Police: Antioch girl lived in squalor, was beaten the morning she died

Robert Salonga and Hilary Costa

Contra Costa Times

ANTIOCH — A 15-year-old girl who died after suffering years of abuse at the hands of her caretaker aunt lived in squalor with her twin brother, police said.

The news sent shock waves Wednesday through her neighborhood as investigators learned more about the conditions in which the victim lived.

Shemeeka Davis, a 37-year-old Antioch resident, sits in County Jail in Martinez on suspicion of murder and corporal punishment in the death of Jasmine Davis, who was found at their home Tuesday afternoon in the 3700 block of Killdeer Drive.

The district attorney's office has not yet filed charges in the death. An autopsy for Jasmine Davis — who went by Jazzmin according to school records — is scheduled for today. Police said the victim was beaten the morning she died but would not speculate on the exact cause of death or specific injuries she suffered.

Antioch police Lt. Leonard Orman said Shemeeka Davis is believed to have been the foster parent of Jasmine Davis and her twin brother, raising the two since they were infants. Police are still exploring whether the children had been adopted, as was originally reported.

Orman, who said the death appears to have resulted from the "most extreme" case of child neglect he's seen in nearly a quarter-century in law enforcement, canvassed the two-story house and said he was taken aback by the stark contrast in living conditions between the victim and her brother and Davis' three biological children.

Whereas Davis' children — ages 18, 17 and 7 — lived in bedrooms with typical furnishings for a suburban upbringing, Orman said, the room where the victim and her brother stayed was in utter disrepair.

"It was the type of thing you'd see in a prisoner of war camp," Orman said.

Orman added that while Davis' children were in good health, Jasmine Davis and her brother showed physical signs of routine beatings.

"Both kids had head-to-toe injuries," he said.

Jasmine Davis had been beaten the morning of her death, which was reported hours after the fact when the suspect's mother came to the house, surveyed what had happened, and decided to call authorities, Orman said.

Neighbors wondered how long-term abuse of the two teens could have gone unnoticed.

"I was totally shocked," said Sharon Tabor, a resident who lived across the street from Davis for two years.

Other than hearing occasional yelling, Tabor said she saw no indications that abuse was taking place at the home. She said she never saw the victim leave the house until a few days before the death.

"I saw the boys all the time," Tabor said. "But I never saw the girls."

But in that one instance where she saw the victim, Tabor said, Jasmine Davis was wearing a bandage on her head.

According to court records, Shemeeka Davis had no criminal record in Contra Costa County outside of some minor traffic violations.

Mike McKinsey, an investigator with Stockbridge, Ga., lawyer Thomas Stewart, said Shemeeka Davis' half-sister, Biafra Davis, had retained Stewart's counsel and wanted to obtain custody of the remaining children.

"She's interested in doing what she can to help the children," McKinsey said.

He said he had been told Biafra Davis, who works as a paralegal at Stewart's law firm, was traveling to California on Wednesday to help with arrangements for the children. The minors are in protective custody.

Antioch Unified School District Superintendent Deborah Sims said Wednesday that records indicated Jasmine Davis was enrolled at Antioch High School for the 2007-08 school year but never attended classes. She was withdrawn from the school by family members in October 2007, Sims said.

She had been enrolled in Antioch schools since the 2003-04 school year, attending fifth grade at Lone Tree Elementary and graduating from Antioch Middle School.

Jasmine's twin brother was also enrolled at Antioch High and attended classes during the 2007-08 school year. He had not attended school this school year, Sims said.

Shemeeka Davis' two eldest children graduated from Antioch High School, Sims said. Davis' youngest child was also enrolled and attended until Wednesday, Sims said.

Sims said she did not have information about whether teachers ever noticed or reported signs of abuse in Jasmine Davis. Sims said families withdraw students from school for various reasons, and it wouldn't have caused any reason for concern in this case.

She said there was no indication that the girl was transferred to another school, and that school officials were looking into whether any follow-up was done after her withdrawal.

Joe Valentine, director of county Employment and Human Services, said the agency had little information Wednesday about the conditions surrounding the victim's care.

"What was reported in the press is all we know at this point," he said. "We're still trying to gather information to make sure we're clear on what the relationship was."

In foster cases, he said, the state requires a child welfare worker to pay monthly visits to the child, "and that's what we do."