the rented storage unit.

Tyler has never been found.

Christopher Payne’s trial is set to begin January 27, 2009. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Jamie Hallam has set up a memorial profile at http://www.myspace.com/jamiehallam222; she graciously gave me permission to include any of the photos at the site in this story. Thank you, Jamie.

Update 9/05/08 – Letter from Jamie Hallam:

I would love to tell you about Ariana and Tyler. They were the most wonderful children that any mother could have. Ariana and Tyler were 11 months apart. They were so close in age, and I think that is what made their bond so much closer. After leaving my ex-husband when Ariana was only 4 weeks old, we moved into our own place. There were not a lot of other kids around, so they mostly played with each other. It was always the 3 of us. I didn’t want to send them to daycare. On our days at home, they played like most normal kids do. Tyler loved to play outside in the backyard with his trucks and his cars. Ariana would play with her dolls. Her favorite activity most of all was coloring. She had a little bag that she would carry everywhere. Before we went anywhere, she would make sure that it was stocked up with her paper and her crayons and coloring pencils. She would put pens, markers, and even chalk in that little bag–anything that she could color with. She just loved all the different colors. She would fall asleep coloring on most nights. I cannot forget to tell you that she would sometimes extend her artwork from paper to the walls or dressers. LOL.

Okay, this is getting harder to write. I think that I am going to stop now because I can barely see the keyboard. My heart is broken, and no one can fix it. The pain that I feel is immense. I have no earthly words to explain what I am going through. It feels as though my heart has been ripped out of my chest while it was still beating and I am left to survive with this big gaping hole where it once was. If I could do that day over again, I would. I would trade places with them if I could. There is nothing in this world that could compare to a mother’s grief. I am extremely saddened by everything that they had to go through. What POS asshole would do that to his own kids. Sorry, but there is so much anger and so many questions why.

Dogs, left; and accomplice Jennifer Markwith, right.

http://www.myspace.com/51242516

Parkland, WA - Michael Warner wasn’t an old man at 55, but he was a very sick man, wheelchair bound in his final days with cancer, hoping to die at home with a little dignity. Frail, he scarcely weighed 100 pounds and was unable to care for himself in any fashion. Yvonne Bell lived with her father, along with her lover and his “unofficial” caregiver, Jennifer Markwith. They gave him little care and police suspect the couple were helping themselves to his pain meds.

Jennifer Markwith had dogs, lots and lots of dogs. So far the count is at twenty-seven, eighteen are puppies. A puppy mill perhaps? The puppies were kept inside the house. Some of the older dogs were allowed to run free, becoming the scourge of the neighborhood, attacking people and other pets. Calls were made to the sheriff’s office and Animal Control in the past. Nothing was done. I’m sure that Warner didn’t have much say in his life by this time, totally dependent on the whims of his non-caregivers. To call that pair caregivers would be a farce.

Giving little or no care, Bell and her girlfriend would just take off together when and where they pleased. It wasn’t even the first time they had left him alone unable to care for himself. Neighbors say that in the past, Warner had stumbled to into their yard before looking for help. This time it was different. Bell and Markwith left him home alone, trapped with over two dozen starving dogs. This time he couldn’t go to his neighbors for help.

Michael Warner was left alone for days in his feces covered house with eighteen puppies and several grown dogs. Surely Yvonne and Jennifer didn’t expect him to care for them. The dying man couldn’t even fend for himself. The animals hadn’t been fed for days and were starving. They had been abandoned along with Warner, trapped in a hell hole. Somehow Warner ended up on the floor, unable to defend himself or call for help as the puppies began to feed from his ravaged body.

When the selfish pair of non-caregivers finally got around to returning home, they found Warner bloodied, barely clinging to life. He is now in critical condition and being kept alive by machines. Bell and Markwith went back to the house to make a half-assed attempt to clean up before investigators arrived. Police state the inside of the house is “nasty” and “unfit for human habitation”, with dog feces everywhere. They both were arrested.

I can’t imagine how anyone would just go off and leave their animals to go hungry for days, much less be so selfish, cold and heartless to allow their dying father to become dog kibble. I think there will be a special place in Hell for Yvonne Bell and Jennifer Markwith.

JRia “Princess Marie” Ramkissoon and her son, Javon Thompson

Baltimore, MD and Philadelphia, PA – When Javon Thompson died, he was only about 18 months old.  Sometime between December 2006 and February 2007, the toddler was killed and left in a green suitcase in a shed in Philadelphia.  Little Javon was starved to death by the members of his mother’s cult because he wouldn’t – or couldn’t – say “Amen” at mealtime prayers.  Now Javon’s mother, Ria “Princess Marie” Ramkissoon, and four other cult members are charged with his murder.    

Ria Ramkissoon, now 21, left her family and went to live with 1 Mind Ministries in December 2006, taking one-year-old Javon Thompson with her.  Ria was given the honored title “Princess Marie” in the cult, which was run by a woman calling herself “Queen Antoinette”.  Her real name is Toni Ellsberry or Toni Sloan.  Antoinette, 40, lived with Steven Bynum, 42, Trevia Williams, 21, and Marcus Cobbs, 21.    Not one of these cultish lemmings lifted a hand to save baby Javon.  Not even his own mother.

Shortly after moving in with the group, Queen Antoinette decided that Javon should say “Amen” after grace, like the other children did.  Problem was, the other children were school-aged and Javon was a toddler.   Cult members say Javon was “defiant”; more likely, he thought that bitch was crazy. So Javon didn’t say “Amen”.  Maybe because he was about fifteen months old at the time, yathink?

Queen Antoinette’s punishment for Javon not saying “Amen” was simply to withhold food and water until the next meal, when he was given a chance to say it again.  When he couldn’t or wouldn’t comply,  Javon got no food and water for that meal either.  At no time did Ria Ramkissoon pick up her baby and get the hell out of there.  At no time did anyone call for medical assistance.  The group watched baby Javon’s eyes go dark.  They watched him dehydrate and starve.  And they watched him die.

Once Javon was dead, Queen Antoinette put him in a room and told the cult members that God would resurrect the toddler.  But she was apparently unclear on the resurrection process, and Javon did not come back to life.

After a week, Antoinette had cult members undress Javon and burn his clothes.  She then put the baby’s body in a green suitcase with some fabric softener sheets and whole lotta Lysol.   Then she decided it was time for 1 Mind Ministries to move on.  So the group went to Philly for a month or so in February, 2007.  They took the suitcase containing Javon’s rotting corpse with them.  What I wanna know is, how stank were these people that nobody noticed a dead body smell coming from a suitcase?

After a month, 1 Mind got evicted from a hotel and moved in on some poor old guy in Philly.  He kicked them out after a few days, but told them they could leave some of their stuff.  Which they did.  In his shed.  For a year.  In the meantime, Ria Ramkissoon’s mother had been trying for months to take the group to court for custody of Javon. The case never got anywhere because Ria and the group kept missing court dates, and because it appears that social services agencies didn’t really take Ria’s mother seriously.  It wasn’t until after two other children were removed from the group and placed in foster care that anyone paid attention to what might have happened to little Javon.

In February 2008, a social worker notified Baltimore police that she had worked with children who said Javon had starved to death and was left in a suitcase.  In May, Baltimore homicide detectives took a run over to the shed in Philly where Javon’s coffin-slash-suitcase was stored, and child custody became a non-issue.  The baby’s body was so deteriorated that visual identification was impossible.

Also in May, Queen Antoinette, Trevia Williams, and Marcus Cobbs were arrested in New York, where the group had settled, on assault charges.  They’d gotten into a physical fight with police during a child custody hearing, although it’s not clear whether that hearing was connected to Javon’s case.

On Sunday, August 10, Ria Ramkissoon was located in a homeless shelter in Baltimore and arrested.  She has been charged with first-degree murder, child abuse, reckless endangerment and conspiracy, among other crimes, and is being held without bond.  Antoinette, Bynum, Williams and Cobbs have all been charged with murder and other crimes as well.  Antoinette, Williams and Cobbs remain in custody in New York. Steven Bynum left the group when they moved to Brooklyn and remains at large.

Unamused Cat has been following this case in our forums.

“Queen Antoinette”, L, and Trevia Williams, R

Danieal Kelly

Philadelphia, PA – Three months premature, Danieal Kelly weighed only 1 pound, 4 ounces at birth in January 1992. She was a miracle baby. She should have led a miraculous life. Instead, she lived and died in a nightmare. 

When paramedics were called to the Philadelphia home that 14-year-old Danieal shared with her mother and siblings two years ago today (August 4, 2006), they found her fly-covered withered body on a filthy mattress amidst her own shit. At death, she weighed 42 pounds and was covered with maggot-infested bedsores, at least one so deep it went to the bone. A doctor later reported that the bone itself had gone soft from infection. When relieved of its slight burden, the mattress retained the shape of her body.

While Danieal had cerebral palsy, which impaired her physical and intellectual development, that’s not why she died. She died because her mother stopped giving her enough to eat. She died because her father left her with a woman who had already proven she couldn’t–or wouldn’t–provide her daughter with the care she needed. She died because other family members and friends of the family didn’t step in and help her. She died because people working in the system set up to protect children like her were lazy, and greedy, and selfish, and disinterested. Danieal’s death was the result of so many failures at so many decision points by so many people that I almost can’t get my head around it.

Thursday, a grand jury released a 250+ page report (warning: graphic) on Danieal’s life and death. Based on the grand jury’s recommendations, nine people are being charged in the case, eight of whom are described below:

1. Mother Andrea Kelly, 39 (charged with murder). This is the woman who gave birth to Danieal (and, as of October 2006, 9 other children) but didn’t like touching her and was embarrassed to be seen in public with her. This is the woman who lied to people about her daughter’s condition while she starved to death in her own feces and refused her son’s pleas to call 911 in the hours before she died.
2. Father Daniel Kelly, 37 (endangering the welfare of children). At the time of Danieal’s death, he blamed both the child’s mother and social service agencies for her death. “It’s a lot of finger-pointing between her and them,” he said. “This happened over a long period of time. Obviously, somebody didn’t care.” Obviously, the grand jury thought he was among those who didn’t care.
3. Mother’s friend Andrea Miles, 18 (perjury). She lied to the grand jury under oath. In fact, she claimed to have witnessed Danieal being bathed by her mother on August 3rd. When asked about the condition of the child’s back, she said, “Like her back, like my back. It looked like a back. It didn’t have no sores, nothing. Her back was clear.”
4. Mother’s friend Marie Moses, 34 (perjury). Also lied to the grand jury under oath.
5. Mother’s friend Diamond Brantley, 22 (perjury). Also lied to the grand jury under oath. She said on August 3, Danieal “smelled like soap and powder and stuff” and “had some meat on her bones.” Maggots don’t count as “meat,” you cunt.
6. Caseworker for the now defunct MultiEthnic Behavioral Health Julius Murray, 51 (involuntary manslaughter). He was paid to visit the Kelly family twice weekly. He visited perhaps only once in the months before Danieal’s death–to have Andrea Kelly sign future-dated service forms–and there is no evidence he ever met Danieal.
7. MultiEthnic cofounder and Murray’s supervisor Mickal Kamuvaka, 59 (involuntary manslaughter). Not only did she fail to ensure that her subordinate was doing the job he was paid to do, but the day Danieal died, she convened a “forgery fest” at MultiEthnic to cover up the agency’s repeated failures. Yeah, fuck the dead girl, let’s do what we can to make sure we get another $3.5 million from the taxpayers.
8. Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) worker Laura Sommerer, 33 (child endangerment, reckless endangerment). Sommerer’s job was to supervise the agencies that provide direct services to DHS clients: meaning, to make sure MultiEthnic provided services to Danieal. Ten months after Sommerer was assigned the case, Danieal was dead and not a single one of the goals that had been set regarding her had been met. Sommerer also visited the home in late June, yet did not even walk into the room in which Danieal lay to check on her.

Pick the person you’ve read about on the Dreamin’ Demon who has filled you with the most revulsion and disgust–each of these eight is at least equally worthy of your scorn. A separate–and long!–post could be written for each of them detailing how what they did or didn’t do paved the way to Danieal’s death, and each one of them would contribute to the development or worsening of your gastroesophageal reflux disease. However, I want to spend time on a particular player in this tragic game. Like Murray, Kamavuka, and Sommerer, he was paid money to ensure that Danieal stayed safe. And like them, he failed Danieal miserably.

Meet Dana Poindexter (code name “Captain Sloth”). Poindexter has been at DHS 16 years. As a DHS intake worker, his job is to decide–within 60 days–whether a hotline report is substantiated and whether the child in question needs services. Apparently, Dana Poindexter couldn’t decide in 60 days whether it’s his head or his ass that’s attached to his neck.

Poindexter received a report in October 2002 about Andrea Kelly’s children living in a house with no gas, no water, no working toilets, and a collapsed roof. All he had to do was determine, by December 8, 2002, that the Kelly family needed services or that the children were not at risk. However, he did nothing. And this was crucial for Danieal, because whenever a case is not properly closed by the intake unit, any subsequent reports will go to the worker with the unclosed case: in this case, Dana Poindexter. Danieal’s family was hotlined four more times between October 2002 and April 2005. All four reports landed on the desk of Dana Poindexter. And every single time, he did nothing. NOTHING. According to the grand jury’s report, he “failed to complete a single investigative report, progress note, risk assessment, or any other document required by DHS.” It wasn’t until a September 2005 hotline call by a neighbor who didn’t provide the family’s name that Danieal got the attention of a different intake worker…one who immediately recognized that the family needed DHS services. I bet you’re asking yourself, “So, what the hell has this guy been doing while he’s on the clock?” Perhaps Andrea Kelly’s sister could tell us. According to her, “The man don’t do nothing but try to talk to women.”

In April 2007, a detective with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office searched Poindexter’s work area. In his cubicle, she found a cardboard box large enough to hold a file cabinet. It was filled to the top with case files, food wrappers, and unopened mail (some four years old). At the bottom of the box was the Kelly family file.

Sadly, Danieal Kelly was not the first child who suffered from Poindexter’s unwillingness to even spit in the direction of performing his job duties. He was assigned a case in September 2002 but never made the required home visit. In December of that year, DHS was notified that a three-week-old baby born to a 14-year-old in the home had died. He subsequently was suspended for 10 days and warned to improve…but he never did. Over the coming years, he was suspended again. And again. And, with the release of the grand jury’s report, yet again. But Dana Poindexter is at this moment still an employee of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services.

And yes, of course, the story becomes even worse when you consider that Poindexter’s immediate supervisor Janice Walker referred to his paperwork as “horrendous” yet gave him satisfactory and even superior ratings on his evaluations. Not enough for you? Janice Walker’s immediate supervisor Martha Poller falsified DHS records to conceal Poindexter’s nonperformance. Poller subsequently was promoted…to oversee child fatality reviews.

Current DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose said the department was finalizing plans on how to investigate the roles of other employees named in the report but not charged and that those plans would be made public today.

~

“Safely home,” Danieal’s funeral program read.”I am home in heaven.” Damn, I hope so.