Decimate and Deception

By Gayle R. Dycus

This book is about murder and mayhem:

A Tortured Child: This book is about a little girl, Daija, that was tortured by her mom and her mom's boyfriend;

A Horrible Crime: A young lady, Shelly, who was trusting and that trusting and because of her trusting, it didn't end well for Shelly;

If Andrea Would Have Listened: Andrea, started hanging with the wrong crowd and it cost her. . .dearly;

The Old Man: Three teenage boys hanging out, not going to school. All they do is play video games and get high. Rumor on the street was an old man that lived in the neighborhood had money. They broke into his home and it didn't end well;

Mr. Ernest: Mr. Ernest is a widower and was dying of cancer. He was also a nice man. He was depressed, his niece convinces him to move to a Senior Citizen Community. Mr. Ernest was happy. . . he was finally happy, but his happiness didn't last long;

Her Ex: Keisha was in a bad relationship with her boyfriend Mark. Keisha was tired of Mark beating on her, she was ready to leave, but she was now pregnant with his child. Keisha had enough. She stopped taking his phone calls and she paid the ultimate price;

Anaya's Hell: Anaya was a pretty, nice young lady from India. She came to the States with her mother to visit her brother who was in college. When it was time to go back to India, Anaya's mom had other plans for her. Anaya didn't know but her mother had other plans for Anaya. She arranged a pre-arranged marriage without Anaya's knowledge. Her mom told Anaya and her brother they were invited to a friend of their mother that she met two years ago when she came to visit her brother. After being at her mom's friends home for about an hour, her mother's friend told everybody she had an announcement to make. Anaya and her nephew, Vihaan, would be married. . .tonight! Anaya was shocked! Anaya begged to go back home, but her mother told her that the marriage was already planned and Anaya would marry Vihaan. Anaya was living hell or earth;

His Selfishness: Taylor decided she had had enough of Clifford. She was tired of Clifford beating her. Clifford was not ready to end the relationship though. It didn't go well for Taylor;

Just Too Much: Tamara was a stay-at-home mom. Her husband convinced her to go out this particular night, to enjoy herself. Tamara called her sister and her three best friends. They had a good time. Tamara had too much of a good time and when it was time to go home, Tamara's sister asked her to let her drive. Tamara said she was fine, but Tamara wasn't fine. Tamara was drunk and it didn't end well for her, her sister and her friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796057140

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Copyright © 2019 by Gayle R. Dycus.

Library of Congress Control Number:            2019913296

ISBN:                    Hardcover                     978-1-7960-5716-4

                              Softcover                      978-1-7960-5715-7

                              eBook                             978-1-7960-5714-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 09/04/2019

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CONTENTS

Introduction

A Tortured Child

Words Of Wisdom

Introduction

A Horrible Crime

My Words of Wisdom

Introduction

If Andrea Would Have Listened

My Words of Wisdom

Introduction

The Old Man

My Words of Wisdom

Introduction

Mr. Ernest

My Words of Wisdom

Introduction

Her Ex

My Words of Wisdom

Introduction

Anaya’s Hell

My Words of Wisdom

Introduction

His Selfishness

My Words of Wisdom

Introduction

Just Too Much

Words of Wisdom

To my handsome grandsons

Jorden Elyjah

and Nasir Alexander

and my

son-in-law

Jerrell

INTRODUCTION

Daija was a pretty, little girl with big, bright eyes and a big smile. But Daija was brought into an ugly, angry world that was her home.

Then this case was just absolutely sad! It will leave you heartbroken. This child, the victim, Daija Kennedy, was neglected, beaten, and tortured from the age of three months old until her death at three years old. Her mother, Rachel Kennedy, did not protect her child at all! As a matter of fact, Rachel helped her boyfriend, Charles Walters, neglect, beat, torture, and eventually kill Daija.

Although Daija had a voice via her foster parents, their voices were not heard. They were completely ignored, and because their voices were ignored, Daija died a slow, brutal, and cruel death.

Daija never had a chance.

A TORTURED CHILD

~1~

They took her! Oh my God, they took Daija, Diane screamed into the phone, talking to Barbara. Who took who? What are you talking about? What’s going on? Diane, still screaming and now crying, told Barbara, Child Protective Services came to the house, said that CPS as well as the judge believes in keeping the child with the parent or parents, so they are reuniting Daija with Rachel. I can’t … I just cannot believe this is happening. Barbara had never been one that was speechless, but hearing what Diane was telling her made her speechless.

Once Barbara recovered from what she just heard, she was mad … MAD! Diane, this is bullshit! They have to know that they are putting Daija back in danger. I’m getting ready to call Child Protective Services and speak with Betty and let her know how I feel about this. I’ll call you back. They hung up. Before Barbara called CPS, she called her husband, Thomas, at work. Barbara, thinking about what she just heard, started to cry. From the time Daija came to live with her and Thomas, they always called Daija Pretty Girl. As she waited for Thomas to pick up his phone, she thought Thomas is going to be just as upset as she is.

Hey, babe, everything okay? Thomas knew something was wrong because Barbara never called him while he was at work. No sooner than he got that thought out of his mind, Barb was crying and screaming. He heard her say Pretty Girl, and he froze. What could have happened? Barb, Barbara what happened? Calm down, I’m not understanding anything you’re saying.

*****

Betty Kramer was Daija, Rachel, and Charles’s Child Protective Services caseworker. As she was driving to take Daija home, she looked over at Daija and thought, She’s such a pretty little girl, and she was a good girl. She had a big caseload at CPS, so she saw lots of children when she made house calls, but for some reason, she would always think about Daija. Daija had a special place in her heart.

It hurt her so bad to have to take Daija back to Rachel and her boyfriend Charles, but that was the policy. Her office as well as the courts believed that children need to be with his or her parent/s once the parent/s has completed the necessary classes, such as anger management and parenting classes. In some instances, that policy should be thrown out as far as Betty was concerned because no matter what, some parents just are not meant to be parents. In her heart, she knew that Daija would be abused again. Poor Daija.

Betty finally made it to Rachel and Charles’s apartment. She spoke for a few minutes with both Rachel and Charles then went over to Daija, gave her a hug, and told her to be a good girl. As Betty was hugging Daija, she noticed that Daija was holding on to her really hard. Betty finally stood up, looked at Daija, and smiled. Looking at Daija, Betty noticed Daija had such sad eyes.

Betty knew right then she had to leave before she started crying. She also realized right then, right at that moment, that she was too attached to this pretty little girl. Betty made it to her car and sat for a minute. Before she realized it, Betty felt tears running down her face because although she prayed that Daija would be all right, she knew in her heart that this poor little three-year-old wouldn’t be.

*****

Barbara, what happened to Pretty Girl? Barbara still hadn’t answered Thomas. At this point, she was still crying into the phone. She couldn’t even talk. He hoped that she heard him when he told her to hang up, that he was going to clock out and come home. Thomas hung up with Barbara and went to speak with his supervisor, David Kelly.

Thomas made it to David’s office and asked to speak with him. Before David could answer, Thomas had sat down and explained to David what was going on. David said to Thomas, Go, go. Take care of what you need to do. Don’t worry about anything here. Keep me posted. Thomas thanked David, got up, and ran out of the office and right to his car.

David knew that Thomas and his wife Barbara were foster parents. They became attached to all of the kids they fostered, but they became really attached to the little girl that lived with them named Daija. They had Daija for a long time. If he remembered correctly, they had been Daija’s foster parents for at least a year, so when Daija was reunited with her mother, they were heartbroken. Thomas would come to work, and he’d walk around for weeks like a zombie. David wondered what could have happened.

*****

Thomas made it home. Barbara started crying again as soon as she saw Thomas and ran into his arms. He got her to the couch, asked her to calm down and tell him what was going on with Pretty Girl. Barbara finally got herself together and told Thomas about the phone call she received from Diane, that CPS had come and took Daija to be reunited with Rachel. She told Thomas that Diane was crying so hard and was so upset that she could barely talk. She told Diane she was going to call Betty but wanted to call him first. Thomas couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He thought, No wonder Barbara was so upset. Barbara told Thomas that she did eventually call Betty after she hung up with him. Betty told Barbara the same thing she told Diane. She also told Barbara she was upset about the situation as well, but her hands were tied. Barbara told Thomas that she was so mad that she hung up on Betty.

*****

Betty heard her phone ringing; before looking at her caller ID, she thought, it’s most likely Milton, her husband. When she saw Barbara Davis’s name on her caller ID, she thought, Oh boy, Diane Everly must have contacted her about Daija being reunited with Rachel.

Hello, Mrs. Davis. Barbara barely waited for Betty to answer. What are you thinking reuniting Daija with Rachel and placing her back in that hellhole?! You and I both know that Daija is not going to survive living with Rachel and Charles. Betty wanted to tell Barbara that she agreed with her, but she couldn’t. Instead, she gave her the response that was required of her. Mrs. Davis, our office as well as the courts thrive on reuniting the child with his or her parents. Rachel and her boyfriend, Charles, have both completed the necessary classes. I am so sorry that you’re upset. I do understand how you feel. Barbara hung up on Betty; she just couldn’t stand to hear Betty’s voice another minute. As soon as Barbara hung up on Betty, she started crying again. She was crying because she was upset. She was crying because there was absolutely nothing that she could do. And she was crying because she knew what Pretty Girl was going to go through once she was returned to her home. Neglect, mental, emotional, and physical abuse.

What Barbara didn’t know was that Betty was crying as well. She also knew that what Barbara had said to her was so true, but there was nothing else Betty could do. This situation was truly out of her hands.

Betty couldn’t stand being at work another second. She grabbed her purse, told the few of her coworkers that were still at the office good night, and left. She made it to her car, called her husband, Milton, and told him she was on her way home. He told her to be careful. He could hear it in her voice how upset she was. Replaying their conversation in his mind, she sounded defeated and disappointed. Her job was so stressful, but no matter what, he knew she wouldn’t quit her job.

*****

Barbara called Diane back. Diane was still crying, but listening to her, Barbara thought she sounded a lot calmer.

"Diane, it’s Barbara. I called Betty, told her that I felt she was wrong in reuniting Daija with Rachel. I told her that she was allowing Daija back into that hellhole and that we both know that Daija will not survive being back with Rachel and Charles."

Diane asked, What did she say?

She told me that she understands how I feel, but the courts as well as her office believes a child needs to be with their parents. I just hung up on her because I could not stand to hear her voice any longer. At this point, Diane, all we can do is hope and pray that Daija will be all right.

After Barbara said this, Diane said, "Barbara, all the praying in the world is not going to help because like you mentioned to Betty, Daija is not going to survive … unfortunately. Barbara agreed. She told Diane she had to go so she could get dinner started. They told each other to take care and that they would keep in touch and hung up.

*****

Days and then weeks went by without any news about Daija. Betty thought, No news is good news. She thought maybe, just maybe, Daija was going to be all right after all. Betty, at this point, was just going through the motions. She was making her phone calls as well as home visits on her other cases. Days like this, she felt like a robot. She was starting to realize that doing this job was just too depressing. Making home visits, removing the child or children from the home, placing them with foster parents, only for the child or children to be returned back to their home to be abused again, and then the process would start all over again. A vicious cycle.

She wished on countless occasions that she could help these kids. There were so many kids that needed help, that needed to be removed from their home permanently, and the parents’ parental rights needed to be revoked. Her thoughts were that every parent was not meant to be a parent. Surely, her office and the courts had to see that …

She knew too it was time to move on, to look for another job because she did not think she could continue doing what she was doing. She thought when she first started working for Child Protective Services, her goal was to save as many children as she possibly could; but lately, she was realizing that trying to save even a few children was just not possible. She was also realizing that she was not as enthusiastic about her job like she was when she first started working for CPS. As a matter of fact, Betty actually hated her job. Dealing with Daija and knowing what all that poor child has been through changed her mentality about this job drastically.

*****

This case came about because of the call the 911 dispatch center received. When the first officers made it to the scene, Officer Ryan Crosby and his partner, Officer Jonathan Roberts, could not believe what they were seeing. Crosby radioed the dispatch center, told them he needed a child abuse detective, a caseworker from Child Protective Services, and an EMT, emergency medical technician, at the scene as soon as possible. Officer Crosby was so shocked at how the apartment looked and so upset when he saw the baby lying in the crib with a filthy sheet that he told his partner