Thousand of little children go missing every year. But it is very heartbreaking when little children of color are missing with very little media attention.
The case of little Jhessye Shockley has been my main focus ever since I heard about it in October on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. I read the Justice coloumn on CNN.com everyday and I could not recall one mention of this poor little girl. Don't get me wrong, all children that have gone missing are important and deserve equal media attention. But it just seems that black children never get the same level of media attention.
Here's the story behind the case: Jhessye was reported missing on October 11, 2011. Her mother (Jerice Hunter) told Glendale, AZ police that she left to go to a local check cashing store and told the older siblings to clean up the leaves in the back yard and Jhessye was in the house. She returned and Jhessye was gone. An Amber Alert was issued and the resedents of Glendale began to search for the missing 5 year old girl.
Later on the next week, the police issued a statement that Jerice Huunter had a criminal history of child abuse. Then not long after that, her 3 remaining children (included a newborn boy) were taken into state custody. Jerice was asked to take a lie detector test and refuse. She then lashed out at the media with complaints that no one was looking for Jhessye because she was black. The main focus should not be the fact that she has a history of child abuse, but that Jhessye is found.
While in a foster care the older sibling began to talk to the foster family about what happened to Jhessye. She said (as stated in court documents) that Jerice return home in September (date is unknown) and saw Jhessye wearing a long sleeve shirt and watching TV with a neighborhood boy (not much older than Jhessye) and she called her a "ho". Jerice then drug her into the bedroom, beat her and threw her in the closet. The older sibling said she heard her sister scream and cry. When Jerice would leave the apartment the older sibling would give Jhessye food and water. However, she remained in the closet. After several weeks, the older sibling said that little Jhessye looked asleep and like a zombie. Her eyes were black and the closet smelled like death.
Before long, Jerice began to burn incense to rid the odor and cleaned all her shoes in the closet with bleach. A credit card statement proves that Jerice Hunter purchased bleach and other household cleaning supplies that day.
As of now, the Glendale police department has evidence to prove that Jhessye was thrown in trash bin and taken to a local landfill.
So a missing child case has quickly turned into a murder investagation.
Questions: Why were Jerice Hunter's children released into her custody after her release from prison?
Where were the family members?
Why didn't the school send an officer when they noticed that Jhessye had not been to school?
As the evidence stacks up, the only logical thing to conclude is that little Jhessye Shockley was murder by her mother Jerice Hunter.
Thanks to Google (NOT NANCY GRACE) that I have been able to follow the case.
As the news breaks I will be updating this blog.
Keep this child and her siblings in your prayers...Only God Knows What Really Happened
2 comments:
"Thanks to Google (NOT NANCY GRACE) that I have been able to follow the case."
I loved that line. I was over here laughing. You're crazy.
Omg...this is media absenteeism at its best! Where is the coverage for this beautiful baby? What makes her different from Kaley Anthony? I am sickened at the thought that poor innocent children of color get no airplay. I hope and pray that this child is not dead; although the fingers point to this. Poor children.
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