REMEMBERING HEAVEN

Heaven Octavia Woods was five years old.

Her name suited the little girl whose family would continue speaking about her long after her death.

Heaven had a father and extended family who loved her and wanted her safe.

Her father, Anthony Woods, fought for greater access to his daughter and repeatedly went to court seeking custody.

Heaven’s grandmother remembered her beautiful face.

Years after Heaven died, members of her family continued leaving messages telling her they loved and missed her.

She should have been growing up surrounded by those people.

She should have gone to school, celebrated birthdays and become old enough to tell her own story.

Instead, before Heaven reached six years old, her life became marked by repeated concerns about abuse, unexplained injuries and adults trying to explain away what others could see.

By the time the truth could no longer be hidden, Heaven was dead.

HEAVEN’S STORY

Heaven was born on January 30, 2009.

She lived for much of her childhood with her mother, Amanda Hendrickson.

Concerns surrounding the family began when Heaven was very young.

Over the years, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services received repeated reports involving Heaven or her siblings.

The allegations included physical abuse, bruises, welts, inadequate food and shelter, emotional neglect and other concerns.

Some reports were screened out without a formal investigation.

Others resulted in referrals or additional involvement.

Family members also began noticing injuries.

Heaven’s grandmother recalled seeing a knot on Heaven’s head.

Amanda reportedly explained that Heaven was clumsy and had fallen against a coffee table.

At another time, relatives saw bruising around Heaven’s neck that appeared to resemble the shape of a hand.

Amanda reportedly said Heaven was autistic and had injured herself.

Heaven’s aunt later recalled seeing Amanda become angry and grab Heaven by the hair, lifting the little girl from the floor.

Concerns were also being raised by Heaven’s father.

In October 2012, Anthony Woods asked a court for primary custody of his daughter.

He alleged that Amanda had been violent toward Heaven and asked that her contact with the child be restricted.

Amanda disputed those allegations and accused Anthony of violence instead.

Anthony continued trying to obtain access to Heaven, returning to court in 2013 and again in January 2014.

The warnings continued.

Near the end of April 2014, another report reached DFCS.

A witness reported seeing an adult kicking Heaven hard in the back while walking down the street.

On May 1, a caseworker went to Heaven’s home.

No injuries were reportedly found on her back, although the case record suggested that other suspicious marks were observed.

The investigation remained unresolved.

Within days, Amanda moved Heaven from Rome, Georgia, to Forsyth in Monroe County, where they stayed with Amanda’s boyfriend, Roderick Buckner.

Less than three weeks later, Heaven was dead.

On the morning of May 20, 2014, 911 received calls reporting that Heaven was unresponsive inside the Brookwood Drive home.

First responders arrived at 8:51 a.m.

Heaven was not breathing.

They immediately began CPR and transported her to Monroe County Hospital.

She could not be revived.

Heaven was pronounced dead.

She was five years old.

The injuries on her body immediately raised concerns about abuse.

An autopsy performed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab determined that Heaven died from blunt force trauma to her abdomen.

Her death was ruled a homicide.

The medical examiner also found numerous other injuries.

Some were new.

Others had already begun healing.

Investigators concluded that the violence Heaven suffered had not begun only on the day she died.

SYSTEM FAILURES

Heaven Woods was not an unknown child who died before anyone had reason to suspect she was in danger.

Her family had a lengthy history with the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.

Between 2009 and Heaven’s death in 2014, DFCS received nine reports involving Heaven or her siblings.

The allegations included physical abuse, bruises, welts, abrasions, inadequate food and shelter and emotional neglect.

Most of the reports were screened out without a formal investigation.

At times the family was referred to ministries or other social service organizations instead.

Warnings also existed outside the child welfare system.

Family members had seen unexplained injuries.

Heaven’s father had gone to court seeking custody and alleging that his daughter was being subjected to violence.

Then came the final report.

At the end of April 2014, someone reported witnessing an adult kicking Heaven hard in the back.

A caseworker visited on May 1.

The case remained open.

Yet Heaven remained in the home.

She then moved to another county with her mother.

On May 20, she was dead.

Afterward, child welfare records revealed the long history of reports that had preceded her death.

Former child welfare officials publicly questioned how a five year old child could die while an investigation concerning possible abuse was underway.

Heaven’s death raised questions not only about one missed report, but about years of information that had never been pieced together strongly enough to protect her.

Individually, an unexplained bruise could be dismissed.

One allegation could be disputed.

One report could be screened out.

But Heaven’s history contained repeated reports, repeated injuries, repeated concerns from relatives and a father repeatedly asking a court to protect his daughter.

The full pattern mattered.

Heaven died before the system acted on it.

WARNING SIGNS

The warning signs surrounding Heaven accumulated over years.

Relatives saw bruises and other unexplained injuries.

A knot appeared on her head.

Marks around her throat raised concern.

A family member witnessed her mother pulling her by the hair.

Her father alleged violence toward Heaven in court.

Multiple reports reached child protective authorities.

Then, only weeks before her death, a witness reported seeing Heaven kicked hard in the back.

Children sometimes suffer ordinary bumps and bruises.

But repeated unexplained injuries require more than repeated explanations.

When bruises, injuries, behavioral concerns and reports of violence continue to accumulate around the same child, each new incident must be considered alongside the child's history.

Heaven was five.

She depended on adults to recognize the pattern she was too young and vulnerable to escape.

JUSTICE FOR HEAVEN

Amanda Hendrickson and Roderick Buckner were arrested following Heaven’s death.

They were initially charged with first degree cruelty to children, and Amanda was additionally charged with making a false statement.

After the autopsy confirmed that Heaven had been killed by blunt force trauma, both adults were additionally charged with felony murder and aggravated battery.

Roderick later pleaded guilty in connection with Heaven’s death.

As part of his plea, he agreed to testify against Amanda.

He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors announced that they intended to seek the death penalty against Amanda.

She pleaded not guilty and continued facing murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and child cruelty charges.

A sufficiently reliable final disposition of Amanda’s criminal case has not been established for this memorial.

Roderick Buckner

Relationship to Heaven: Mother’s boyfriend and caregiver

Charges included: Felony murder, aggravated battery and first degree cruelty to children

Outcome: Guilty plea

Sentence: Life in prison without the possibility of parole

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Heaven Octavia Woods had people who wanted her.

Her father went to court trying to gain custody.

Her relatives noticed injuries.

People called child protection authorities.

Someone saw her being hurt in public and reported it.

There were opportunities for Heaven’s story to become one of rescue instead of remembrance.

Those opportunities passed.

On May 20, 2014, a five year old little girl reached the end of a childhood that should have barely begun.

The criminal case documented her injuries.

The child welfare records documented years of concerns.

But neither can fully document what was taken from Heaven.

No report can describe the teenager she might have become.

No court filing can tell us what she would have loved as she grew older.

No autopsy can measure the birthdays, friendships, school days and ordinary moments that should have filled her life.

Her family has continued remembering her long after the headlines ended.

Messages from her father and grandmother years later still speak directly to Heaven, telling her she is loved and missed.

That is part of her story too.

Heaven was not forgotten when the case ended.

She is not forgotten now.

She was a daughter.

She was a granddaughter.

She was a little girl who deserved to be protected long before anyone had to seek justice for her death.

Abuse Angels remembers Heaven Octavia Woods.

Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.