Mom of girl found in freezer accused of abusing 5 kids for years
MIAMI -- The mother of a Florida girl found dead in a freezer on Oct. 18 was previously accused of beating her five children for years in a home that at times was filled with rats and roaches, according to documents released Tuesday.
The documents, released by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, show child welfare investigators visited the home of Keishanna Thomas 10 times amid allegations that she beat one of her children with an electric cord leaving welts, burned another child with bleach so badly her skin was discolored and left another child with 22 scars.
Despite evidence of abuse, investigators wrote in their reports that the children were not in imminent danger.
One of the children was removed from the home in 2004, but she was later returned to her mother, whose criminal history includes arrests on charges of battery and drug possession, the documents say. Details about when and why that child was returned were not clear.
In September, another call came to the state's child abuse hotline, claiming Thomas beat her 12-year-old son for stealing candy.
It was then that they discovered no one had seen her 11-year-old daughter Janiya for more than a year.
Her siblings told investigators they came home from school one day, and she was gone; they presumed she was dead.
A padlocked freezer was left by Thomas and another man at the home of Janiya's grandmother, she and the girl's aunt told authorities. Inside was a body that officials confirmed on Monday was that of Janiya. The grandmother and aunt say they didn't realize what was inside.
Janiya's mother had initially been jailed in the case on contempt and child abuse charges because she refused to talk about the girl's whereabouts. The contempt charge has been dropped, though she is jailed on a charge of abuse of a corpse.
It's unclear how Janiya died. Police say they need to do more testing. The Department of Children and Families has removed Janiya's four siblings, and Secretary Mike Carroll said his agency is investigating whether anything could have been done differently to prevent Janiya's death.
The sheriff's office is in charge of child welfare investigations in the area and handled the Thomas case for years. The agency did not immediately return emails seeking comment Tuesday.