Friday, August 8, 2014

The Murder of Jenise Wright


Jenise Wright was a child of Neglect.  I use the capital, "N" for Neglect, as intended to show criminal neglect.  This was her life. 

She was last seen Saturday night, at the age of 6, but was not reported missing until Sunday night. The parents explanation was that she often, at this age, wandered the neighborhood, as if she was many years older.  

Most parents would panic not knowing where their 6 year old was in 5 minutes time, but for this family, the climate is foreign to caring adults. 

Police know this was a murder:

Dep. Scott Wilson said, “This is going to be a criminal investigation, there’s no doubt about that. We
suspect that she just did not go off by herself and fall into some bushes and die.”  At times, police appeared to struggle to control their emotions.  They were hit hard by this case, as was the community. 
Police hinted that there would be information gleaned from the autopsy, but previously tipped their hand by both removing the other children, and exaggerating the family's cooperation.  Even if the child was killed by a local predator, the parents should expect charges due to Neglect, and Failure To Protect their child by providing supervision.  Jenise was last seen Saturday night at her home.

Jenise’s parents have said they would allow Jenise to walk through the neighborhood on her own and thought she was out playing Sunday morning. When she didn’t return home Sunday night, the parents called police.  
Her father, Jim Wright had previously been accused of sexually molesting two little girls, and ended up pleading to an assault. This, by itself, is terrifying. 

 He said, "My head’s just swimming, I don't know what to think. She went to bed, she was asleep. Wake up, she’s probably out running and playing,' 

He tells us, not that he does not know, but doesn't know what to think.

"She went to bed" is straight forward and percentage wise, reliable.  We can believe that he thinks she went to bed.  "She was asleep" is also reliable as to what he thinks.   Then, we run into a problem:  


"Wake up" is to drop the pronoun.  Here is why:

1.  He does not use her name.  This is distancing language.
2.  He does tell us that she did go to bed and that she did go to sleep.
3.  He is unable to tell us that she woke up. 

This indicates that he wants us to believe she woke up, but in refusing to lie, is unable to bring himself to say it.  He did not tell us that he thought she was out running and playing, which is something one would have to do awake.  He cannot say she woke up.

Why won't he say, "She woke up"?

Why did he change to present tense?

If there is a story being told, it is often present tense, but in this case, it was past tense to begin with and then went to present tense, often an indicator of deception.  

Is he lying due to Neglect?

Or, is he lying due to something far worse?

As to removing the other two children, this may be explained in one of several ways:

1.  When a child goes missing and the explanation is suspect, as a precaution, Child Protective Services will often place the children, even voluntarily, with relatives.  We saw this in the case of Sergi Celis, but did not see it in the case of Justin DiPietro, who's mother,  a state worker, had a relationship of sorts with a Child Protective Supervisor, while two other mothers present for Baby Ayla's disappearance were, somehow, able to keep their children. 

2.  When police give CPS enough information to show that the children are "in immediate risk of serious harm with a likelihood of danger within 24 hours" (in varying language, state by state).

3.  When the other children disclose abuse or neglect within the household. 

In this case, the fact that they claimed to let the 6 year old wander the neighborhood speaks to "belief system" ; that is, something the parents do not even recognize as insane.  


32 comments:

BostonLady said...

As soon as I heard the step father say that "she" was very independent, I knew something wasn't right. He didn't call her by name, Jenice, and a 6 year old is independent to not be seen after 10pm the night before she was reported missing? Is independent enough to not be home for breakfast, lunch or dinner? No. This is not normal and not expected. Along with that, learning that the step father's background is one of molesting younger girls, I didn't feel that Jenice was gone because of a stranger.

I hope I'm wrong.

Tania Cadogan said...

I agree BostonLady the red flags were out and proud.

I wonder if she was being protected by an older sibling and when they were absent, the deed happened.

I would be asking when the older sibling left and what if anything changed after they left.

The stepdad's own language and behavior do not put him in a positive light, nor does the fact the poly resilts have not been released.

if they passed, why not announce it, what stops them from saying they passed?

Nothing.

However if one or both faoled or at best were inconclusive, then there is a darn good reason for them to say nothing.

LE to not add pressure to the suspects and the parents to be able to claim they aren't suspects/POI's.

Have they lawyered up yet?

Kellie said...

This tragedy reminds me of Alanna Gallagher. She was also allowed to roam free by her polyamourous parents. Also 6 years old. I just can't fathom it.

Anonymous said...

The "stepfather" mentioned is the bio father of Jenise Wright, Jim Wright. Just to clear the record.

Tania Cadogan said...

Thanks anon.

Trigger said...

Jenise's father is disparaging her and pointing the finger of blame at the siblings.

He says that she's a princess in the house, but fails to notice that she is missing for a day?

The father of Jenise is making contradictory statements.

Anonymous said...

With the dropped pronoun, it's of course a guess, but I thought he was talking about himself (and the rest of the family), and not actually that day in particular:

Wake up, she's probably out running and playing.

Like they usually wake up and she's already out "playing".

That's obviously one of the reasons pronouns are important and necessary. Without them, it's anyone's guess.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps both parents are alcoholics;sleep late, too trusting of the neighborhood as they know much worse people, and not too concerned with dietary needs of a young child whose meals were consumed at the homes of the friends she had make-making her way though this world on her own.

These are the type of people who lose their keys and sweep an entire farm with a magnet just to get their truck going again.

Andrea said...

This just sickens me... how do you NOT know where your child is? How do you NOT know if they've eaten breakfast or having had a free spirited creative niece not playing outside in her pajamas and a tutu (not dressed for the climate) I just don't understand how a parent can be so aloof to these basic needs. Nevermind the previous charges for molestation whatever the details. Seriously disgusts me. What woman would want to procreate with a man who has had these charges? Hard to not draw some negative conclusions here. I still wonder why the heck they would wait A DAY to report her missing? She was SIX YEARS OLD!!!!!

Tania Cadogan said...

off topic

After a 17-hour air and ground search, an 18-year-old Michigan girl missing since Thursday has been found alive and delivered to police.

Hayley Turner was 40 miles from home when she was seen jumping out of a moving vehicle in Ecorse by an unidentified woman.

A homeowner found her sitting near West Outer Drive and East 19th Street, shirtless around 2:30pm today.

According to Click on Detroit, Turner gave the homeowner her mother's cell phone number before the homeowner drove her to the Ecorse Police Department.

Police believed Turner may have been abducted when she disappeared after a phone conversations with a friend that was cut off.

Turner had gone to a local video store to rent some movies and spoke to her friend as she headed home around 10pm

A rental receipt would show that the Notre Dame Academy student had rented Muppets Most Wanted and Divergent.

Employees would later tell the authorities that she was happy and smiling.

On her drive home, she told her friend that she had spotted a man lying in a ditch and that she was going to check on him

'Seconds later, Hayley told her friend "he has a gun" and the phone was disconnected,' Monroe County Sheriff Dale Malone related to reporters at a news conference.

According to Bedford Now, the unidentified friend called her father, who sped to the scene only to find his daughter's car running but empty, her iPad missing but her wallet still there.

The ensuing search utilized dogs, helicopters, and even enlisted FBI agents.

A potential suspect could be a white male described in a call to authorities Friday mornin

'The male was described as a white male, 18-24 years old, wearing brown khaki shorts and a blue shirt. The female was described as 18-24 with a red shirt, long, black, tight-fitting pants and shoulder-length dark hair. This is very similar to Hayley’s description and what she was last seen wearing,' Malone told reporters.

As she waited for word, mother Christy Turner was understandably desperate for information, pleading with the public for any word of her daughter's whereabouts.

'Hayley, please call. Call anybody,' Turner begged during a press conference. 'We miss you. We want you home.'

She was taken to a local hospital to be checked, and was reportedly in good shape.

Turner's family said the girl had been struggling with some emotional issues this year.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2720282/Michigan-teen-alive-one-day-having-terrified-phone-conversation-friend-man-gun-vanishing.html




Anonymous said...

Maybe one of the jealous "older ones" killed her, and the parents are covering it up? Also, I thought the reference to "Wake up" referred to Dad waking up.

Anonymous said...

"She is a social butterfly, she’s the youngest, she's a spoiled little brat, and she’s the princess of the household and she gets her way most times than the others and the older ones can’t stand it," said the girl's father, Jim Wright.

Not sure why, but this reminds me a lot of Sergio Celis. I think it's in part because of the sort of glaringly inappropriate flippancy. Who makes little jokes when their own kid is missing? It is similar to what abusers do when they try to minimize the significance of their actions.

Anonymous said...

Signs of neglect have been the neighbors saying, "Jenice runs around the neighborhood, and eats breakfast with different people, eats lunch with different people"... I paraphrased it, but basically the neighbor said, she is not really taken care of at home and has to go to good neighbors to be sure she eats.

Not knowing what she was wearing, couldn't you just go through her closet and dresser and see what is missing? This is another sign of neglect.

anon says this reminds him/her of sergio celis, it reminds me of my stepson. His mom lives in an apartment with low income housing. I have nothing against the low income houses, I have an issue with her letting him run the streets at age 5 and knowing she has registered sex-offenders in the same building and other buildings in the same complex. The registered offenders around here, gather in the same complex. And, I know she allows him to be alone starting at 3 years old and now at age 5.

C5H11ONO said...

Why won't he say, "She woke up"?

Is it possible that he can't bring himself to say "She woke up" because that's exactly what happened? What if this admitted child molester went in to her room and began molesting her while she was asleep and Jenise woke up while he was molesting her? I believe if this is what happened then if he is luring by omission he was unable to say "She woke up". That started his act of silencing her. Is this a possibility?

Randie said...

I don't even want to comment on this. However, I will. There are read flags!

This man creates red flags.....disgusting guilt leaking out....like marbles....

C5H11ONO said...

Sorry, lying not luring! These dang phones!

Anonymous said...

I am SO ENRAGED. These parents (and I use that word loosely, because let's face it they didn't act like parents) did not know what their six year old child was doing, where she was, what she was wearing, who she was with, whether or not she had eaten or anything else. This SIX year old child, neglected and allowed to roam the streets like a stray dog, died because of them. They are directly responsible for her death. And people are defending them! People are raising money for them! Fundraising off of the death they could have prevented if they were doing their jobs as parents. I am so angry and disgusted and sickened and deeply saddened by this. I want someone to beat some goddamn sense into them. They are complete wastes of humanity.

Anonymous said...

@anon 2am- sadly, we have plenty of people who "want to find the good" so they will donate to make themselves feel good. They will do it as anon most times, but then they will tell a few friends, because they do not really want to be anon. They think what a great deed they did, share it with the friends, and the friends follow.

It reminds me of the "IF your friends jump off a bridge.." Or "Keeping up with the Joneses"..so and so donated so I best donate so I look as caring as him/her.

Look at the CA case, she was found innocent, or better yet, look at the Night Prowler. He was found guilty yet found the love of many.

This is a very sad case in the sense, that we as a community, knew from the fathers interview Jenise was dead and it was accompanied by neglect and probably abuse.

I gathered that she is living with alcoholic,drug or just really lazy non-caring parents. Which is the neglect. I lean to drinking/drunks.

I personally think her parents do not do drugs but drink in massive excess. This is based on his blaming alcohol for the molestation of the minor child.

Regardless of the outcome of the killer, the parents should be charged at the very least with neglect, abuse and negligent homicide or manslaughter.

John Mc Gowan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John Mc Gowan said...

Wake up" is to drop the pronoun."

3. He is unable to tell us that she woke up.


Peter, i think there could be a forth added to this list.

4. He also doesn't say who it was that "woke up". Was he refering to himself, Janise, or another family member?.

Sheriff: Suspect in disappearance likely got muddy

EATTLE (AP) — The person who might be responsible for the disappearance of a 6-year-old Washington girl would have been "covered in mud," and authorities on Friday asked for the public's help in recalling whether they had seen anyone who fit that description over the weekend.

The wooded area where an FBI team found a body believed to be that of Jenise Wright was covered with thick brush and likely was muddy, and a possible suspect may have muddy clothing, Scott Wilson, a spokesman with the Kitsap County sheriff's office, said Friday.

Meanwhile, Wilson said authorities are collecting DNA cheek swabs from residents who volunteer them in the Bremerton-area mobile home park where Jenise lived. He said the samples would be used to eliminate suspects.

Jenise disappeared over the weekend and was likely found dead Thursday in woods near the trailer park.

Formal identification of the body was expected Friday, but Wilson says authorities believe it is Jenise. Her family has been notified.

Autopsy results revealing the manner and cause of death could be available later Friday.

Authorities are focusing on a criminal investigation of the death. They're trying to track down anyone responsible, and they're not ruling anything out. There have been no arrests in the case, authorities said.

The FBI's Specialty Search Dogs Unit discovered the body after volunteer canine search teams reported their dogs showed interest in a particular area.

Determination of the manner and cause of death is pending, Wilson said, but "we suspect that she just did not go off by herself and fall into some bushes and die."

Jenise was last seen when she went to bed Saturday night. Her parents waited a day before calling for help because they say the girl had wandered around the Steele Creek Mobile Home Park on her own in the past. She was outgoing and unafraid to talk to anyone, family said.

Wilson said Thursday that there were no signs of forced entry at the girl's home and no indication that she was taken from her room.

An FBI evidence research team has finished checking the area where the body was found, and a forensic mapping team from the Washington State Patrol's criminal investigation division planned to map the spot, Wilson said Thursday evening.

The girl's parents are cooperating with authorities, he said.

http://hosted2.ap.org/COGRA/d30f3f32e9d849979111e891380b64db/Article_2014-08-08-US-Missing-Washington-Girl-/id-fe384294a8434dd289dad7fe556efbb5

Tania Cadogan said...

off topic

A lawyer for the wife of a Georgia man arrested in the death of their toddler who was left in a overheated SUV believes the woman has been ruled out as a suspect in the murder case.

The attorney for Leanna Harris says a victims impact statement has been requested of his client, suggesting prosecutors do not intend to charge her.

Her husband, Ross Harris, has been charged with intentionally leaving their son, 22-month-old Cooper, in a hot SUV for seven hours on June 18, killing him.

Leanna Harris has since received a grief package to help her deal with her loss, according to WSBTV.

'In my experience, the district attorney only sends packages like these when they think someone is the victim of a crime,' attorney Lawrence Zimmerman told WSBTV.

'That’s what I believe based on what they’ve sent her.

'This is the most high-profile case in the social media era that Cobb County’s ever had, and the biggest case by far that Vic Reynolds has had since becoming the district attorney.

'This just didn’t get out by mistake.

'That doesn’t happen.'

In her statement, Harris said she is still yet to swallow the loss of her son.

'The death of my son is still unreal,' she said in the statement.

'Not a moment goes by when I don’t think about him or what our future would have held.

'I now live a tortured existence

Harris also said that she has been suffering from depression.

'Some days I completely break down because I miss my baby and my family so much,' Harris wrote.

'The rush to judgment by the public and the mainstream media has left me with little confidence in our legal system and our society.'

Also in the statement, Harris stood up for her husband, saying Cooper's death was accidentally.

'Ross was a wonderful father, and he loved Cooper with all his heart,' she wrote.

'I know without a doubt he would never have knowingly allowed any harm to come to our son.'

Ross Harris has been charged with child cruelty murder and is being held without bond in Cobb jail.

Police are still investigating the child's death.

However they maintain Mr Harris intended to kill his son.

During a bond hearing on July 3, prosecutors claims Mr Harris was leading a double life.

They said he had sent explicit messages to numerous women -including at least one teenager- on the day of Cooper's death.

Investigators had described Mrs Harris' behavior on the day her son died as odd, if not suspicious.

When informed by workers at her son’s day care facility that Cooper had never been dropped off, she calmly responded, ‘Ross must have left him in the car. There’s no other explanation,’ according to Cobb County Police Det. Phil Stoddard’s testimony.

Then, when reunited with her husband at police headquarters after he had been charged with murder, Leanna Harris asked him, ‘Did you say too much?’ according to Stoddard.

When she called home June 18 with the grim news of Cooper’s death, her mother could be overheard on the phone saying: ‘Why aren’t you crying? Why aren’t you reacting?’

Her response, according to Stoddard: ‘I must be in shock.’

Police had previously disclosed that, like her husband, she had researched children dying in hot vehicles prior to her son Cooper’s death, telling officers it was her ‘worst fear.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2720407/I-live-tortured-experience-Mother-cleared-sons-hot-car-death-tells-court-lack-faith-legal-husbands-arrest.html




Anonymous said...

Please do a post on the victim statement by Leeann Harris. I don't have the link but it's on cnn.

Rose said...

I would be shocked in the parents here were NOT drug addicts. How on earth could a kid be neglected to this extreme?

Anonymous said...

OT: RE Leanna Harris' Impact Statement...



The Atlanta defense attorney provided the victim impact statement that was filled out by Leanna Harris, "with help from my attorney," she wrote.

The form, which lists Justin Ross Harris as the defendant and cruelty to children and second degree murder as the charges, asks the person filling it out to state their relationship to the victim of the particular crime.

Leanna Harris wrote, "self," not the name of her son.

*****

Cooper who?

Tania Cadogan said...

off topic BBM

(CNN) -- The mother of a Georgia toddler who died after being left in a car for hours in the sweltering heat says she is a grieving mother caught up in "the storm around my family."

"The rush to judgment by the public and the mainstream media has left me with little confidence in our legal system and our society," Leanna Harris wrote in a victim impact statement obtained by CNN's Victor Blackwell.

Police say Harris' husband, Justin Ross Harris, left 22-month-old Cooper strapped into a car seat in his SUV for seven hours while he went to work on June 18.

Records show the temperature topped 92 that day, and police say it was 88 degrees when the boy was pronounced dead in a parking lot not far from his father's workplace.

Justin Ross Harris has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and child cruelty.

Leanna Harris has not been charged, but her attorney, Lawrence Zimmerman, said Friday that "she is concerned that the district attorney's office may try to level a charge against her."

Police said Harris behaved strangely in the days before and moments after the death of her son.

For example, one detective testified that she asked her husband, "Did you say too much?" in a police interview room after he was arrested, and that she also insisted to employees at her son's day care that "Ross must have left him in the car," when they told her Cooper had not been dropped off that morning. Police also said both parents conducted Internet searches about how hot a car needed to be to kill a child.

Zimmerman, however, wants the world to know his client is suffering.

The Atlanta defense attorney provided the victim impact statement that was filled out by Leanna Harris, "with help from my attorney," she wrote.


The form, which lists Justin Ross Harris as the defendant and cruelty to children and second degree murder as the charges, asks the person filling it out to state their relationship to the victim of the particular crime.

Leanna Harris wrote, "self," not the name of her son.

"Sure, she's a victim," Zimmerman said. "She's lost a child. She's a victim of public perception thinking that she had something to do with it."

The Cobb County District Attorney's Office said the forms are standard practice.

"We are required by the Crime Victim's Bill of Rights to send those forms to all victims or a victim's next of kin," said Kim Isaza, spokeswoman for the Cobb County District Attorney's Office.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/08/us/leanna-harris-victim-statement/

Her attorney is certainly not helping her when she fills out a victim impact statement and, instead of listing her dead child as the victim she lists hersel!

This just goes to show her priorities and where her interests lie and it certainly isnt with her dead son.

I always thought victim impact statements were written and presented at the end of a trial with a guilty verdict prior to sentencing.

Is this normal or is he jumping the gun ytying to distance his client from the crime by portraying her as the victim?
Are we seeing her rolling on hubby in order to save her own skin?
If so, will hubby stay quiet and take the whole rap or will he decide if he is going down, he is taking her with him?

Anonymous said...

I wrote it wrong, it is her 'Victim' statement, not impact.

Sella35 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sella35 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
New England Water Blog said...

An arrest in the Jenise Wright case. Not the parents...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/teen-accused-killing-raping-6-year-old-wash-girl-article-1.1898173

Anonymous said...

Strange the Leanna Harris impact statement- http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2014/images/08/08/cvis.pdf - isn't signed. The crime seems to be the media and the public exercising their first amendment rights.

Anonymous said...

The media going on about the fathers past history with child molestation charges sure had everyone sure it was him. I thought he prob was the one as well but also thought since she was allowed so much freedom and was unsupervised that it was also a high chance another predator did this to her. She was an easy target. Very sad and tragic. Got to watch your kids every minute in the evil world.

Philly Deb said...

Headline: Authorities say a 17-year-old boy arrested in the death and sexual assault of a 6-year-old Washington state girl will be charged as an adult.

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/suspect-in-girls-death-to-be-charged-as-adult