Eli Johnson, Why Do These Women Keep Choosing Their Men Over Their Children?

Eli Johnson lived with his mom Tye N. Shafer Johnson and her boyfriend Eddie E. Valdez. Eli’s mom knew abuse was going on in the home but never did anything to prevent it. After all, if she tried to stop her man he might leave right? If he left who would keep her bed warm or pay the bills?

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so hard on mama, she did after all say that they had “talked” about how “rough” he was and told him she didn’t really like it much.

Before I go into the exact event that killed little Eli on that September day in 2009 I want to mention one of the departments that I’ve found to be involved in this family’s life. Oklahoma Department of Human Services. They came into contact with Tye and her children for the first time on November 6, 2008. 9 months before Eli was tortured and beaten to death, and maybe sexually abused. Those charges were never founded or admitted but how else do you explain pubic hair in a 3-year-olds underwear and on his genitals? I only found that mentioned in one document and it was never spoke of again.

When OKDHS received their first referral the complainant said Eli had multiple bruises on his bottom while in the care of his mother Tye. The person calling said the biological father took Eli to the hospital and the doctor told him to make a police report. The report was filed and pictures were taken.

It took 5 days for OKDHS to reach Tye and the kids because they were delaying contact with the agency. OKDHS interviewed Tye, the children’s father, the paternal grandmother and 3 witnesses and also observed the kids.

Eli had bruises that were nearly gone by this time on his behind, upper back and around his eye. They also stated in their report that the doctor noted seeing “what appears to be finger length projections extending onto the right buttock and another separate small yellow bruise over the right SI area” and a “small superficial laceration over the lateral left eyelid.”

After OKDHS finished their observation of the Johnson children they offered “Confirm-Services” and Tye agreed to accept help.

On December 11, 2008 OKDHS noted in their files that they had not received a referral to provide those services.

On January 7, 2009 there was a note that the caseworker was working with Tye on anger-management for the last 3 weeks and the 8th was the last contact they had with Tye until after Eli was dead.

That note from the 8th stated that they recommended the father not to allow the kids to go back to the mother until she complete preventive services. OKDHS told her that she would have supervised visitation until she completed some of the preventative services, after that she would regain her regular custody schedule. Tye agreed and signed the voluntary services agreement.

On December 11th there was another note in OKDHS files that stated there was communications with the district attorney’s office, the current safety plan needed to be amended to comply with the court order granting visitation between Tye and the kids. The note also said Tye hadn’t started any preventative services to regain normal custody.

The amended saftey plan allowed Eli and Candra to be with their mom during the day if an adult was in their presence, at night they went to their father’s. The kids mother and biological father agreed to the mother’s boyfriend, Eddie or his sister supervising the mother’s visits.

Tye told OKDHS she abused Eli, not Eddie.

Evelyn Johnson, the kids great-granddaughter told reporters that OKDHS gave the kids back to Tye after she took anger-management classes.

The next OKDHS complaint came after Eli was already dead.

Eli was 3-years-old on September 16, 2009 when he was brought into Itegris Southwest Medical Center. Baby Eli was covered in bruises on his arms, legs, upper stomach, face, forehead, and genitals and he had cuts and sores on his lips. Eli was pronounced dead within 20 minutes.

Eddie and Tye both were taken to the police station were Eddie told investigators that he beat Eli after becoming “enraged” at him for pottying in his pants and because Eli would not listen to him. He continuously punched Eli in the stomach with full force.

Eddie Valdez

After punching Eli in the stomach he lost all control and began attacking him all over his body. He then sat him on the toilet and told him he’d better use the bathroom. Eddie then left the bathroom for a little bit leaving Eli to sit there, to let him think about his hideous behavior. 3-year-olds should not be having accidents and Eddie expected Eli to get that through his head.

When Eddie returned he was furious, little Eli was on the bathroom floor “playing”, not sitting on the toilet where he’d commanded him earlier. Eddie saw red and lost control again. In a police report he told an investigator that he “blacked out” and no longer had control over himself. He has no idea how many times he hit 3-year-old Eli Johnson. Eddie says he did not “come to” until he saw Eli’s head in the toilet.

Afterwards, Eddie imposed a time-out on Eli by forcing him to stand on his toes with his hands behind his back but Eli could not do this because he was too weak from his beatings so Eddie put him on a kitchen table and made him do it there. Eddie must have thought he would have more leverage there.

Eli’s choice was to stand on his toes, hands behind his back or fall on his face 4 feet to the ground. Eli fell, numerous times. This infuriated Eddie more, Eli was faking and Eddie wasn’t in the mood for a 3-year-olds games, Eddie picked him up by his arms, held him out and dropped him at least twice but it could have been more.

During Tye’s interview with investigators she says that she heard her man giving her baby boy a “spanking” for having an accident in his pants but she had taken a Lortab (prescription pain pill) and was chillin’ on the couch while her son was, in her words, “screaming and crying more than usual.” She then decided she would go and see what was up and that’s when she saw bumps, lumps and bruises all over Eli, especially his little head. She told Eddie that he was going to far. Tye said she loved Eddie and thought he would change.

They resumed their day as a loving couple. Eddie’s brother Robert Valdez was there the whole time, he chose to go about his routine to. There were other kids in the home to.

Eli began throwing up everywhere and wasn’t being his happy, normal self. This went on for 5 hours, Eli was becoming weaker, couldn’t walk, couldn’t eat, he wasn’t Eli anymore but Eddie and Tye both admittedly say they didn’t think to take him to the hospital or call 911. That would have been to much trouble and they couldn’t have that.

Finally, Eli collapses and Eddie and Tye realized they had no choice so they drove him to Integris Southwest Medical Center around 5:40PM. We know what happened next.

Eli’s younger sister Candra (Kandra depending on where you see it) Johnson was 2-years-old at the time. Eddie said on September 15, 2009 Candra was being a terror and not minding him. Eddie has a hard time getting toddlers to mind and controlling his temper. The officers found Candra and she was also covered in bruises, she was alive though, thank God.

Eddie admitted to having an “anger problem” and to causing the murder of Eli and abusing Candra. What a great guy for accepting responsibility. I can see why Tye loves him so much.

Previous to this incident Eddie beat Eli’s feet with a plastic baseball bat so bad that they were swollen and black because he had another potty-training accident. Tye took him to the hospital several days later and left Eddie for a very short period of time but went crawling back to him.

Tye was sentenced to life in prison by a Oklahoma county jury in May after being found guilty of first-degree murder, child neglect and enabling child abuse.

Eli’s maternal grandmother said Eddie had “mental control” over her and she should not be charged with Tye’s murder. “I do think that she needs to do time because she failed to protect him,” Kimberly Shepard explained.

Tye gave birth while in prison to a baby girl, she was placed for adoption and is with her new family.

Candra was placed in protective custody, allegedly with a family member and Tye’s parental rights have been terminated.

The OKDHS’s last statement was;

“The OKDHS overall finding was Confirm-Court Intervention Requested, with a determination of shocking and heinous, which included a recommendation by the OKDHS for termination of the biological mother’s parental rights to the younger sibling.”

Too little, to late.

There were 7 other children removed from the home that same day, they belonged to Eddie and his brother Robert Valdez. Robert Valdez took a plea deal for neglect and was sentenced to 1 year in jail, he had to testify against Eddie and Tye.

Eddie Valdez pleaded guilty in March to first-degree murder and 2 counts of child abuse. He agreed to serve a life term without the possibility of parole.

This link goes to the Oklahoma OSCN case summary site http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/GetCaseInformation.asp?submitted=true&viewtype=caseGeneral&casemasterID=2527374&db=Oklahoma

Alycia Mesiti, A Teen Goes Missing And Is Later Found Buried In Her Backyard

Alycia Mesiti and her older brother did not have an easy life, it was anything but that. According to records there was constant domestic violence in the home. After their mom and dad split up it got much, much worse.

Roberta Allen Mesiti, the kids mother was said to have been fighting depression, had a previous suicide attempt and fought with Alycia and her brother. Roberta told reporters that she fled to battered womens shelters numerous times and even went to Canada once because her ex-husband was abusive.

Mark’s past included being convicted of bank fraud and drunken driving as well as domestic violence. He also landed himself in prison after failing to attend drug and alcohol classes and before that he was ordered into anger-management courses.

An 8 year custody battle ensued between Roberta and Mark. During this battle for custody the kids stayed with family most of the time. Roberta was not able to afford an attorney, Mark was. In November of 2005 Mark was awarded custody of Alycia and her brother despite his criminal record and abusive past and Roberta was deemed as an unfit parent. The 3 of them along with Mark’s girlfriend, Shelly Walker-Welborn moved to Cere’s once custody was awarded.

Alycia was enrolled in August of 2006 to begin school at Central Valley High School but never started, instead she was reported as a run-a-way to police on August 16^th by Shelly. Shelly told police Alycia went to stay with friends in San Jose on the 11^th. They also said she called back on the 13^th and said she was going camping with another (unnamed) friend.

Roberta Allen, the teens mother called the Ceres police and said she didn’t believe her daughter ran away and she pleaded with them to reclassify Alycia as a missing person. Roberta said police quit taking her calls and told her “she would come home”.

During the time the teenagers lived with their father and Shelly, their court appointed attorney, Jonnie Herring wrote in her report to a Santa Clara county judge that she was “deeply concerned” about the kids safety, specifically Alycia’s. Cere’s police made several welfare checks to the Mesiti home and child welfare workers received multiple complaints about the family.

Four months later Mark and Shelly moved to Los Angeles. The case went cold until 2009.

Sgt. James Robbins was the new investigations supervisor for Ceres police and he opened the case back up and held new interviewes. They took a cadaver dog out to the home the Mesiti’s formerly lived in and there was a hit on the property. Alycia was found in a 6 foot grave by the patio on March 25, 2009.

Three days later when they went to Mark and Shelly’s to arrest them they also found a meth lab in their home with Shelly’s 12-year old daughter, she was put in protective custody. Reports have not said where Mark and Roberta’s son was. Charges were dropped against Shelly when she agreed to testify against Mark.

Mark was convicted March 18 of manufacturing methamphetamine; on May 12, 2011, he was sentenced to five years in state prison. It took 2 years to bring Mark under custody because he was using “delaying tactics” and had gone through four different attorneys.

Mark was picked up by police at the prison and brought back to Ceres to face charges on murder. On June 3, 2011, he appeared at the Stanislaus County Superior Court for sexually abusing Alycia, killing her and burying her in the backyard. Mark is being charged with first-degree murder. Special circumstances have been added to his charges, indicating he is accused of committing murder before or during rape, sodomy, oral copulation or rape by an instrument, according to an amended criminal complaint (attached below).

Mark Mesiti is eligible for the death penalty but prosecutor Annette Rees told Judge John Freeland that it was still undecided if they would seek it. He’s being held without bail and has pleaded not guilty.

He also faces 44 counts of sexually abusing his daughter, including rape, committing lewd acts upon a child, sexual penetration with a foreign object, sodomy, oral copulation and using a minor to pose or model sexual conduct.

The complaint claims most of these sexual acts were committed while she was drugged so she could not resist.

Police believe the sexual abuse occurred from July 2005 through May 2006.

Shelly is considered a person of interest in Alycia’s murder but has not been charged with anything as of late.

A lot is still not being said, such as how Alycia was murdered, where her brother was at and why Shelly has not been charged with anything. What we do know right now is that this monster was raping his own child for a prolonged period of time and he drugged her so she couldn’t fight back. After he murdered her he or someone attempted to clean up a “large stain” in the bedroom where they once lived, she was buried in the backyard and then they moved just a few months later.

What has also been determined in Alycia’s case is that in 2005 a court appointed mental health worker found Roberta Allen to be mentally unstable. Apparently the judge thought it better to award custody to a violent offender and criminal than a woman who was depressed without a criminal history or violent past.

Gregory Joseph Ulrich

This sadly was not the first time Alycia was sexually abused, before her “father” started hurting her, she was molested by another man by the name of Gregory Joseph Ulrich. Gregory was only sentenced to 1 year in jail after he was convicted of molestation and was also a friend of Mark’s. He was released a few days before Alycia went missing.

Mark’s pretrial hearing starts on August 1, 2011. I’ll update as soon as I know more.

Poems that Alycia’s mom wrote while she was missing.

I tried to exercise my anxiety through writing, which therapists say is so healing – it isn’t really (not for me, enough) especially when the fears become (and then become known ) so known as true, as you always knew them to be – but I’m glad I have these, and it was hard for me but it was the only way I could hope my children could hear me as I couldn’t hear them.

My Love

Where are you?
How are you?
Questions made to the moon.
Do you remember we share it?
To look and listen so we may be close.
I knew we would part.
But I never expected the silence,
The solemnity.
No words or warmth from you.
Hope dies with each day
Where are you?
How are you?
Who loves you now?

Beautiful

Secret raindrops willed to be known.
Fall with wings upon us silently.
Glisten with sureness of being.
Beguile with ardent beauty.
Nourish what has yet to be sown.
Young one you equal such portrayal.
Endeavor with vibrancy and verve.
Relax into your very own skin.
Bring beauty to chaos.
Embrace and hold warmly life.
Exude beauty in true form.
Remain truly alive – an artful act.
My Love. My Morning Dew.

Marissa Anne Burnette Davis, Mother Sentenced To 8 Years For Her Daughters Death

Cecilia Leigh Burnette and Adam Davis were the parents to an adorable baby girl by the name of Marissa Anne Burnette-Davis. She was born on December 10, 2007. Cecilia and Adam split up before the baby was born.

On Sept. 2, 2008 a 911 call was placed by Cecilia’s boyfriend, Joshua A. Cheek after she quit breathing. When paramedics arrived they took 8-month-old Marissa to Bedford Memorial hospital. She was then transferred by ambulance to Roanoke Memorial and was pronounced dead days later on Sept. 8, 2008 at Roanoke Memorial after she was removed from life support and declared brain dead.

The manner of Marissa’s death was listed as a homicide. The cause of her death was blunt force trauma to the head.

It wasn’t until 2 years later that enough evidence was collected to arrest and charge Marissa’s mother Cecilia for second-degree murder and felony child abuse. Bond was set at $15, 000 cash or $30,000 secured with real estate. She’s also looking at charges for felony distribution of hydrocodone.

Bedford Chief of Police, Jim Day said in an interview that the reason it took so long to pin the charges on Cecilia was because of the “complicated nature of Marissa’s death.” He also said that the investigator’s had to interview witnesses several different times and that several of them weren’t cooperative.

Sheriff Day reported, “This is still under investigation,” and “We are still talking to people and I don’t want to compromise the investigation. … We are still trying to tie up loose ends.”

Kevin Young, an investigator who interviewed Cecelia said that she told him that she shook the baby several times in a rocking motion back and forth. She also said Marissa was “shaking from cold chills.” These cold chills were actually seizures.

At one point she blamed Josh for hurting the baby and said that he even told her while they were at the hospital he was worried about going to prison.

Cecilia changed her story every time the investigator caught her in a lie, she said that the baby was with her grandmother and then another time she said she was with a friend. She was supposed to be living with her grandmother per an agreement on Marissa’s custody agreement with Adam but she actually lived with her boyfriend.

On March 15, 2011 Cecilia’s trial began and defense concentrated on convincing the jury that her ex-boyfriend was actually the one that beat Marissa and eventually caused her death. Joshua was the last one to spend time with Marissa and he was alone with her when she quit breathing.

Dr. Donald Kees, a Carilion Clinic pediatric specialist who treated Marissa Burnette testified that her brain injuries, diagnostic tests and other symptoms suggested that someone shook her. He said Marissa’s eyes were fixed and dilated.

Her brain had been shaken back and forth causing it to violently strike her skull from front to back. Dr. Kees did not say that that was how the baby died though, he only said it was one of numerous injuries.

The medical examiner testified that Marissa had severe bleeding of the brain and eyes.

Tomi Turner, a caseworker from CPS testified that a complaint was filed on August 7, 2008 and she visited the baby at the sitters. She then met with Cecilia in her office and was told that the bruise on Marissa’s face was from her hitting herself in the face with nail clippers. She said the other bruise that was on her arm was from an allergic reaction from a popsicle.

The same caseworker did a home visit but it was at the grandmothers home so nothing looked out of place. Cecilia called Tomi on September 2nd and told her not to bother stopping by for the scheduled visit because Marissa was “sick.”

The baby sitter, Brenda Lacy, testified that the baby was always clean and well fed when her daddy brought her over but that was not the case when her mom brought her. Cecilia told her that her bruises were from food allergies.

A neighbor testified that she never saw the mom carrying her child, it was always Josh taking care of her.

Stephanie Coughlan, Josh Cheek’s probation officer, said Josh was always excited about having the baby, she thought Marissa was his biological child. He even showed off her room and Stephanie said the mom never acknowledged the child while she was around and if she gave her a compliment she ignored it.

Cecilia was cold towards the baby but adored her pets.

Josh’s mother took the stand and said that him and Cecilia got together while she was pregnant and he always treated the baby as if she was his.

His mom was the one that told Josh to get an attorney because he was told that he may face murder charges. Mrs. Cheek also said she thought Marissa’s mom was good to her.

Cecilia lied several times to investigators, doctors, a child protective services caseworker and others about the circumstances surrounding the baby’s murder.

While on the stand she said that her baby suffered from 4-5 “accidents” that caused her death.

She claims to have lied because she feared losing custody to Marissa’a father, especially because of Cheek’s felony criminal record. His record consisted of getting money by false pretenses and a misdemeanor for marijuana possession.

Cecilia also said that she did not believe that Josh Cheek would hurt her daughter but she did not trust his younger brother Trevor and he had visited their home the day before. That claim was never verified or discussed further. She then turned around and accused Josh of hitting Marissa’s head on the tub and it being his fault because he was the last one with her.

She also admitted to lying about taking a narcotic before a police-administered lie-detector test. She says she took them to calm her anxiety. This may be the reason she has pending drug charges.

Josh testified that he thought Cecilia may have been causing the bruises and scratches on the baby but wasn’t sure. When Marissa was 4 months old her mom threw her at Josh.

On September 2nd, she came home with the baby and asked him to bathe her while she left to fill a prescription and Marissa didn’t seem like herself, it was as if she had whiplash. When he got her out of the tub he put her into her swing and she began seizing. Josh called Cecilia and she said not to worry. His reply was “You didn’t see what I saw.”

She still was not concerned and didn’t show back up for another 45 minutes after Josh had already called 911.

While on the stand Josh was asked why he went to the hospital and he said “I loved Marissa like she was mine.”, he said he only got a lawyer after 2 officers told him they were “coming to get you for first-degree murder”.

Josh also said he stayed with Cecilia for 3 or 4 months after Marissa’s death and she never said what she thought happened to the baby but he never threw, shook or harmed Marissa.

He also said that the baby did not hit her head when he was bathing her and he did not remember showing anyone a video of Marissa’s eyes rolling in the back of her head nor does he even remember her eyes rolling.

Josh’s testimony had several “I don’t knows” or I don’t remember” as answers to the defense attorneys questions.

Attorney Randy Krantz testified that he removed himself from the case because they were very distant relatives but didn’t  know each other or attend the same family reunions. He also said he was not given any type of plea deal or immunity in exchange for his testimony like the defense attorney was trying to suggest.

Dr. Kees and Dr. Foster testified that the baby’s injuries were not accidental and that she showed no signs of external injury that would have indicated she hit her head.

Witnesses including Josh and Adam said that Cecilia left the hospital while Marissa was still hooked up to life support machines.

Cecilia’s father Adam took the stand and was on the verge of tears when he spoke of his daughter. He said, “When I walked through the doors, my daughter was laying on the table,” he said. “She was hooked up to a bunch of machines and she looked a different color.”

He also said that he did not feel good about Marissa living with Cheek but there was nothing he could do about it.

On March 17th Cecilia was found not guilty on charges of second degree murder. The jury recommended a sentence of 8 years and a fine of $75,000 for being guilty of felony child abuse and neglect causing serious bodily injury.

She will be officially sentenced on May 26.

Josh Cheek has not been charged with anything and there are no plans to charge him.

Marissa was a beautiful 8-month-old little girl that was full of life and energy until her mother Cecilia stole it away from her. Yes, she was murdered, not neglected and her serious injury led to her death so why the hell isn’t anyone being charged for her murder? Capital murder couldn’t be charged because there was no evidence of intent, what about involuntary manslaughter? Perhaps it was because everyone involved in the case including the defendant’s witnesses kept changing their stories. It took the jurors 90 minutes to decide Cecilia’s fate.

1 year for each month that Marissa had lived is what her life amounted to.

Update: May 26, 2011

I knew this was coming but reading it again disgusts me and leaves me speechless. Cecelia was sentenced today.

Bedford resident Cecilia Burnette, 27, was sentenced today in Bedford Circuit Court to eight years in prison and fined $75,000 after being convicted in March of felony child abuse related to the death of her 8-month-old daughter in 2008.

Judge James Updike’s sentencing matched that recommended by a jury after Burnette was found not guilty March 17 of second-degree murder but convicted of the abuse charge related to the death of Marissa Davis in September 2008.

State medical examiners determined Davis died of the kind of “abusive head trauma” suffered when children are violently shaken by an adult.

No direct evidence tied Burnette to inflicting the injuries on Sept. 2, 2008, that ultimately caused the death of her infant daughter, Marissa Davis. But Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Doucette emphasized that Burnette’s changing accounts of the events and circumstances of that day pointed to her as the infant’s killer.

http://m.roanoke.com/mapp/story.aspx?arcID=287815

Your Honor, I object …

This was an opinion piece written by Randy Ellison in the The Mail Tribune out of Oregon. I was appalled when I read it and thought it should be shared.

 

Just when it seemed we were starting to “get it” on child sexual abuse, along comes a court trial that reminds us just how far we have to go. Last week in Jackson County, Circuit Judge Tim Barnack allowed a 10-year-old child to be revictimized.

First, the girl was repeatedly characterized as precocious and attention-starved. I have two granddaughters and I would describe both of them as precocious and they definitely seek adult attention. “Watch this, papa.” “Will you play with me, papa?” It takes a pretty sick mind to view this normal child behavior as an opening for sexual advance, much less use it as a defense in a court of law.

This next part is so unbelievable as to defy reason. Judge Tim Barnack allowed the bed the girl has stated she was abused on to be brought into court, and she is told to stand beside it and show what happened to her.

WHAT? I really want someone to say this didn’t really happen in Medford, Ore. But it did. The judge, the prosecutor, the defense attorney and observers all sat and watched a 10-year-old girl, holding her doll, stand next to the mattress as the defense attorney re-enacted her abuse in open court. Then the defense attorney described the 10-year-old child’s overt trauma as an “act” and says she has never been traumatized by anything in this case. Somebody needs to check this man for a pulse! This is far worse than reality TV; at least they have censors.

Is this really the standard we want for dealing with accusations of child abuse? When a child gets the strength to come forward and report alleged sexual abuse should they have to suffer having their character attacked and be made to publicly re-enact the abuse? I sincerely hope not. The system failed this little girl. You and I failed this little girl.

In the last decade we have finally woken up to the extent of sexual abuse and exploitation of our children and are doing something about it. Now it’s time to bring our legal system in line with our values. If we consider it morally wrong for adults to sexually abuse children, then why would it be OK for our courts to do so?

It happened once, shame on Judge Barnack and his court. If we allow it to happen again, then shame on us. This is our community and our court system. It should reflect our values and morals. If we don’t want our children to be revictimized after reporting abuse, then we, you and I, need to speak up with our voice and vote to see that it doesn’t happen again. Our judges are elected. In theory they enforce our laws, but they also have discretion. Let’s elect judges that use that discretion wisely.

Our laws are made by the state Legislature and enforced by our attorney general. We can contact Sen. Alan Bates and Attorney General John Kroger to make sure this is not allowed in the future and ask them to make sure it isn’t.

With 20 percent of our children suffering sexual abuse, we know we have done a lousy job of protecting them. Now that we are beginning to understand that fact and the impact of abuse, let’s take the next step. Let’s open our ears and hearts to the suffering these child victims are enduring and do what we can to ease their pain and the difficulty of reporting the abuse.

I know we can do better. For the sake of our children we must do better.

Randy Ellison of Ashland is an adult survivor of child sexual abuse and board president of the Oregon Association of Adult Sexual and Incest Survivors.

Source: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110605/OPINION/106050314/-1/NEWSMAP