Antioch girl's child welfare report disputed

Malaika Fraley and Hilary Costa

Contra Costa Times

Despite evidence that Jazzmin Davis had suffered severe abuse for more than a year prior to her death Tuesday, a child welfare official said two visits to her Antioch home during that period revealed no signs of mistreatment.

Shemeeka Davis, 37, Jazzmin's foster mother and aunt, was charged Friday with murdering and torturing the 15-year-old.

Trent Rhorer, executive director of the San Francisco Human Services Agency, which was responsible for monitoring Jazzmin's care, said he could not comment on the evidence dating the abuse to June 2007 before reviewing a coroner's report.

Rhorer said earlier Friday that a case worker visited Davis' home in the 3700 block of Killdeer Drive as recently as March and found no cause for concern. Antioch police reiterated Friday that the most recent welfare visit they could confirm occurred in September 2007.

Rhorer also said records indicate a case worker saw a current school report card for Jazzmin Davis during the March visit. However, Antioch school records show Jazzmin last attended school in June 2007.

When asked about the claim of a current report card, Antioch Unified School District Superintendent Deborah Sims replied "that couldn't be possible."

Jazzmin died from "multiple blows on multiple days with multiple instruments in the context of not being properly clothed or nourished," Deputy District Attorney Harold Jewett said.

In addition to murder, Davis is charged with two counts each of torture and child abuse in the treatment of Jazzmin and her twin brother, Jason.

In her first court appearance Friday, Davis hid behind the shadowed glass of a courtroom cell with her head bowed. She is scheduled to return before Judge Charles Treat on Sept. 26 to enter a plea. She is being jailed in lieu of $1.5 million bail.

Jewett said evidence indicates the twins suffered "disturbing" treatment by Davis dating back to at least June 2007 — around when the school district said Jazzmin Davis stopped attending school. Jason Davis attended Antioch High School through June 2008.

Once at healthy weight, Jazzmin was emaciated in the care of her foster mother, according to Jewett.

"If you were to imagine images of malnourished people in the Third World and combine that with people who had been whipped and beaten and bore scars and lacerated flesh from those beatings and applied all that to the body of a 15-year-old girl, then you would come close to the body of Jazzmin Davis," Jewett said.

Antioch police Lt. Leonard Orman said Jason Davis was in similar physical shape as a result of beatings that included burns with hot irons and lashings with belts and electrical cords.

"They're somewhat almost mirror images," Orman said. "Some of the marks are very similar. He just happened to have survived."

Jason Davis remains in protective custody in Contra Costa County along with Shemeeka Davis' 7-year-old daughter. Davis' 17-year-old son is not in protective custody, and her 18-year-old son has not been located, according to Orman.

While the investigation is ongoing, investigators have no evidence that Jazzmin's death was deliberate or premeditated, which stopped prosecutors from charging Davis with special allegations that would make her a candidate for capital punishment. The current charges call for life imprisonment.

Jazzmin and Jason were born at a San Francisco residence in 1993 to an 18-year-old mother. Police are looking for their father, Shemeeka's brother, Jason Lawon Davis.

Although the children were living outside San Francisco, they were still considered clients of the San Francisco Human Services Agency, Rhorer said. He said roughly half of the agency's 1,500 foster care clients are placed in homes outside the county.

It's unclear how far in advance the Davis' welfare visits were scheduled, but Rhorer said they were extensive and involved the case worker talking with the children one-on-one and also with guardians present and inspecting the residence.

"It's not just a pop-in. It's a sit-down meeting that lasts a few hours," Rhorer said.

Davis successfully petitioned to become the twins' legal guardian Aug. 27.

Welfare case files indicate that both twins were still attending school, Rhorer said.

"It's troubling when, in reviewing the case file, it appears that we've done everything that was within our power to protect these kids and others from abuse and neglect," Rhorer said.

Sims, of the Antioch school district, said in a written statement that Jazzmin Davis had been automatically enrolled at Antioch High School after she graduated from Antioch Middle School in June 2007 but was removed from the high school's rolls in October 2007 by the "data clean-up" process when she did not register for classes that fall.

Peggy Marshburn, chief communications officer for the Contra Costa County Office of Education, said that according to the California Education Code, the onus is on parents and guardians to ensure their children are enrolled in school.

The state's compulsory education law requires children to be enrolled in school between ages 6 and 18. It is within the discretion of each county to enact reporting systems to follow up on students whose attendance is severed. Marshburn said Contra Costa does not have any reporting regulations in place.

"It's a mobile society. Siblings are split up. It's really not an easy thing to keep track of," Marshburn said.