REMEMBERING MARKEA

Markea Blakely-Berry was sixteen years old when she died on June 15, 2012. Markea had been born prematurely and lived with developmental and mental health challenges. At fourteen, police described her as functioning academically at approximately a third grade level. She was a vulnerable teenager who depended upon the adults around her to recognize when she needed help and make sure she received it. Two years before her death, Markea did something that, in hindsight, should have made the danger surrounding her impossible to ignore. She left home. Police eventually found the fourteen year old at a Walmart. She appeared undernourished and reportedly explained that she had left because she did not want to be a burden on her mother. Markea was found and returned. But the problems that led her away from home did not end. By the time Markea died less than two years later, the sixteen year old weighed only 43 pounds. Her death would expose not only severe neglect inside her home, but years of opportunities in which child protection agencies could have intervened more forcefully to protect her.

MARKEA’S STORY

Concerns about the Berry children stretched back years before Markea died. The family had been investigated by child protection authorities in both Michigan and Georgia over a period approaching a decade. After the family moved to Georgia, Cobb County child welfare workers continued receiving information that raised concerns about the children's welfare. Markea and her siblings were homeschooled. According to Georgia child welfare records later reviewed by reporters, the children said their mother had instructed them not to speak with outsiders, particularly social workers. Ebony sometimes yelled at caseworkers, refused to answer the door or telephone, and resisted their attempts to intervene. Then, in 2010, fourteen year old Markea disappeared from home. Police found her the following morning at a Walmart. The incident brought child protection workers back into Markea's life. Caseworkers saw that Markea was thin. One worker described her as extremely thin, and both a caseworker and supervisor subsequently documented concerns that she was undernourished. Those concerns should have resulted in continued scrutiny of Markea's health. Instead, the case was closed. Officials later acknowledged that Ebony had avoided efforts to require medical care for Markea and her siblings. Despite the documented concerns about Markea's weight and nutrition, the agency did not maintain an open case to ensure that she received the medical attention she needed. Over the following months, Markea's condition continued to deteriorate. Investigators ultimately concluded that Markea suffered from eating disorders, including anorexia and bulimia, as well as mental health conditions. Prosecutors would later make an important distinction: they did not conclude that Ebony deliberately withheld food in an attempt to starve her daughter to death. But Markea desperately needed medical treatment. And her mother did not obtain it. Ebony later acknowledged to investigators that she knew Markea's condition was getting worse. She said she did not seek medical treatment because she feared outsiders would criticize her over her daughter's condition. Inside the home, investigators also discovered disturbing conditions. Markea was reportedly locked in her bedroom at night with absorbent pads and a urinal. Ebony claimed this was done to prevent other people from entering Markea's room. By June 2012, Markea's body had been devastated by malnutrition. On June 15, Ebony found her daughter unresponsive. She did not immediately call 911. Prosecutors later said Ebony waited more than an hour. During that time, she called her parents and attended to her other children. When police arrived, they found Markea's body lying on a mattress on the floor. The sixteen year old weighed only 43 pounds. A detective who saw Markea described a teenager with almost no muscle mass remaining and whose bones were plainly visible beneath her skin. Markea had died from severe malnutrition. Her mother was arrested that same day.

SYSTEM FAILURES

Markea's death became one of those cases in which the child protection agency itself acknowledged that something had gone terribly wrong. This was not a family unknown to authorities. Child protection agencies in Michigan and Georgia had investigated concerns involving the Berry family for nearly ten years. And Markea herself had provided an unmistakable opportunity for intervention. At fourteen, she left home and was eventually found at a Walmart. She appeared undernourished. She reportedly told police she did not want to be a burden on her mother. Caseworkers became involved. They documented concerns about her weight and nutrition. Yet the case was closed. Georgia's child welfare agency had used a strategy known as diversion, in which some families were referred to services rather than subjected to a traditional child protection investigation. After Markea died, child welfare advocates said hers had clearly not been an appropriate case for diversion. More significantly, Georgia Division of Family and Children Services Director Ron Scroggy publicly acknowledged the agency's failure. He said Markea's case should have remained open, a care plan should have been established, and the agency should have followed up. The agency knew Markea appeared undernourished. It knew there were difficulties obtaining cooperation from her mother. It knew workers had been unable to ensure that Markea received medical attention. And it closed the case anyway. Less than two years later, Markea was dead at sixteen years old and weighed 43 pounds. Her death ultimately led to changes in Georgia DFCS procedures, and Markea's estate later filed a $1 million wrongful death lawsuit against the agency. A social worker retained in connection with the lawsuit concluded that the case contained multiple red flags and that a proper investigation likely could have prevented Markea's death.

JUSTICE FOR MARKEA

Ebony Espree Berry was arrested on the day Markea died and initially charged with murder and child cruelty. In March 2013, a Cobb County grand jury indicted her on charges that included murder, felony murder and two counts of first degree cruelty to children. Prosecutors alleged that she failed to provide Markea with adequate nutrition and necessary medical care. As the investigation continued, prosecutors determined that the evidence did not establish that Ebony had intentionally starved her daughter. They concluded that Markea suffered from eating disorders and that Ebony's criminal responsibility came from failing to obtain the medical treatment her daughter desperately needed. In September 2014, Ebony pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and two counts of cruelty to children. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison followed by 10 years of probation. As part of the sentence, she was prohibited from having contact with children while on probation.

 

Ebony Espree Berry

Relationship to Markea: Mother
Convictions: Involuntary manslaughter and two counts of cruelty to children
Outcome: Guilty plea
Sentence: 30 years in prison followed by 10 years of probation

FOREVER REMEMBERED

There is one moment in Markea's story that is particularly difficult to forget. At fourteen years old, she walked away. She was a vulnerable child with developmental challenges, yet somehow she made her way to a Walmart and remained there until police found her. She reportedly told them she did not want to be a burden. A fourteen year old child should never have carried that thought. Markea was not a burden. Her need for food was not a burden. Her developmental needs were not a burden. Her mental health needs were not a burden. Taking her to doctors, obtaining treatment and making sure she was safe were responsibilities that belonged to the adults around her.Markea deserved to know that needing help did not make her less worthy of love or protection. She deserved adults who recognized how vulnerable she was and refused to close a file until they knew she was safe. Instead, less than two years after she was found alone at Walmart, Markea died weighing only 43 pounds. Her death forced people to examine the decisions that had been made while she was still alive. But Markea should not have had to die for those failures to matter.

She was sixteen. She was vulnerable. She needed help. And she deserved to receive it. Abuse Angels remembers Markea Blakely-Berry. Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.