REMEMBERING MIKAYLA

Mikayla Alice Marie Valentine was five years old. She was born on September 13, 2005, the daughter of Robert M. Valentine Jr. and Michelle L. Movall.

At five years old, Mikayla was at an age when the world should have been opening up around her. She should have been learning new things every day, making friends, playing, laughing and beginning the first chapters of a childhood that should have lasted for many more years. Instead, Mikayla’s life ended before she ever had the opportunity to grow up. Her name was Mikayla Alice Marie Valentine. She was a daughter. She was a little girl. And she deserved to be safe in her own home.

MIKAYLA’S STORY

On January 7, 2011, Mikayla’s father, Robert Valentine Jr., left his five year old daughter in the care of his girlfriend, Kara Crapser. Later that day, emergency personnel were called to the family's home in Eagle Grove after Mikayla became unresponsive. Mikayla was initially taken for emergency medical treatment and then transported by air ambulance to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics because of the severity of her injuries. Doctors were unable to save her. At approximately 9:00 the following morning, January 8, 2011, Mikayla was pronounced dead. Crapser initially claimed that Mikayla had fallen down the stairs. But Mikayla’s injuries told a different story. An autopsy performed by the Johnson County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Mikayla died from abusive head trauma. Investigators eventually learned that Mikayla’s death had not occurred in isolation. People who knew Mikayla had reportedly observed abuse before her death. During later court proceedings, school employees and others who had opportunities to observe Mikayla were prepared to testify that she had previously been abused by Crapser. Mikayla’s father himself described Crapser as the person who handled discipline in the home and acknowledged that he disagreed with some of her disciplinary practices. Other witnesses were also prepared to describe specific abusive methods Crapser had used against Mikayla.

When investigators confronted Crapser with evidence showing that her explanation of a fall down the stairs was not believable, she confessed.

WARNING SIGNS & SYSTEM FAILURES

The evidence developed during the criminal case showed that there were warning signs before Mikayla died. School employees and other people who had contact with Mikayla were prepared to testify that they had observed evidence that she was being abused by Crapser. There were also people familiar with the household who knew about Crapser’s methods of disciplining Mikayla. Most troublingly, Mikayla’s own father reportedly disagreed with Crapser’s disciplinary practices. Yet Mikayla was still left in Crapser’s care on January 7, 2011. She would never come home again. Mikayla was five. She could not choose another home. She could not decide who cared for her. She depended upon the adults around her to recognize when discipline had crossed into abuse and to remove her from danger. By the time the full extent of that danger was recognized, Mikayla had already suffered fatal injuries.

JUSTICE FOR MIKAYLA

Kara Crapser was initially charged with first degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. On April 24, 2012, she pleaded guilty to the amended charge of second degree murder. The plea spared Crapser from the possibility of a conviction for first degree murder, which could have resulted in life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. For second degree murder, Crapser was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Under the sentence, she is required to serve 70 percent of the 50 year term before becoming eligible for parole. Crapser later challenged her conviction through post conviction proceedings. Her challenge was denied, and in 2017 the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision. Mikayla’s father, Robert Valentine Jr., also faced criminal charges following his daughter’s death. In June 2012, authorities charged him with child endangerment resulting in death and child endangerment resulting in serious injury.

Kara Crapser
Relationship to Mikayla: Father’s girlfriend and caregiver
Conviction: Second degree murder
Sentence: 50 years in prison, with 70 percent required before parole eligibility

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Mikayla Valentine was five years old. Five years is enough time for a child to develop a personality. To have favorite things. To recognize familiar faces. To laugh at things adults do not understand. To make memories. But it is nowhere near enough time to live a life. Mikayla should have had a sixth birthday. Then a seventh. She should have continued through school. She should have  had friendships, hobbies, dreams and plans. There should have been teenage years. Graduation. Adulthood. There should have been enough time for Mikayla to decide for herself who she wanted to become. Instead, much of what survives publicly about her life describes what adults did to her and what happened in court afterward. But Mikayla was here before there was a criminal case. Before there was an autopsy. Before there was a sentence. She was a little girl. The violence that ended Mikayla’s life belongs to the person who inflicted it. It does not define Mikayla. Her name was Mikayla Valentine. Abuse Angels remembers Mikayla Valentine the five year old little girl who deserved safety, protection and the chance to grow into the person she was meant to become. We remember Mikayla. We speak her name. And Mikayla Alice Marie Valentine will not be forgotten.