REMEMBERING ASHYA

Ashya Merlin Joseph was only sixteen months old when she died. She was the youngest of five children in her family, with three older brothers, Dontrell, Domenic and Supreme, and an older sister, Amarjahan. Her obituary remembered Ashya as deeply loved by her grandparents, extended family and friends. Only a few months before Ashya's death, her father, Simeon Joseph, died by suicide. Ashya was too young to understand the turmoil surrounding her family. At sixteen months old, her world should have consisted of being held, learning new words, exploring everything within reach and following her older siblings around. Instead, Ashya's life ended inside the home where she should have been safest.

ASHYA’S STORY

Before Ashya's death, her family was already known to the El Paso County Department of Human Services. Colorado's official Child Fatality Review later documented repeated child welfare involvement with the family, including allegations of physical abuse and domestic violence.  The family's circumstances became even more serious in October 2007. Ashya's father, Simeon Joseph, fired a gun during a domestic violence incident involving Maria while the children were present. Four days later, Simeon died by suicide at the family home.  Maria was left caring for five young children while grieving her husband's death. In the months that followed, people around the family became increasingly concerned about her emotional condition and the safety of the children. Those concerns became particularly urgent in January 2008.

According to Colorado's Child Fatality Review, child welfare received information indicating Maria had been making funeral arrangements for herself and the children. A caseworker attempted to develop a plan under which someone would watch the children while Maria went to a crisis center for evaluation. Maria was evaluated and returned home rather than being hospitalized.  Five days later, on the night of January 28, 2008, Maria gathered her five children inside the family's Colorado Springs home. Investigators determined that gasoline was poured on the children while they were together in a bedroom and then ignited. The children were trapped inside the fire. One of Ashya's older brothers called 911. Emergency responders arrived at the Galena Court home and found all five children with burn injuries. Ashya suffered the most devastating injuries. She did not survive.  Her four older siblings survived but suffered serious burns, some requiring extensive hospitalization and treatment at specialized burn centers. Ashya's official Colorado Child Fatality Review determined that she died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries caused by the intentionally set fire. Her death was ruled a homicide. Ashya was sixteen months old.

SYSTEM FAILURES & WARNING SIGNS

Ashya's death occurred after years of documented concerns surrounding her family. The Colorado Department of Human Services conducted an official Child Fatality Review specifically examining how El Paso County child welfare had handled the family before Ashya died. There had been multiple referrals involving the children. Concerns included allegations of bruising and other physical injuries, domestic violence and instability inside the home. Then came the October 2007 shooting incident involving Ashya's parents. Simeon fired a gun during a confrontation with Maria while the children were present.Days later, he died by suicide. The family's circumstances had become extraordinarily unstable. But the most alarming warning came shortly before Ashya's death. Child welfare received information that Maria was making funeral arrangements for herself and her children. That information suggested not merely that Maria was struggling, but that the children's immediate safety could be at risk. Housecreep A caseworker attempted to arrange for someone to watch the children while Maria sought crisis treatment. After an evaluation, she returned home. The children remained with her. Five nights later, Ashya was dead and her four siblings were seriously injured.  The state review that followed identified concerns with the county's handling of the case and resulted in corrective actions and recommendations concerning child welfare practice. The report cautioned that its findings should not be interpreted as legally establishing that county actions caused Ashya's death.  That distinction matters. So does the timeline. Before Ashya died, authorities had received repeated reports involving the family, knew about serious domestic violence and knew that the children's mother had recently been experiencing a profound crisis. Most significantly, child welfare received a warning involving funeral arrangements for Maria and her children. Ashya was sixteen months old. She had no ability to recognize those warning signs herself, leave the home or ask someone to protect her. She depended entirely upon adults to do that for her.

JUSTICE FOR ASHYA

Maria Darlene Gardner, who also used the surname Joseph, was initially charged with seventeen felony counts, including first degree murder, attempted murder, child abuse and arson. She initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The case was ultimately resolved without a trial. Gardner pleaded guilty to child abuse causing death for Ashya's killing and four counts of child abuse causing serious bodily injury involving Ashya's surviving siblings.  She was sentenced to eighty five years in prison. 

Maria Darlene Gardner

Relationship to Ashya: Mother

Conviction: Child abuse causing death; Four counts of child abuse causing serious bodily injury

Sentence: 85 years in prison

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Ashya's life lasted only sixteen months. She was the baby of a family with five children. Her older siblings survived the night that killed her, but they were left with injuries and memories no children should ever have had to carry. Ashya never had the opportunity to grow beyond that night.She never reached her second birthday. She never started school. She never had the chance to become old enough to tell people what she remembered about her father, her brothers and sister, or the home where she spent her first sixteen months. Her obituary gives us something the official reports cannot. It gives us her full name. Ashya Merlin Joseph. It names the brothers and sister who shared her short life. It names grandparents and extended family who loved her. And it reminds us that outside the pages of a child fatality investigation, Ashya belonged to people who mourned her. Legacy.com The government records surrounding Ashya's death are filled with referrals, assessments, timelines and recommendations. Those records matter because the warning signs matter. But Ashya was never a case file. She was a little girl. She deserved safety before anyone needed to review what went wrong. She deserved a childhood long enough for sixteen months to become only its beginning. Instead, sixteen months became her entire lifetime. Ashya Merlin Joseph was here. Her life mattered. Abuse Angels remembers Ashya Merlin Joseph. Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.