REMEMBERING JOCILYNN

Jocilynn Sierra Graham was 13 months old when she died.

She was still a baby, only beginning her second year of life.

At that age, Jocilynn depended completely on the adults around her for food, comfort, protection and safety. She was too young to understand the complicated custody decisions being made around her and far too young to protect herself when an adult became frustrated.

Very little reliable public information remains about Jocilynn’s personality or the small everyday things she loved.

What survives publicly is dominated by child welfare reports, a criminal investigation and the injuries that ultimately took her life.

Jocilynn deserves more than that.

Before she became the subject of those records, she was a little girl whose life had only just begun.

JOCILYNN’S STORY

During Jocilynn’s short life, concerns were repeatedly raised about the care she was receiving.

In March 2011, child protection authorities received a report involving Jocilynn’s mother, Kayla Graham.

A witness reported seeing Kayla screaming at Jocilynn and noticed a red mark on the baby’s face.

The allegation was investigated and determined to be unfounded. The family was referred to the Family Advocacy Program at Fort Carson.

Approximately five months later, another report was made.

This time, concerns included the cleanliness of Jocilynn’s bottles, formula reportedly caked inside a bottle and a bruise on her cheek.

Additional concerns were raised about whether Jocilynn’s father had the supplies and appropriate living conditions necessary to care for an infant.

In September 2011, custody of Jocilynn was given to her father, Dustin Strickland.

Living with him was his girlfriend, Melissa Alexander.

Only about two months later, Jocilynn was critically injured while in Melissa’s care.

On November 9, 2011, Melissa was caring for Jocilynn while Dustin was away.

According to investigators, Melissa became frustrated with the baby.

She later admitted shaking Jocilynn.

She left the room and then returned and shook her again.

Jocilynn eventually became unresponsive and began gasping for breath.

Instead of immediately calling 911, Melissa took Jocilynn to a neighboring apartment where a woman with medical experience saw the baby and called for emergency help.

Jocilynn was rushed for medical treatment.

Doctors discovered devastating brain injuries.

She also had bruising on her face and arms and fractured ribs.

Jocilynn never regained consciousness.

For one month, she remained in a coma.

On December 9, 2011, life support was withdrawn.

Jocilynn died.

She was 13 months old.

SYSTEM FAILURES & WARNING SIGNS

Jocilynn’s death followed multiple reports concerning her safety during the first year of her life.

The first documented report came in March 2011, when someone reported seeing Jocilynn’s mother screaming at her and noticed a red mark on the baby's face.

The allegation was determined to be unfounded.

Months later, another person reported concerns about Jocilynn’s care, including dirty bottles and a bruise on her cheek.

There were also questions about whether her father had an appropriate home and the necessary supplies to care for her.

Ultimately, custody was transferred to him.

That did not end the danger surrounding Jocilynn.

After she was placed with her father, Melissa reportedly sought child care assistance from the El Paso County Department of Human Services.

She was told that no one else had been approved to care for Jocilynn while Dustin was away.

Melissa remained responsible for the baby.

Two months after the custody change, Jocilynn suffered the injuries that would kill her.

The investigation after Jocilynn was hospitalized uncovered additional information.

Melissa admitted to previous acts of physical aggression toward the baby, including throwing a sippy cup at Jocilynn’s head.

The reports made during Jocilynn’s first year involved different adults and different concerns.

Some were not substantiated.

But together, they show how frequently adults outside the immediate household were worried enough about this baby to contact authorities.

Jocilynn moved from one concerning environment into another.

The custody change intended to make her safer did not protect her.

JUSTICE FOR JOCILYNN

Melissa Alexander was arrested after Jocilynn was critically injured.

Her explanations for Jocilynn’s injuries changed during the investigation.

Melissa ultimately admitted shaking the baby, although her defense later disputed whether shaking or a fall from a couch caused the fatal injuries.

She pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death.

On July 23, 2012, Melissa appeared before a judge for sentencing.

She was sentenced to 36 years in prison.

Melissa Alexander

Relationship to Jocilynn: Father’s Girlfriend

Conviction: Child abuse resulting in death

Sentence: 36 years in prison

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Jocilynn spent the final month of her life unable to wake up.

She had been alive for only a little more than a year.

There should have been so much more waiting for her.

First words that became conversations.

Unsteady steps that became running.

Favorite foods.

Favorite songs.

A first day of school.

Friends.

Birthdays.

A childhood.

Instead, the public record of Jocilynn’s life became a collection of reports documenting adults' concerns about whether she was safe.

Someone noticed a mark.

Someone noticed a bruise.

Someone worried about the way she was being cared for.

Then, at 13 months old, Jocilynn was injured so severely that she never opened her eyes again.

At Melissa’s sentencing, one of the detectives who had spent time at Jocilynn’s bedside explained why officers continued visiting the little girl while she lay in a coma.

They wanted Jocilynn to know that there were people in the world who cared about her.

She could not answer them.

She could not tell them whether she heard them.

But they stayed.

That part of Jocilynn’s story deserves to survive alongside everything else.

During the final weeks of her life, while machines kept her tiny body alive, people sat beside a little girl they had met under terrible circumstances simply because they did not want her to be alone.

Jocilynn should have experienced that kind of care throughout a long life.

She should have been protected long before a hospital room was the only place left to protect her.

Her life lasted 13 months.

Her name should not disappear with the records of the case created after she was gone.

Abuse Angels remembers Jocilynn Sierra Graham.

Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.

Brenlee MaKenna Gilbert was only 11 weeks old when she died.

She was born on March 5, 2013, in Independence, Missouri, to Stephanie Ann Hicklin and Alex Anthony Gilbert.

In the short time her family was given with her, Brenlee had already begun showing them pieces of her personality.

Her family remembered her big blue eyes and an infectious smile.

She was loved by a large extended family and had two brothers, Bentlee and Bryson, and a sister, Baylee.

Brenlee was still at an age when nearly everything was new.

She should have had years for her family to discover who she would become.

Instead, the memories they were able to make with her fit into only 11 weeks.

BRENLEE’S STORY

In May 2013, Brenlee lived with her mother in Bates City, Missouri.

During the days before she was hospitalized, Brenlee was left alone with her father, Alex Gilbert.

After one of those periods, Stephanie noticed changes in her baby.

Brenlee slept through the night without waking for her usual feeding.

The following day, she drank very little formula.

Stephanie later told investigators that Alex had complained about having to care for Brenlee and made a disturbing comment about throwing the baby against a wall.

On May 17, Brenlee’s condition became critical.

She began gasping for air.

Emergency responders were called.

Police found the infant unresponsive and turning blue.

Brenlee was rushed to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Blue Springs before being transferred to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

Doctors discovered devastating injuries.

Brenlee had suffered severe trauma to her head and brain.

She also had numerous broken bones.

Some of the fractures were recent.

Others were already healing.

The injuries showed that what happened to Brenlee had not been limited to a single moment.

Her tiny body had been injured repeatedly.

Brenlee was placed on life support.

For three days, doctors attempted to save her.

They could not.

Brenlee died at Children’s Mercy Hospital on May 20, 2013.

The medical examiner determined that her cause of death was abusive head trauma caused by shaking and blunt force trauma.

She was 11 weeks old.

WARNING SIGNS

The investigation into Brenlee’s death revealed injuries in different stages of healing.

Her autopsy documented both recent and healing fractures.

That meant Brenlee had been injured before the final assault that caused her fatal brain trauma.

There were also signs of violence involving her mother.

A detective who spoke with Stephanie at the hospital documented that she had two black eyes and a bruise on her forehead.

Those circumstances provide important context surrounding the violence within the family.

However, I have not included a SYSTEM FAILURES section because the available record does not establish that child protection authorities, police or medical professionals had received and mishandled reports concerning abuse of Brenlee before her fatal hospitalization.

The strongest warning signs became clear during the investigation after she was already critically injured.

Brenlee was only weeks old.

She could not tell anyone that she had been hurt before.

She could not identify the person hurting her.

She could not leave.

The healing injuries discovered after her death became the voice she had never been old enough to use.

JUSTICE FOR BRENLEE

Alex Anthony Gilbert was arrested and initially charged with second degree murder in connection with his daughter’s death.

The medical evidence showed extensive trauma, including multiple fractures and catastrophic injuries to Brenlee’s brain.

The criminal case ultimately ended with a plea agreement.

In March 2014, Alex pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

In May 2014, a Lafayette County judge sentenced him to 15 years in Missouri state prison.

Alex Anthony Gilbert

Relationship to Brenlee: Father

Conviction: Voluntary manslaughter

Sentence: 15 years in prison

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Eleven weeks is barely enough time to begin getting to know a baby.

It is enough time to recognize her eyes.

To learn the expressions on her face.

To know the sound of her cry.

To notice the beginnings of a smile.

For Brenlee’s family, it was enough time to fall completely in love with her.

Her obituary did not describe her through the injuries that eventually filled police reports and court records.

It remembered her big blue eyes.

It remembered her infectious smile.

It said simply that Brenlee was loved by many.

After Brenlee died, her mother made the decision to donate what could be donated from her daughter's tiny body.

Brenlee’s kidneys were given to a 51 year old recipient, while other tissue and organs were donated for medical research.

Her mother hoped that something from Brenlee might save another life and spare another family from experiencing the grief hers was facing.

Even after Brenlee could no longer be saved, pieces of her life were used to help someone else.

But Brenlee should never have needed a legacy at 11 weeks old.

Her family should have watched those big blue eyes follow the world around her.

Her infectious smile should have become laughter.

She should have learned to sit up.

To crawl.

To walk.

Her brothers and sister should have watched their baby sister grow beside them.

There should have been a first birthday.

Then another.

And another.

Instead, the people who loved Brenlee were left with eleven weeks of memories and an entire lifetime of wondering who she would have become.

Brenlee MaKenna Gilbert was here.

She was loved.

Her short life mattered.

Abuse Angels remembers Brenlee MaKenna Gilbert.

Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.