Errol Johnson / Chasara Jones / Raven Ruth
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2014/feb/20/mom-charged-with-murder-of-special-needs-in-new/A Memphis mother charged with the murder of her special needs daughter is awaiting extradition in New Orleans, according to a news release from the U.S. Marshals Service.
Raven Ruth, 35, was arrested in New Orleans on Wednesday, five days after she and two others were indicted Shelby County on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child neglect.
Chasara Jones, 41, and Errol Johnson 42, were arrested Tuesday and are in Shelby County Jail. Jones was the caregiver for 12-year-old Andrea Ruth, and Johnson was Andrea’s father.
Andrea Ruth, who suffered from several ailments, died in her home in the 7000 block of Arapaho in Millington in November 2012.
http://wreg.com/2014/02/19/two-charged-with-first-degree-murder-of-special-needs-child/Ruth died of infected bedsores and gangrene.
She suffered from asthma, hypertension and obesity.
Ruth was scheduled to have her legs amputated in May of 2011 because of the gangrene, but the family missed that and apparently all subsequent medical appointments.
According to prosecutors, “At the time of the child’s death on Nov. 24, 2012, at the family home in the 7000 block of Arapaho, paramedics reported that the girl’s sores were so advanced that bones in her toes were visible.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...ed-tenn-girl-charged-murder-article-1.1620547Child-protection workers received a call after the girl did not show up for her appointments, said Rob Johnson, a spokesman for the Department of Children's Services. DCS arranged for a home-health care worker to be there for the girl and presumed that the health-care agency was taking care of her, Johnson said. He said there were no other reports of additional problems until she died.
Jones, the home-health aide, is said to have told investigators that she was aware of the child's condition, but didn't notify the health-care company she worked for or contact police or child-welfare investigators. Records show that a Chasara Jones of Memphis is still a licensed nursing aide in the state of Tennessee, state Department of Health spokeswoman Shelley Walker said in an email. Walker said the department as a policy does not say whether a health-care worker is being investigated by the state.
Higgins, the spokesman for the D.A.'s office, said nobody ever told police that the girl might be in trouble.
http://www.wmctv.com/story/24764342...-indicted-in-death-of-girl-with-special-needs"Not only do parents of course have a duty to take care of their children, every adult in the state of Tennessee has a duty under the law to report if you so much as suspect that a child is being physically or sexually abused," added Weirich.
The family had re-located to the Mid-South after Hurricane Katrina.
Action News 5 interviewed Errol Johnson, his wife, Raven Ruth, and their two children on April 17, 2006 to get their reaction to a New Orleans mayoral debate. The family went home to Louisiana to bury Andrea, but her father, Johnson, remained in Memphis.