Charges Filed In Death Of Two Year Old

Elizabeth Owens

Published: January 3, 2009

Charges have been filed against the legal guardian of a two year old who died on Friday after suffering extensive injuries.

The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office has arrested Lavonda Danellia Maxwell with unlawful neglect of a child in connection with the death of two year old Samauri Mayes, Mayes was brought to Greenville Memorial Hospital on December 31 with extensive injuries.

Deputies say that Mayes was in the custody of Maxwell, who they say also, had two other children in her custody. Those children have been taken into Emergency Protective Custody and are now in the custody of the Department of Social Services.

Shawana Watts and Erick Mayes admit they were not the perfect parents. “We got caught using drugs they came and took not only her but my six others kids,“ Watts said. D.S.S. put their daughter in the custody of Watt’s cousin Maxwell.

Watts and Mayes say they saw their daughter twice a month in supervised visits with DSS. On the very first visit, they began to fear for their daughter’s safety. “We immediately told DSS he spotted a burn mark on her wrist,“ said the child’s mother. The couple claims to have complained to social workers about sores and burn marks they found on their daughter.

News Channel 7 attempted to reach DSS on Saturday, but no one returned our calls.

Maxwell is being held at the Greenville County Detention Center under no bond. If convicted, the charge is punishable by 10 years in prison.