REMEMBERING SHANIEKA, LATRICIA & CHRISTOPHER

Shanieka, Latricia and Christopher Ward were three siblings growing up together in Huntsville, Alabama. Shanieka was the oldest. Latricia was the middle child.

Christopher was their little brother. All three attended Ridgecrest Elementary School. Before the final weeks of their lives, people who knew the family did not describe three children who had always been hidden away from the world. Their former apartment manager remembered their mother walking the children to school after her car broke down. Their father, Michael Kelley, said he had tried to remain involved in their lives and remembered seeing all three children during the second week of January 2005. That visit would be the last time he saw his children alive. Within weeks, Shanieka, Latricia and Christopher would all be dead. They did not die from an accident. They did not die from an illness that could not be stopped. They died from starvation and dehydration inside their own home.

SHANIEKA, LATRICIA & CHRISTOPHER'S STORY

After Christmas break in December 2004, Shanieka, Latricia and Christopher stopped attending Ridgecrest Elementary School. They never returned to their classrooms. A representative of the Huntsville city school system went to the family's apartment in December. Natashay Ward refused to allow the representative inside. As the children disappeared from school and from the lives of people around them, conditions inside their home deteriorated. On January 12, 2005, utilities to the apartment were disconnected. There was no electricity or running water inside the home. Family members became increasingly concerned. Relatives told police that they tried for weeks to visit the children, but Natashay would not open the door and allow them inside. Their father, Michael Kelley, went to the apartment during the second week of January. Natashay would not allow him inside either. But she called the children out. Shanieka, Latricia and Christopher came outside and hugged their father. Michael later said that the children appeared fine to him during that brief encounter. He had no way of knowing that it would be the last time he would ever hug his three children. What happened afterward took place largely beyond the view of the outside world. Inside the apartment, the children were deprived of the food and water they needed to survive. Autopsies later confirmed that all three children died from starvation and dehydration. Their deaths were not immediate. Starvation is a process. Their bodies weakened as they were deprived of the basic necessities required to keep them alive. Shanieka was 11. Latricia was 10. Christopher was only 8. They were old enough to understand hunger and thirst. They were old enough to know that something was terribly wrong. But they were still children, dependent upon the adult responsible for their care. Eventually, one by one, their bodies could no longer survive. Authorities later determined that the children had been dead for approximately a week or longer before they were discovered. Natashay remained in the apartment after her children died. The children's bodies remained fully clothed and unrestrained in separate bedrooms. And while her children lay dead inside the apartment, Natashay was making plans that appeared to contemplate a future without them. An apartment information card later obtained by WAFF showed that Natashay requested information about six apartment complexes. She indicated that she was looking for housing for one person. The card was postmarked February 2, 2005. Two days later, her children were found. On February 4, 2005, the truth inside the apartment was finally discovered. A utility worker came to the Patton Road apartment to restore power. Inside were the bodies of Shanieka, Latricia and Christopher. Each child was in a separate bedroom. They had been dead for days. Police were called. Investigators found three severely malnourished children and began trying to understand how three siblings could have died together inside their own home without anyone reaching them in time. Natashay was questioned. Police said she confessed that she had deliberately allowed her children to starve to death. Within 24 hours of the discovery, she was charged with capital murder. The home in which Shanieka, Latricia and Christopher died had been without electricity and running water for weeks. Their school desks had been empty since Christmas break. Relatives had been trying to see them. A school representative had been turned away. Their apartment complex was preparing to evict the family. And behind the closed door of that apartment were three children who desperately needed someone to reach them.

WARNING SIGNS & MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

The deaths of Shanieka, Latricia and Christopher raise devastating questions about the opportunities that existed to discover what was happening before all three children died. The most visible warning sign was their disappearance from school. All three children attended Ridgecrest Elementary School.mAfter Christmas break, none of them returned. A school system representative went to the family's home in December but was refused entry. The children remained unseen. Their relatives were also trying to reach them. For weeks, family members attempted to visit, but Natashay refused to open the door.Then the utilities were disconnected on January 12.

The apartment no longer had electricity or running water. The apartment complex was also preparing to evict the family. There were signs coming from different directions. Three children had vanished from school. Family members could not get inside their home. A school representative had been turned away. The utilities had been shut off. The family was facing eviction. Yet no one reached Shanieka, Latricia and Christopher before it was too late. By the time the apartment door was finally opened on February 4, there was nothing anyone could do to save them.

JUSTICE FOR SHANIEKA, LATRICIA & CHRISTOPHER

Natashay Yvonne Ward was initially charged with capital murder in the deaths of her three children. Questions concerning her mental health became a significant part of the criminal case. In 2006, she entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. Prosecutors and defense attorneys later agreed that Natashay suffered from mental illness. But the case did not end with a finding that she was legally innocent because of mental illness. On February 7, 2007, Natashay pleaded guilty to three counts of reckless murder, one for each of her children. Assistant District Attorney Rob Broussard explained that prosecutors did not believe they could establish that Natashay had intended for the children to die. The prosecution's case instead focused on her failure to help her children while they were seriously ill and dying. Natashay was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences. Under the terms reported at sentencing, she would have to serve at least 45 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Natashay Yvonne Ward

Relationship to Shanieka, Latricia and Christopher: Mother

Convictions: Three counts of reckless murder

Sentence: Three consecutive life sentences

FOREVER REMEMBERED

When Shanieka, Latricia and Christopher died, three desks at Ridgecrest Elementary School were left empty. Their deaths affected not only their family, but the classmates and community who had known them. Grief counselors were brought to their school as children struggled to understand why three of their classmates were never coming back. Their father was left trying to understand how the three children he had hugged only weeks earlier could all be gone. Their relatives were left knowing that they had knocked on a door they were not allowed to enter. And a community was left asking how three children could disappear from school and slowly starve inside an apartment without someone reaching them in time. Shanieka, Latricia and Christopher were laid to rest after a funeral at St. Bartley Primitive Baptist Church in Huntsville. But they should have had so much more than a funeral together. Shanieka should have grown from an 11 year old girl into a teenager and then a woman. Latricia should have had birthdays, friendships, school dances and dreams about what she wanted her future to become. Christopher should have had the chance to grow from their little brother into a young man. They should have grown up together. They should have argued and laughed and annoyed one another. They should have watched each other graduate. They should have been able to look back someday and remember what it was like to be three siblings growing up together. Instead, their lives ended together behind the closed door of an apartment. Abuse Angels remembers Shanieka Y. Ward, Latricia L. Ward and Christopher O. Ward, three siblings who deserved food, water, protection and the chance to grow up together. We remember Shanieka. We remember Latricia. We remember Christopher. We speak their names. And Shanieka Ward, Latricia Ward and Christopher Ward will not be forgotten.