REMEMBERING DAVONTAE

Davontae Marcel Williams was nine years old. He was born prematurely and experienced developmental delays, including difficulties with speech. When Davontae attended Webb Elementary School in Arlington, his first grade teacher remembered a little boy who was capable of learning but easily distracted. He sometimes needed to sit close to his teacher to help him focus. Davontae needed stability, patience and adults willing to understand his needs. For a period of his childhood, he experienced something different from the home where he would eventually die. He lived in foster care. Years later, after Davontae’s death, his former foster parents left a message in his obituary telling him that they loved him. Davontae had people who remembered him. But the final years of his life became increasingly isolated. He disappeared from school. He disappeared from doctors. Eventually, he disappeared from the child protection system that had known his name since he was an infant. By the time authorities saw Davontae again, the nine year old boy was dead.

DAVONTAE’S STORY

Concerns about Davontae began almost at the beginning of his life. When he was approximately two months old, Child Protective Services received its first report concerning his care. It would not be the last. In 1999, when Davontae was four, authorities investigated serious physical abuse. Davontae had thinning hair, bruising and swelling. Child Protective Services determined that Lisa Coleman had physically abused him and that his mother, Marcella Williams, had failed to protect him. Davontae and his younger sister were removed from the home and placed in foster care. Approximately one year later, Marcella regained custody. A critical condition of Davontae’s return was that Lisa was not supposed to be living in the home. But Lisa eventually returned. More concerns followed. In October 2002, Child Protective Services received another report alleging that Davontae was being physically and medically neglected. Investigators attempted repeatedly to locate the family. They could not. Davontae stopped attending school. His mother and Lisa kept him away from doctors. According to evidence later presented in court, they feared that teachers or medical professionals would see the evidence of abuse and contact Child Protective Services. Davontae became increasingly isolated inside the apartment.

Lisa later admitted that she beat Davontae with a belt until early 2004, stopping because the beatings left welts. She admitted hitting and pushing him. Davontae suffered a split lip. He was repeatedly restrained. His sister later testified that Lisa tied Davontae with an extension cord in the bathroom. At times his restraints were so tight that they cut deeply into his skin. Evidence showed that Davontae was also confined in a pantry. Investigators later found a lock high on the pantry door and a dried urine stain on the floor. Davontae was prevented from freely accessing food. As the abuse continued, his body began starving. His growth stopped. His weight dropped dramatically. His body began consuming its own fat and muscle in an attempt to survive. His wounds struggled to heal because he was not receiving enough protein. His body developed abnormal hair growth associated with severe starvation. Still, Davontae was not taken to a doctor. Marcella later admitted that when she realized her son was weak in the days before his death, she did not seek medical treatment because of the marks on his body. She knew medical professionals would call Child Protective Services. On July 26, 2004, Marcella called 911 and reported that Davontae had stopped breathing. When paramedics arrived at the Arlington apartment, Davontae was lying on the bathroom floor wearing only a disposable diaper and bandages. His body was already in rigor mortis. He had been dead for hours. The paramedics were shocked when they learned his age. He was nine. His emaciated body looked like that of a much younger child. He weighed approximately 36 pounds. An examination revealed more than 250 separate injuries, scars and wounds across his body. There were injuries consistent with repeated restraint. There were burns. There were wounds around his wrists and ankles. There were bruises and scars covering his body. The medical examiner determined that Davontae died from severe malnutrition complicated by pneumonia. His death was ruled a homicide.

SYSTEM FAILURES & WARNING SIGNS

Davontae was not an invisible child. Child Protective Services had known about him since infancy. The agency investigated his family six times during his nine years of life. The first investigation began when Davontae was approximately two months old. In 1999, the system recognized that he was in danger.  Child Protective Services determined that Lisa Coleman had physically abused Davontae and that Marcella had failed to protect him. Davontae was removed. He spent approximately a year in foster care. He was then returned to his mother after she agreed that Lisa would not live in the home. But Lisa returned. In October 2002, another report alleged physical and medical neglect. Child Protective Services attempted repeatedly to locate the family. Investigators went to the family’s home nine times between November and December 2002. They were unable to make contact. The family moved frequently, and authorities eventually lost track of them. Meanwhile, Davontae disappeared from school and medical care. The very institutions most likely to see his injuries no longer saw him. By the time the child protection system encountered Davontae again, the four year old boy it had once removed for his safety was nine years old. And he was dead. Davontae’s death became one of several child fatalities that forced Texas to confront serious weaknesses in its child protection system and contributed to calls for major reforms and additional Child Protective Services staffing. The warning signs in Davontae’s life stretched across years. There were allegations of neglect beginning when he was an infant. There was documented physical abuse. There was a previous removal from his home. There was a mother who had already been found to have failed to protect him. There was an agreement that Lisa Coleman would not live with the family. There were later allegations of physical and medical neglect. There was a child who disappeared from school. There was a child who stopped receiving medical care. And inside the apartment, Davontae’s body showed the consequences. He was beaten. He was restrained. He was isolated from food. He became weaker. His growth stopped. His weight collapsed. His body was covered with injuries. Yet the adults responsible for him deliberately avoided the very people who might recognize what was happening. Davontae needed someone to find him before his abusers succeeded in making him invisible.

JUSTICE FOR DAVONTAE

Marcella Williams and Lisa Ann Coleman were both arrested following Davontae’s death. The charges were eventually elevated to capital murder. Prosecutors alleged that Davontae had been intentionally restrained and deprived of food and argued that his confinement constituted kidnapping, allowing the state to pursue capital murder charges. Both women were offered plea agreements that would spare them the death penalty. Marcella accepted. She pleaded guilty and received life in prison.

Lisa rejected the agreement and went to trial. In June 2006, a Tarrant County jury convicted Lisa of capital murder. The jury also convicted her of injury to a child.

Lisa was sentenced to death for capital murder and received an additional 99 year sentence for injury to a child. Her capital murder conviction and death sentence survived years of state and federal appeals. On September 17, 2014, the State of Texas executed Lisa Ann Coleman by lethal injection. She was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m.

 

Marcella Williams

Relationship to Davontae: Mother

Conviction: Capital murder

Sentence: Life in prison

 

Lisa Ann Coleman

Relationship to Davontae: Mother’s partner

Convictions: Capital murder and injury to a child

Sentence: Death for capital murder; 99 years for injury to a child

Execution: September 17, 2014

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Davontae Marcel Williams spent nine years in this world. For nearly all of those years, there were signs that he needed protection. At four years old, someone did protect him. He was removed from the home where he had been hurt. He lived somewhere else. He had foster parents who would remember him years later and publicly tell him that they loved him. Then he was returned. Eventually Davontae disappeared behind the walls of an apartment. He disappeared from his classroom. He disappeared from doctors. He disappeared from the people whose jobs included protecting him. But Davontae should never disappear from memory. The photograph that remains of him shows a child. Not 250 injuries. Not a capital murder case. Not a death sentence. A little boy. Davontae deserved adults who understood his developmental needs. He deserved to go to school. He deserved enough food to grow. He deserved medical care when he was sick. He deserved freedom from restraints and violence. He deserved to be found. Davontae Marcel Williams was nine years old. His life mattered long before his death became a court case. Abuse Angels remembers Davontae Marcel Williams. Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.