Pictured is four-year-old greater Cleveland murder victim Aniya Day-Garrett
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
By editor Kathy Wray Coleman
CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio- Area Cleveland activists will protest today, March 11, beginning at 4:30 pm on East 9th Street in downtown Cleveland at the Cuyahoga County Administration Building after a jury, on Wednesday, found the mother of four-year-old Aniya Day- Garrett and her boyfriend guilty of aggravated murder and other charges, a celebrated case of child murder that has gained nationwide attention and has rocked the largely Black major American city of Cleveland.
"We are protesting today, the anniversary of Aniya's death of March 11, 2018, in response to neglect and malfeasance by county officials and Job and Family Services," said activist Alfred Porter Jr., who leads Black on Black Crime Inc, an organizing group for the protest along with Fathers Lives Matter and the Black Man's Army, among others.
Sierra Day, 24, and Deonte Lewis, 27, were both found guilty of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, permitting child abuse, endangering children and tampering with evidence.
Lewis' family broke into tears after the verdict by a 12-member jury that deliberated for a day was read in open court.
Both will be sentenced at noon on March 20 before Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCormick.
Neither Day, the dead gir's mother, nor Lewis, the mother's boyfriend, took the stand during the five-day trial.
Their attorneys said at trial that there was no direct evidence that links their clients to the crime and that neither delivered the alleged blow that allegedly killed the innocent Black child.
Prosecutors relied primarily on testimony from first responders, including police.
Cuyahoga County Job and Family services social worker Lorra Greene testified and said Day was a good mother at first, but lost her way after she began dating Lewis.
Assistant County Prosecutor Anna Faraglia praised the jury verdict and said justice prevailed. And at trial, she called Day a "master manipulator."
Defense attorneys have not said whether they will appeal, though sources say an appeal is likely, given the severity of the crimes.
Aniya died on March 11 2018 at an area hospital after police were called that day to her mother's home at Cultural Garden Apartments on Lake Shore Boulevard in suburban Euclid, Ohio for a report of an unresponsive child.
The boyfriend lived there too, said prosecutors, a statement he and his attorneys have denied.
The child was not breathing and had marks on her feet and legs, trial court records reveal.
Led by Black Lives Matter Cleveland, activists immediately began protesting.
The county medical examiner said the four-year-old suffered a stroke from blunt force trauma to the head and was malnourished and weighed hardly 29 pounds.
Mickhal Garrett, the girl's father told the jury he filed a complaint with Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services when he allegedly saw signs of abuse and that he also filed a report with East Cleveland police.(Editor's note: Mickhal Garrett is slated to speak at today;s rally, organizers said).
Still, he said, Jobs and Family Services kept her in the custody of her mother, and even after he sought custody.
Day and Lewis are each being held on a $1 million bond.
Though state authorities have stripped the affiliated day care of its licence for allegedly failing to report the abuse and at least one employee in the matter has been fired from Jobs and Family Services, accountability from county officials and others involved in the sordid case is little to none, activists say.
This time last year, community activists, led by the Inner City Republican Movement and Black on Black Crime Inc. camped out overnight in front of the Jane Edna Hunter Job and Family Services building on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland regarding the death by abuse of four-year old Aniya Day- Garrett and some 44 or more other children since 2015 they say have died via the neglect and malfeasance of Cuyahoga County Job and Family Services and county officials.
Public records reveal that since 2015 more than 44 kids that have come through the office of child and protective services have been murdered and classified as homicide victims among 269 kids.
Most of the murder victims are Black and poor, like Aniya, data show.
David Merriman, a former special assistant to former county executive Ed FitzGerald and a former deputy chief of staff for Health and Human Services under Budish, is the administrator of Job and Family Services for the county.
A Democrat and former Beachwood councilman, state representative and speaker of the Ohio House, Budish assumed office as county executive in 2015.
Budish has said nothing publicly since the verdict.
There have been some improvements or recommendations from Job and Family Services authorities and county officials since Aniya's untimely death last year, including recommendations for more social workers and investigators, and a citizen's advisory board comprised of eight to 10 members of the greater Cleveland community.
Community activists complain the initiatives are minimal, and after the fact.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
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