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Author Topic: Body of 9 year-old Houston, TX Girl With Cerebral Palsy Found in Refrigerator  (Read 19497 times)
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« on: June 10, 2014, 08:03:44 PM »

http://www.khou.com/news/crime/Father-of-child-found-dead-inside-refrigerator-says-he-hadnt-seen-her-in-two-months-262615421.html
Father of child found dead inside refrigerator says he hadn’t seen her in two months
June 10, 2014

HOUSTON – The father of a 9-year-old girl whose body was found Monday in the refrigerator of an apartment says he thought his daughter was still alive.
Police were called to the Happy Home Apartments in the 10100 block of Club Creek around 6 p.m. Monday.
The neighbor told police he became concerned about the girl because he hadn’t seen her in a few months. He said the front door was unlocked, so he went in to check on the girl, and that’s when he found the body inside a refrigerator.
Paramedics arrived and determined the girl had already passed away, police said. Investigators believe the child had been dead for at least a month.
Homicide investigators obtained a search warrant and went in to look over the scene. Police said it appeared the apartment was lived in recently.
Armand Comb, the victim’s father, said the last time he saw his daughter was about two months ago. The child, who had cerebral palsy and used a wheel chair, lived with his ex-girlfriend Amber Keyes, Comb said.
 
Comb said he spoke to his ex-girlfriend Monday.
“She was talking like she was there with them,” he said.
Now CPS workers have taken his second daughter.

“Hopefully she will come back home tomorrow, or go to my cousin’s house,” he said. “I just want to know what happened man, why?  I was right here I would’ve helped. I would’ve done anything.”

Relatives said the mother turned herself in, but investigators would not confirm that information. It is still unclear how the little girl died.
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« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2014, 08:06:49 PM »

http://www.khou.com/news/crime/Father-of-child-found-dead-inside-refrigerator-says-he-hadnt-seen-her-in-two-months-262615421.html?gallery=y&img=0&c=y






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« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2014, 10:22:30 PM »

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/CPS-to-seek-custody-of-dead-girl-s-sibling-5541112.php
CPS to seek custody of dead girl's sibling
June 10, 2014

A scrap of police tape remains Tuesday morning at the scene where authorities found a child, believed to be about 9, dead in an apartment in the 10100 block of Club Creek.Shadow Melendez, 6, holds a doll outside the apartment complex where a child was found dead at the Happy Home apartments. Melendez said she played with the children and the doll was a toy left behind by one of the three children that lived there. (Johnny Hanson | Houston Chronicle)Lupe Perez peeks in the home where a child was found dead. (Johnny Hanson | Houston Chronicle)Alex Mendoza, 19, walks past the Happy Home Apartment complex residence where A girl, believed to be about 9 years old, was found dead and wrapped in blankets Monday evening.A girl, believed to be about 9 years old, was found dead and wrapped in blankets Monday evening at her family's apartment. A girl, believed to be about 9 years old, was found dead and wrapped in blankets Monday evening in her family's southwest Houston apartment complex, Happy Homes. (Johnny Hanson | Houston Chronicle)A wheel chair is shown at an apartment where where a girl, believed to be about 9 years old, was found dead and wrapped in blankets Monday evening.
Authorities have taken custody of the younger sister of a 9-year-old developmentally disabled girl whose body was discovered wrapped in blankets in a southwest Houston apartment.

According to police, a concerned neighbor went into the apartment through an unlocked door Monday evening and found the girl's body in the kitchen, apparently wrapped in blankets. No one was in the unit. The neighbor called authorities.

Houston firefighters pronounced the girl dead when they arrived at the home, a wood and brick apartment in the 10100 block of Club Creek, southeast of Beechnut and the West Sam Houston Parkway.

"They are neighbors who were concerned about her well-being," said Sgt. Chris Hassig with the Houston police homicide division.

While police try to sort out exactly what happened, authorities from Child Protective Services said they had taken custody of the other child who had lived in the home.

"We're looking at the immediate safety of the 5-year-old and what decisions needs to be made to ensure her safety," said Estella Olguin, a CPS spokeswoman.

"We still don't know a lot," Olguin said on Tuesday. "We don't know how the child died, but once we know those things, that could impact which direction we go in."

She said an emergency hearing on the case is scheduled for Wednesday, where officials will determine custody of the sibling and potentially place her with a relative.

Investigators still have not been able to talk to the girl's mother.

Police said neighbors told investigators they had not seen the girl for months.

Hassig said detectives spoke to her father, who doesn't live at the complex.

"The dad is aware of the situation," he said. "He is distraught."
 
Olguin said that CPS had never dealt with either girl.

"Once we talk to the mom, we will have to see if she has any other children ... and we can look at other names she might be under," Olguin said.

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences still has not released the name of the dead girl or a cause of death, pending a scientific identification, meaning using fingerprints.
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« Reply #3 on: June 10, 2014, 10:31:32 PM »

I'm trying to figure out how to phrase this.  The first article I posted says the little girl probably died at least a month ago, her cause of death still not known.  Whether she died of natural causes or at the hands of someone, she was kept for an extended period of time in the refrigerator.  Was she kept in the refrigerator and her death not reported to enable someone to continue collecting checks or to hide criminal evidence of mistreatment/murder or both?

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« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2014, 10:38:35 PM »

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/CPS-to-seek-custody-of-dead-girl-s-sibling-5541112.php#photo-6427273


Photo By Mike Glenn/Chronicle


Photo By Mike Glenn/Chronicle



Photo By Mike Glenn/Chronicle
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« Reply #5 on: June 11, 2014, 09:40:22 AM »

Her name is Ayahna.    an angelic monkey





http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-girl-9-found-dead-in-family-apartment-5541112.php
Houston girl, 9, found dead in family apartment
June 10, 2014 | Updated: June 11, 2014 12:38am




The disabled young girl whose body was found wrapped in blankets in the kitchen of her mother's southwest Houston apartment couldn't communicate, but always brought a smile to her father's face.

"She would get to you, make you feel good … she didn't have nothing bad about her," said Armand Comb, as authorities tried to figure out the circumstances behind his 9-year-old daughter's death.

On Monday, police said they were investigating the death of the curly-haired girl, whose name they have not released. Standing outside his parents' home in north Houston, Armand Comb, her father, gave a name and face to his daughter - Ayahna.

She was developmentally disabled with cerebral palsy, and couldn't communicate or do things for herself, he said. But she had a joyful way about her. "She was a beautiful baby. At times, she could be so happy," Comb said.

Police have revealed scant information about the circumstances behind Ayahna's death. What little is known is this: On Monday evening, a neighbor went into the home in the Happy Home Apartments complex where Ayahna, her mother, and her little sister lived in the 10100 block of Club Creek Drive and discovered the girl's body, wrapped in blankets.

Authorities said Tuesday they had been unable to speak with Ayahna's mother.

Comb said that he and Ayahna's mother did not live together. They split up several years ago, but kept in touch, he said.

Sometimes when he called her, she would tell him Ayahna was "acting crazy," he said.

"That was just her having fun," he said.

He had last seen Ayahna about two months ago, but had been planning to see her last week before utility troubles forced her mother to move temporarily, he said.

Comb said he last heard from the mother a few days ago, when she dropped their other child, a 5-year-old girl, at his mother's workplace.

On Tuesday, he was trying to process what had happened.

"One thing I'd like to ask her, why didn't she call me (about Ayahna)," he said.

It was a bizarre contrast to reports from neighbors and family members who described the woman as a watchful mom who looked out for her daughters.
 
The mother's Myspace account shows pictures of Ayahna at her birthday party, in her pink special-needs stroller, surrounded by family and friends.

"Her mom always pushed her. She couldn't move or talk. It's really sad," said Alex Mendoza, another neighbor.

"She never took her out of the apartment," he said, pointing toward unit 275, the ground-floor wood and brick apartment where the family lived. Ayahna's pink stroller was visible on the porch.

Neighborhood residents said they saw Ayahna infrequently, but her little sister often played with other children in the community.

When the neighbor discovered Ayahna's body, no one was home.

Houston firefighters pronounced her dead when they arrived at the scene.

Later that day, authorities arrived at Comb's home on Ridgeland Street, about 12 miles north of downtown, and took custody of his younger daughter.

"We're looking at the immediate safety of the 5-year-old and what decisions need to be made to ensure her safety," said Estella Olguin, a spokeswoman with Child Protective Services.

According to Olguin, CPS had no previous dealings with either girl.

"We still don't know a lot," she said Tuesday. "We don't know how the child died, but once we know those things, that could impact which direction we go in."

Olguin said an emergency hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday, where officials will determine custody of the dead girl's sister and potentially place her with a relative.

Comb said he'd been informed about the hearing, and he and his family would be attending.

"My family, they'll get her for me," he said.

But Tuesday afternoon, he was still trying to process his daughter's death and the scant information available.

According to police, neighbors said they hadn't seen the little girl in months. Some passed along a rumor that her body had been found in the apartment's refrigerator; others said the remains had been discovered badly decomposed.

Police, however, declined to disclose any other details, saying that further information would have to come from the medical examiner's office, which has not yet completed an autopsy or issued a cause of death.

"If I could just go back and see my baby and be with her for a while, I'd give my life so she could have hers," Comb said.
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« Reply #6 on: June 11, 2014, 02:08:39 PM »

There is so much wrong here.  How terrible, terrible Ayahna's sister discovered her body in the refrigerator looking for food.  Why was Ayahna in the refrigerator in the first place, and why was she there for six months?  Why didn't her mother call for help instead of taking her other child to school?  Why did her father report he had seen Ayahna two months ago, when she had been dead since January?  Either he can't keep track of his days nor his child or he isn't being truthful.  And what about Ayahna's grandmother saying " "I'm hoping I can take my grandbaby home with my family, that loves her," Comb said of her other granddaughter
She said Ayahna's mother "seemed to be a good caregiver ... People make mistakes."  Mistakes?!

We need the cause of death of Ayahna.  This is nothing short of abuse of a corpse if it's found she died of natural causes.  And possibly fraud involved if there were monies collected for her care, when she was in fact deceased.  So much wrong, I can't even go there. 

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Nine-year-old-girl-s-body-kept-for-six-months-in-5544556.php
Nine-year-old girl's body kept for six months in refrigerator drawer
June 11, 2014 | Updated: June 11, 2014 12:55pm
By Dale Lezon

The body of a 9-year-old girl found in a southwest Houston apartment Monday was kept for six months in the drawer of a refrigerator after she died, a Child Protective Services investigator told a Houston judge Wednesday.

At a hearing to decide custody of Ayahna Comb's 5-year-old sister, the CPS investigator told Harris County Family Court Judge David Farr the dead girl, who her father said suffered from cerebral palsy, weighed 14 pounds and had been dead since January.

According to the investigator, Amber Keyes, the dead girl's mother, told authorities she had woken early in the morning in late January and found Anahya not breathing. Keyes told investigators she tried to revive the child, but stopped around 6 a.m. to take her younger daughter to school.

She later wrapped Anahya's body in a blanket and placed it in the refrigerator. The investigator told the judge the younger daughter later discovered her sister's body there while looking for food

Keyes has spoken with police, but has not yet been charged in connection with her daughter's death, officials said.


Ayahna's body was was discovered about 5:45 p.m. at the Happy Home Apartments in the 10100 block of Club Creek Drive where the child lived with her 5-year-old sister and their mother, according to the Houston Police Department.

Ayahna was found in the kitchen and wrapped in blankets. No one else was at the home. Police said neighbors told investigators the girl had not been seen for months.

HPD investigators interviewed the girl's mother Tuesday night, according to officials with Child Protective Services. Then CPS authorities interviewed her.

CPS officials said they could not release details of the case or their interview with the mother. HPD has released few details about the death and not confirmed that investigators interviewed the girl's mother.
 

Comb said he had last seen Ayahna about two months ago, but had been planning to see her last week before utility troubles forced her mother to move temporarily, he said. He last said he last heard from the girl's mother a few days ago, when she dropped their other daughter at his mother's workplace.
 
Before the hearing on Wednesday, Ayahna's grandmother Kathy Comb, said she was devastated by the tragedy. She last saw Ayahna's little sister when the girl's mother dropped her off at her workplace.

"I'm hoping I can take my grandbaby home with my family, that loves her," Comb said of her other granddaughter

She said Ayahna's mother "seemed to be a good caregiver ... People make mistakes."
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« Reply #7 on: June 11, 2014, 11:16:30 PM »

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Investigators-Child-found-dead-inside-refrigerator-died-in-January-weighed-14-pounds-262776191.html
CPS: Child found inside refrigerator died in January, weighed 14 lbs
June 11, 2014

HOUSTON – Investigators say a 9-year-old girl who was found inside a refrigerator on Monday had been dead since January and weighed just 14 pounds.
A neighbor called police to the Happy Home Apartments located in the 10100 block of Club Creek after the victim’s 5-year-old sister found her body wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a refrigerator drawer.   
Family members said the victim had cerebral palsy, needed a wheelchair to get around and was bottle fed.

Her mother Amber Keys told police that one night in January Ayahana just stopped breathing.  Keys said she performed CPR, but it was too late.

Police said Keys told them she didn’t know what to do with her daughter’s body. Keyes turned herself in to police on Tuesday. She is not facing any charges right now.

“We don’t know what to say to ya’ll, this is horrible, it’s really horrible,” said Linda Stevens, the victim’s aunt.
 
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« Reply #8 on: June 11, 2014, 11:37:25 PM »

Here we go again with terrible, mixed up reporting.  Initially, articles said a neighbor hadn't seen Ayahna in a couple months, so they went through the unlocked door of the apartment, looked around and found her in the refrigerator.  Another article mentioned her five year old sister had seen Ayahna's body in the refrigerator when she was looking for food.  The last article I posted says Ayahna's sister found her wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a refrigerator drawer and the neighbor called the police.  It would be interesting to be able to read some verified information 

There's the Dad that said he saw her two months ago, when she has been dead six months and wondered about her death and said he would have done anything to help.  Really?    The mother says Ayahna stopped breathing one night and performed CPR but it was too late.  She didn't know what to do with her body.  Say what?  Was that a light bulb moment to put her in the refrigerator drawer or what?!  For six months?!  Something just isn't right about this.  The media has some of the facts mixed up, but that's nothing compared to the two people that were Ayahna's parents.     I still wonder if there wasn't money or assistance being received and Amber Key didn't want that to stop? 

How did 9 year old Ayahna end up weighing only 14 pounds?  When was the last time she was seen by a physician?  Or a social or case worker?  When was the last time any of her family really saw her?  What about the grandmother that was praising Amber Key for her caring ways?  Is she in town?  When did she last see Ayahna?  All of these people seem to come out of the wood work.  Where were they the last six months?  That includes Ayahna's dad.  Where was he for six months?  I wonder how often Ayahna may have been left alone in that apartment when she was still alive while her mother went out to shop and take the little sister to school and such?  I'm almost afraid to ponder too much in this case.  Folks in the interviews talking about how Ayahna smiled and was so pleasant.  And then we find she's deceased and has been stuffed in a refrigerator drawer for the last six months.   



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« Reply #9 on: June 11, 2014, 11:54:32 PM »

 

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/25754846/gruesome-details-about-disabled-girls-death
Gruesome details about disabled girls death
June 11, 2014

 

Today during an emergency hearing for Ayahna’s sister, Arabea, CPS workers disclosed the gruesome details of her sister’s death, this included the shocking reality that the 9 year old, not only weighed 14 lbs but had bruises and lacerations on her body and had been dead since January 29th. Details too hard for her family to grasp.

“That the five year old told us that her friends had also witnessed where the body had been placed. All of that came out in testimony today,” says Estella Olguien, spokesperson for CPS.

After hearing testimony from the girl’s father, CPS social workers presented evidence related to the fathers and other family members criminal history. A judge ultimately decided Ayana’s sister was safer in foster care. A tough pill to swallow for her loved ones.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” says Armand Comb, father of the victim.

“How do you feel that her sister saw her in the drawer.?

This is horrible, really horrible,” says Linda Stevens, aunt of the girls.

Still too many unanswered questions for the family.

Kleyahla Comb, aunt of the girls, says,“But for her to lie to us and for us to think that the baby is still alive, it hurts.”

CPS confirmed to us today Amber Keyes, the mother of both girls, had a previous history with the agency dating back to 2002.

Olguien says,“She had a one year old child at the time, she’s now 13, she was one year old and the allegations was that she had severe physical abuse that the child had suffered.


“I need to pray for her, she needs help,” says Kathy Combs.

Keyes was not in court this morning, but HPD confirms she voluntarily turned herself in yesterday and is currently not being charged with any crime.
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« Reply #10 on: June 12, 2014, 12:01:08 AM »

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Nine-year-old-girl-s-body-kept-for-six-months-in-5544556.php
Girl's body kept in refrigerator 4˝ months
June 11, 2014

The little girl went to the refrigerator in her southwest Houston apartment, in search of a snack - perhaps some fruit or milk.

But when the 5-year-old opened the door, she saw the body of her older sister, wrapped in one of her blankets, a child advocate caseworker said in a custody hearing Wednesday.
 
The saga began on Monday after police were called to the apartment of 34-year-old Amber Keyes in the Happy Home Apartments in the 10100 block of Club Creek. Keyes lived there with her two daughters.

Police said they received a call after a neighbor, who had become concerned after not seeing Ayahna for several months, entered Keyes' apartment and found the girl in her refrigerator, dead and wrapped in blankets.

"There were concerns that the child had been in the refrigerator for some time," said Cora Christiaans, from Child Protective Services.

The curly-haired girl all but slipped off the face of the earth. In court, authorities said Ayahna hadn't been to school or seen a doctor in two years. Investigators said relatives hadn't seen her since late last year.

Keyes told authorities that on Jan. 29, about 3 in the morning, she found Ayahna not breathing, the caseworker said. The mother tried CPR.

"She stated that as 6 a.m. approached, … she placed the deceased child in her bed and covered her with a blanket and took her sibling off to school," Christiaans said. "After that, she sat with the deceased child's body for some time, and then decided to clear out a drawer in the refrigerator and place her body in there."

First child taken away

Keyes had come under CPS scrutiny before. In 2002, agency spokeswoman Estella Olguin said, another case arose involving her then 1-year-old daughter.

In that instance, CPS received a report that the man Keyes was dating was abusing the girl, Olguin said Wednesday.

"The mom didn't do what she needed to do to demonstrate she would be able to protect her," Olguin said.

In 2004, a relative adopted the child and the agency closed the case, she said. "After 2004, we had no further dealings with this mom, and that was prior to Ayahna being born or her 5-year-old sister."

Why Keyes placed her daughter in the refrigerator is unclear, but one psychology professor said her previous experience with CPS could have contributed.

"The CPS system is one that inspires deep-seated anxiety and fear in parents who have been involved in the system before," said Susan Henney, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Houston-Downtown and a former CPS caseworker.

But there are bigger questions, Henney said: "Why didn't anyone notice she was gone? Where did we go wrong?"

Medical examiners told CPS that Ayahna's body was emaciated and thin, weighing just 14 pounds when she was found, Christiaans said, under questioning from Danielle Davis, an assistant county attorney. They also said the body was in the beginning stages of decomposition, she said.

When Ayahna's sister found the body is unclear.

The news left Comb's family distraught.

"I've been asking Amber different things about my niece, and all she's been saying is 'She's OK.' It really affected me someone could lie for so long," Ayahna's aunt, Kleyahla Richardson, said Wednesday evening.

Keyes was not in court and did not answer calls seeking comment.

She voluntarily went to police and gave a statement to investigators Tuesday night, said Kese Smith, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department. Keyes is cooperating with the investigation and has not been charged, he said.

"(The detectives) are going to finish their investigation before anyone is charged," he said.

Nevertheless, the circumstances surrounding Ayahna's death led CPS to seek custody of her sister.

Keyes and the girls' father, Armand Comb, began dating about 10 years ago but split up about six years ago, said Kathy Comb, his mother.

Family visits ceased

In photos from happier times, the girl could be seen with her relatives in the modified stroller they used to push her around.

But shortly after Christmas, Ayahna's mother stopped bringing her to family gatherings, and Christiaans said no one in Comb's family had seen her in five or six months.

The younger girl often visited her father's relatives. They saw Ayahna less frequently, one family member said.

Kathy Comb, the girl's paternal grandmother, said she was devastated by Ayahna's death.

Armand Comb had told reporters he had last seen Ayahna about two months ago. In court, he repeated that assertion, which brought head shakes from several relatives, who said he had suffered a seizure about that time that left him hospitalized for two weeks.

"He doesn't know," said Sandra Gill Clark, a family member, explaining that the seizure had left him with memory problems.

Comb also told Judge David Farr that he had several arrests for cocaine use and suffered from anxiety and depression. He had hoped that his family could take custody of his younger daughter, but CPS said his criminal background as well as the fact that two people living in his house had criminal backgrounds were reasons it was seeking custody of the child.

"All these factors, we do take them into consideration," said Olguin.

Another hearing is scheduled for June 19.

"CPS is making it seem like we brushed (Ayahna) off," Richardson said Wednesday. "I kept asking about her, but (Amber) always told me she was with a family member."
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« Reply #11 on: June 12, 2014, 12:02:38 AM »

The article I just posted gives more insight into what may have happened.  It certainly doesn't excuse anything by any means, but there's more information.  It's really sad for children born into these situations.  They hardly have a chance.   
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« Reply #12 on: June 16, 2014, 07:51:00 PM »


(Bolded by me) 

http://www.click2houston.com/news/mom-of-girl-found-in-fridge-has-criminal-record-lost-custody-of-child/26468062
Mom of girl found in fridge has criminal record, lost custody of child
June 12, 2014

 
According to court documents, Keyes has done time behind bars. In 1998 police arrested her for possession of a controlled substance. She spent more than a year in prison.
In 2000 police picked her for criminal trespass; she did 30 days in jail.

CPS investigators say the mother of three does have a history of substance abuse and a history with their agency.

Keyes lost custody of her eldest daughter, who was eventually put up for adoption in 2004. Her youngest daughter, who's only 5 years old, is now in foster care.

Sadly, we know her middle child, 9-year-old Ayahna, died back in January. On Monday, the little girl's body was discovered stuffed inside the family's refrigerator. Police say her decomposing body had been there for nearly five months.

Keyes reportedly told investigators her daughter stopped breathing and she panicked. She wrapped her in a blanket and placed her inside a drawer in the fridge.

We're still waiting on autopsy results to determine how the little girl died.

Court documents state Keyes admitted that she continued to collect Social Security Disability Income and Food Stamps for Ayahna following her death. She even renewed the benefits last month and got an increase.
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« Reply #13 on: June 16, 2014, 08:19:10 PM »

It's really sad to know Ayhana suffered so in her brief life.    


http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Mother-of-9-year-old-girl-panicked-after-5551786.php
Mother of 9-year-old girl 'panicked' after finding her unresponsive
Mother panicked, lied to friends, family regarding whereabouts of her daughter

June 13, 2014

Ayahna Comb's life was hard from the very beginning.

Born with cerebral palsy, she couldn't communicate, move on her own or even eat solid food.

Her mother had been forced to give up her first child after failing to protect the girl from alleged child abuse by her then boyfriend. Her father, who battled anxiety and depression, cycled in and out of jail.

The breaking point in Ayahna's life arrived in the middle of the night in January when the 9-year-old girl fell asleep in her mother's apartment in southwest Houston. She stopped breathing.

Her mother, Amber Keyes, then covered Ayahna in a black and red blanket decorated with butterflies and placed her small body in a refrigerator drawer.

Keyes then went about her day's business, she told authorities.

Ayahna's subsequent disappearance would draw little attention from friends and family.

This portrait of shocking neglect emerges from an 11-page affidavit highlighting the days leading up to Ayahna's death. Her body was discovered earlier this week.

According to the affidvait, Keyes, 34, told investigators that her daughter was difficult to feed. She had to be bottle-fed and occasionally vomited her food.

In the days before Ayahna died, the tiny, curly brown-haired girl became harder to feed and began having less frequent bowel movements.

On Jan. 29, Keyes woke up and found her daughter not breathing, she told investigators. She attempted to perform CPR but stopped at about 6 a.m., around the time her younger daughter was waking up.

Keyes, who has not been charged with a crime, told police that she put Ayahna on her bed, covered her with the blanket, and then helped her 5-year-old daughter get ready for school. CPS investigators learned Ayahna had not been in a school or seen a doctor in two years.

Keyes couldn't explain why she didn't call 911, telling investigators only that she "panicked," according to the affidavit.

After her younger daughter went to school, "she spent the next few hours rocking Ayahna in a rocking chair and reported she was not aware of what she needed to do," the document states.

Then, she cleared out a drawer in her refrigerator, wrapped her daughter's body in the blanket and put it in the drawer.
Not around

In the affidavit, medical examiners said Ayahna's emaciated body weighed just 14 pounds and was marked with several scabs, apparently from pressure sores, indicative of someone who has not moved much. One sore went down to her bone.

The corpse lay in the refrigerator for months, as Keyes told family and friends that the girl was at a facility for special-needs children, the document reveals.

Although Ayahna's younger sister frequently visited her father and grandparents, they didn't see the disabled 9-year-old as much. Sometime before Christmas, those visits stopped for good.

In interviews with the Chronicle, Ayahna's relatives said they sometimes asked about her, but Keyes always waved them off.

Keyes has not returned numerous calls seeking comment. Police said she voluntarily spoke with investigators and is cooperating. Keyes and Ayahna's father split up several years ago.

When Kathy Comb inquired about her granddaughter, Keyes would just tell her "She's fine," according to the affidavit. Why relatives never demanded to see her is unclear.

In an interview after an emergency custody hearing for Keyes' younger daughter earlier this week, Kathy Comb explained why she didn't see her older grandchild much.

"I didn't see her a lot because, like I said, she had special needs. And a lot of times, when Ayahna would be at the house, it would kind of make me nervous and upset because I didn't know what to do for her," she said.

In the affidavit, Keyes alleged that the family wasn't interested in helping her care for her older daughter.

That is a claim some family members dispute.

Kleyahla Richardson, Ayahna's aunt, said, "I kept asking about her, but (Amber) always told me she was with a family member."

'Just for fun'

After Ayahna's death, Keyes continued to receive Social Security disability payments and food stamps for her daughter, renewing them in May, the document shows.

Investigators also interviewed Ayahna's younger sister.

She told investigators that the day she returned home from school, Keyes told her that her older sister had died. The little girl told investigators her mother didn't like having to clean up when her sister vomited, according to the affidavit.

She and two of her playmates found her sister's body in the refrigerator while looking for a snack, she told investigators.

One of her playmates then told a sibling what they had seen.

That eventually led to a family friend entering Keyes' apartment and finding the body Tuesday, the day after Keyes had dropped off her younger daughter at the home of the girl's father, Armand Comb.

The friend called police, then called Keyes, who told him that after dropping off her younger daughter the day before, she had driven to Tyler with a friend of hers "just for fun."
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« Reply #14 on: June 16, 2014, 08:29:27 PM »

Muffy  This leaves me speech less. Rest in Peace Ayhana.  an angelic monkey   I hope the little sister gets placed in a loving home. I will hold my tongue about how the sweet little girl died. Is looking like more & more like mom didn't want to lose her child's disability check. 
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« Reply #15 on: June 16, 2014, 08:30:24 PM »

http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/usatoday/article/10413007
Mom of child found in refrigerator lost custody before
June 13, 2014


Amber Keyes told investigators her 9-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy simply stopped breathing one night in January and she didnâ??t know what to do with her body. / Provided to KHOU-TV, Houston

 

Child Protective Services officials said Amber Keyes, the girl's mother, lost custody of another child more than a decade ago. CPS authorities said that after they investigated suspicions that the 18-month-old had suffered physical abuse in 2002, the child was placed in foster care.

"The parental rights were terminated, which means mom was not able to do the things that were asked of her," said Gwen Carter, a CPS spokeswoman. "That child was adopted."

Keyes later gave birth to two other children. Authorities said the youngest, a 5-year-old girl, this week discovered her 9-year-old sister's corpse in the family's refrigerator. The body of Ayahana Comb, who had cerebral palsy and used a wheelchair, weighed only 17 pounds.
 
Despite Keyes' disturbing history, Child Protective Services said they couldn't have investigated her again unless someone had complained about her abusing one of her younger children.

"Unless we get a new report, the law does not allow us to follow that parent," said Carter. "We do not have the legal responsibility or ability to follow that parent, nor do we have the manpower."


No charges have been filed in the case. Some of the dead girl's relatives are trying to gain custody of the surviving sister who discovered the body.

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« Reply #16 on: June 20, 2014, 12:48:20 AM »

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Dead-girl-s-sister-ordered-reunited-with-father-s-5565329.php
Sister of girl found dead in refrigerator will stay with dad's family
June 19, 2014

The younger sister of the developmentally disabled 9-year-old girl whose body police found earlier this month in a refrigerator drawer in a southwest Houston apartment will be reunited with her father's family, according to a judge's ruling Thursday.

Officials from Child Protective Services sought custody of Ayahna Comb's 5-year-old sister in an emergency hearing on June 11 after police learned that Ayahna's mother, Amber Keyes, had allegedly stored her older daughter's body in her refrigerator, wrapped in a blanket, for more than four months.

CPS girl's conservator

Ayahna's younger sisterhas spent the last week and a half in foster care as officials and her family members sorted out what was to be done with her and with whom she would live.

On Thursday, State District Court Judge David Farr ruled after a hearing that the girl stay with a member of her father's family but that CPS remain her conservator.


Keyes, 34, was not at the hearing. Armand Comb, Ayahna's father, has previously said it's been years since he lived with Keyes, his ex-girlfriend.
 
Keyes is not charged with any crime, and has been cooperating with Houston police, according to a department spokesman.

Officials from CPS had originally objected to letting Ayahna's sister stay with Comb, 38, or his relatives, citing his previous criminal history and the fact that his relatives seemingly allowed months to go by without making any serious attempt to see Ayahna.

In court on Thursday, Comb said he had agreed to move out of his mother's house and take a drug test to show he is not using illegal substances.

Farr ruled that his daughter could stay at the home of Comb's sister, Cledell Goins, an accountant. The little girl will stay with Goins, her husband, and Goins' five children.

That was per an agreement between Comb's family and CPS, which will remain conservator of the child and monitor her case. Per the agreement, Comb will not be able to have contact with her until he shows he can pass the court-ordered drug screen.
Can't jump the gun'

"I just need a clean drug screen before you visit, you can't jump the gun on that," Farr warned.

Farr also ruled that, for now, Comb only be allowed to see his daughter in visits supervised by CPS.

"I'm just glad my baby's coming back to my sister, it's good today," Comb said, before heading to CPS to take a urinalysis drug test.

"I didn't want my baby to be away from my family," he said.

A CPS caseworker told Farr that Comb's daughter was excited to see her aunt and cousins.

A status hearing is set for mid-August.
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« Reply #17 on: November 03, 2014, 03:27:45 PM »

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/27175071/death-of-texas-girl-in-refrigerator-ruled-homicide
Death of Texas girl in refrigerator ruled homicide
October 31, 2014

Posted: Oct 31, 2014 9:55 AM CDT
Updated: Oct 31, 2014 12:01 PM CDT
 

HOUSTON (AP) - The death of a 9-year-old Houston girl whose body was left in a refrigerator for six months has been ruled a homicide.

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences said Thursday that Ayahna Comb died from malnutrition and dehydration and suffered from other ailments such as a bone infection. A neighbor discovered the girl's body in June.
 

A Houston Police Department spokeswoman tells The Houston Chronicle the agency expects to file unspecified charges against Comb's mother. The mother declined to comment when contacted by the newspaper.
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« Reply #18 on: November 07, 2014, 04:40:33 AM »

   end of story.
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« Reply #19 on: November 07, 2014, 08:45:09 PM »

What a horrible story. Why is it in one of the most developed and prosperous countries in the world we let this happen to children?  She was getting aid for the child, that should come with some monitoring - these are high risk kids. Why does no one follow up?   
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