Evil Foster Mom Shreds Child’s Pancreas After Swearing She’s a Safe Person

Leila Marie Daniel was born on July 18th, 2013, in Georgia to parents Tessa Kund-Denning and Anthony Daniel. At the time of our story, she had an older sister named Millie. Leila had curly hair, wide blue eyes, apple cheeks, and a big smile. Her grandmother, Gina Banks, called her her “fat baby.” She was a plump infant and remained chubby as she grew into a toddler.

Leila loved food and enjoyed eating. She liked strawberry oatmeal, hot dogs, powdered donuts, and chicken nuggets. She also liked making pretend food in her toy kitchen, and she loved the characters and songs on the TV program Yo Gabba Gabba!. Leila didn’t talk much; she was still learning and was a little bit behind the other kids her age, but she wanted to be grown up and would remind everyone that she was a “big girl.”

Leila was a sweetheart who was always laughing. She loved everybody, and they loved her, too. She was adored by her family and caretakers, in particular her mother, her grandmother, and her great-aunt Kim Smith.

When Leila’s mother, Tessa, was a child, she was taken away from her parents and placed into foster care, where she met a girl named Jennifer Hulce. She will become important later in our story. Jennifer’s family was often homeless, living on the street, sometimes in a tent or in their car. Jennifer’s parents hit both her and her sister. In 1997, she was placed in foster care at the age of nine. A few years after that, Jennifer and Tessa both lived at the same group home.

According to Tessa, Jennifer was much older than her; the age difference was over three years, which would seem like a lot to a child. Tessa said the two were not friends, but they knew each other. Jennifer remembered their relationship differently. She said they didn’t get along at first but eventually became friends. While in foster care, Jennifer was known to have a “smart mouth,” as she put it, and she often fought with her sister. However, after she left, she joined the military and turned her life around. When Tessa met her as an adult, she looked like a model citizen on paper.

For many years after living in that group home, Tessa continued to struggle. In October of 2011, she gave birth to her first daughter, Millie, with her then-boyfriend, Jacob. By October of the next year, Tessa was seeing Leila’s father, Anthony. Leila was born nine months later in 2013. Millie and Leila lived with Tessa for the first year of Leila’s life. During this time, Georgia DFCS (Division of Family and Children Services) had visited Tessa’s home a few times.

In early 2014, they received a report of child abuse. According to their records, Tessa moved to North Carolina, and the case was closed. They claimed she moved to avoid investigation. Later that year, DFCS received another complaint. Their records show a caseworker tried to investigate, but no one answered the door. This case was also closed.

However, Tessa said she never tried to avoid caseworkers. She did recall one interaction with the agency. She said that Millie got out of the house once while she was busy with Leila. Tessa thought she had gone downstairs to her playroom, but after a few minutes, she realized it was too quiet and went to check on her. She could not find her in the playroom. Tessa searched the house frantically and noticed the garage door was open. She went outside to look for her, and a few moments later, a police officer drove up with Millie in the passenger seat of his car.

After this incident, DFCS set up a safety plan and required her to install child-safe locks on all the outside doors. When she complied, she said the agency closed the case. During this time, Tessa’s aunt, Kim Smith, said she tried to help Tessa take better care of the kids. Tessa never hurt them, but she was gone a lot. She often left the girls with other family members to watch. Kim said, “Myself and the family tried to help her with rehab and parenting classes.” Despite their offers of help, Tessa was not interested in participating.

By Leila’s first birthday in April, Tessa was struggling with substance use. Two days after Leila’s birthday party, Tessa had to go into the hospital. Millie went to live with Tessa’s mother, Gina Banks, but Gina couldn’t take care of Millie and the baby, too. So, Leila went to live with a family friend, Cynthia Tate, who worked with Tessa and Gina at Hapeville Medical Center.

According to Cynthia, Leila was healthy and happy in her home. She had no bruises and no injuries. She loved to eat and was a chubby baby. At Thanksgiving, Tessa visited Leila in Cynthia’s home. Tessa visited a few other times that year but never took Leila back home with her.

In January of 2015, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office was monitoring several local drug dealers and had obtained wiretap warrants for their cell phones. Tessa called one of those cell phones and was caught on recording. This led to her arrest on a charge of conspiracy to distribute crystal meth. She spent three months in jail before she could be arranged to be released on bond. She also knew she would have to return to prison at a later date.

Tessa seemed very trusting when it came to letting her children live with people. For example, she arranged for Millie to live with another family friend while she was in jail. Millie’s father and her mother, Gina, subsequently removed her from that home while Tessa was in jail and brought Millie to live with Cynthia Tate. Leila’s father, Anthony, was also in jail, so he wasn’t around to help take care of her.

When she was released on bond, Tessa moved in with Cynthia. She lived there for about a month before she failed a drug test. When she failed that test on April 15th, 2015, DFCS became involved in Tessa’s life once more. Two days later, on April 17th, Child Services placed the girls with foster parent Lorita Brown, who had been a foster parent for over 15 years, the last two being a foster parent in Henry County where the girls lived.

Lorita’s grown daughter, Nastasia Colbert, lived with her and helped her take care of the children she fostered. In order to be a foster parent, Lorita said she had to take 12 weeks of classes along with training in CPR. When the girls arrived, Lorita said they showed no signs of bruising or injury. Within 72 hours of their arrival, she took them to the doctor and to a WIC appointment, where the girls were checked over by a nurse. Neither found any signs of injury.

Lorita said Leila felt at home with her very quickly. The day they were dropped off, Leila was giggling and laughing. Millie cried, but Millie soon warmed up to Lorita. Before the day was over, Millie was laughing and playing with Lorita’s 10-year-old daughter. Lorita described Leila as a joy to be around. Leila liked to stay close by and didn’t like to let her out of her sight. Lorita said, “She was always clinging to me, hanging on my toes, laughing. If you were trying to leave the house, she was going to run out the house behind you.” She said Millie and Leila played well together and never hurt each other.

Lorita also said Leila loved to eat. She said her and her daughter, Nastasia, taught Leila some sign language, and they said she used it along with the spoken words she was learning. She mostly used sign language to ask for food. She liked junk food, but she also liked healthy food. She was a good eater and she always cleaned her plate.

The girls had very few injuries while they lived with Lorita, and she always followed the DFCS rules when an injury occurred. Once, when Millie was at the park and scraped her arm, Lorita reported it to her caseworker, Samantha White. When Ms. White didn’t respond, Lorita asked another caseworker to document the scrape with photos. Ms. White was supposed to visit every month to check to make sure the girls were safe. While she did make those visits, Lorita said she didn’t undress Leila to check to see if she had any hidden bruises. According to DFCS policy, Ms. White should have been more thorough in her checks, especially with very young children who couldn’t speak clearly yet.

Lorita had contact with Tessa during this time. She spoke to her on the phone, but Tessa wasn’t allowed to see the girls or even talk to them until she made more progress in her case plan.

In May, Tessa and her mother, Gina, attended a hearing about the girls at the Henry County Courthouse. The girls were also present at the hearing. Jennifer Hulce, now married and going by the name Jennifer Rosenbaum, was also at the courthouse that day. She was interning for the Assistant District Attorney and worked on juvenile cases that used the same courtroom.

After the hearing, Jennifer spoke to Tessa’s mother, Gina. She said she recognized Tessa’s name and told Gina that she knew Tessa from foster care. Gina told her a little bit about Tessa’s struggles. After seeing the girls, Jennifer spoke to staff at DFCS to put in an application to be a foster parent. She also contacted the girls’ caseworker and spoke about her interest in the girls.

Ms. White, the girls’ caseworker, was impressed with Jennifer. She considered her a foster care success story. Jennifer had an impressive resume and knew important people. She was a veteran military police officer and a member of the US Army National Guard. In addition to interning at the DA’s office, she was in her third year at Emory Law School. On the weekends, she worked at Banana Republic. She was also running for political office. At the time of our story, she was a candidate for the Henry County Board of Commissioners.

Ms. White encouraged Jennifer to reach out to Tessa. So, Jennifer found her on social media. On May 19th, 2015, Jennifer did just that. She wrote the following note to Tessa:

“Hey girl, I know we haven’t seen each other or talked in a while, but I wanted to let you know I’m praying for you. I met your girls last Wednesday at juvenile court. I work with the District Attorney’s office prosecuting juvenile offenders, and we use the same courtroom as the DFCS cases. Your girls are beautiful and look so much like you. I think it was your mom who talked to me for a minute and said you were having a hard time. It just stuck with me over this past week, and so I wanted to reach out and let you know you are in my prayers.”

Tessa looked at Jennifer’s social media accounts. She hadn’t seen Jennifer in many, many years and had never met her husband, Joseph. But in the photos online, Jennifer and her husband looked happy. It looked like they loved their dogs and lived a nice life. Jennifer seemed very successful. Joseph had a stable job as a corrections officer at the local prison. Tessa was also touched that Jennifer wanted to help. She thought that since Jennifer reached out without being asked, she had to have good intentions.

Tessa responded to the message the next day, saying:

“Thank you so much! God, I miss them so much. I can’t believe I put my babies through all of this when I knew what it felt like firsthand. I talked to Miss White; she told me that you were interested in getting my girls until I can work my case plan. I think that would be amazing. It would make me feel so much more comfortable with this whole messed up situation. I am fully ready to work towards getting them back, but if they have to be away from me for a while, I would much prefer them to be with you. Thank you so much. You are literally the biggest blessing.”

Tessa thought that Jennifer would take good care of her girls. She thought Jennifer would keep them safe until she could get them back. She told caseworker White that she wanted Jennifer to watch the girls. Ms. White arranged for Jennifer to have visits with them while they lived with Lorita.

Lorita first met Jennifer about a month after she got the girls. Jennifer told Lorita that she and Tessa had been in foster care together. She said she and Joseph couldn’t have kids of their own. She saw that Tessa’s children were in the system and said she wanted to give back.

Things moved rather quickly. First, the girls had short day visits with Jennifer. Just a couple of weeks later, they went on overnight visits. On one of these visits, Jennifer called Lorita because Leila was crying and wouldn’t calm down. Lorita told her to play Leila’s favorite song, “Surfer Girl” by The Beach Boys. Eventually, Leila calmed down.

However, when Jennifer brought her home, she had a bruise on her head. Jennifer said Leila bumped into the faucet by accident. Jennifer did not report the injury to DFCS like she was supposed to. Lorita didn’t report the first injury either, though she did document it in her records. When the girls came back with more injuries on two subsequent visits with Jennifer, Lorita told the caseworker and made sure that they were documented. Each time, Jennifer had a story about an accident.

Lorita made it clear to DFCS that she was concerned about the new injuries she was seeing. She expected Ms. White to investigate, but instead, the girls were removed from Lorita’s care and placed in another foster home. DFCS never gave Lorita a reason for the removal.

On June 12th, Leila and Millie were placed with Patricia Lambert and her husband, Dexter. The couple had been foster parents for 10 years and had taken the training classes required by the state. They also took 15 hours of continuing education training every year to remain foster parents. Patricia took the girls to see the doctor within 72 hours of their arrival, per DFCS policy. Millie had a stomach flu, but neither of the girls had any injuries at those visits.

Lorita, their first foster mother, called and talked to the kids the first week they were with Patricia. But after that phone call, Ms. White said Lorita could no longer speak to or see the girls since she was not the biological mother. Leila went from spending all of her time with Lorita to now not being allowed to see her whatsoever.

Jennifer’s foster parent application was flagged as she had previous involvement with the agency because of her time in foster care. Now, being a former foster child didn’t automatically disqualify Jennifer, but according to DFCS policy, her history had to be investigated. When she called to ask what was taking so long, she spoke to Chenise Odo, the woman who approved all of the foster homes in Henry County.

Jennifer told Ms. Odo that she “didn’t know who she was dealing with” and proceeded to tell her that she worked for the DA’s office in a threatening tone. When she was told she would have to wait until the proper review was complete, Jennifer hung up on Ms. Odo.

Jennifer and Joseph were never officially approved to be foster parents, and Ms. Odo was sure they never took the required training classes. She was the only person who taught those classes in Henry County, and she never had them as students. The classes included lessons on CPR and the Heimlich maneuver, in addition to information on how to deal with children who had been through traumatic situations. They also covered important policies, like no corporal punishment and how to document an injured child.

Although she hadn’t been approved as a foster parent, Jennifer continued to visit with the children while they were in Patricia’s care. By this time, Leila was 21 months old and Millie was four. Patricia said Leila still loved to eat and still used her sign language words to ask for food. Patricia said the two girls argued sometimes and that Leila would sometimes try to bite or scratch in a way that she considered typical two-year-old behavior, but she said that neither girl ever sustained any significant injury from playing together.

The girls seemed much more injury-prone when they were with Jennifer. At first, Jennifer had visits scheduled every other weekend. After a few weeks, she was taking the girls overnight every weekend. Ms. White told Patricia that the visitation was occurring because soon they would be permanently placed with Jennifer.

Somehow, Jennifer was able to use her influence to get custody of the children without following the rules. A Henry County judge sent an email to DFCS on her behalf, asking why it was taking so long to process Jennifer’s request. Ms. White’s supervisor, Tamara Warner, took an interest in the case. Since they weren’t following agency policy, there was no detailed record of who first had the idea of having Jennifer reclassified under the term “fictive kin.”

However, Ms. Warner was on record saying that Jennifer would have been what they called an “ideal person that went through the system.” She would have been what they considered rehabilitated; she was a pillar of the community. “Fictive kin” is a term DFCS uses to describe people who were not biologically related to a child but were so close to the child that they could be considered family. It was supposed to be a person the kids knew and trusted, someone who had always been a part of their lives.

Jennifer did not fit the definition, but Ms. White and Ms. Warner decided to reclassify her as fictive kin anyway. Department policy stated that fictive kin must be vigorously vetted before a child was placed with them. Instead, Ms. White and Ms. Warner contracted an outside company to do a background check on Jennifer under only her married name. The company was not asked to check under her maiden name, so they didn’t find or consider any of her history with foster care. They gave her and Joseph a positive review and recommended placement.

Ms. White and Ms. Warner both used this to justify placement even though they knew they were violating policy by not running the check under her maiden name as well. While all this manipulation of the rules was happening behind the scenes, Jennifer was still visiting with the girls every weekend.

When she brought them back, Patricia began noticing the same types of injuries that the first foster mother had noticed. One week, Leila came home with a bruise under her eye. Jennifer explained it away, saying Leila and another child were fighting over a toy, and the other child hit her with the toy, causing the bruise. But Jennifer did not report it. Patricia did. She said she was concerned that Jennifer was not watching the children as closely as they should be watched.

Ms. White came out and documented the injury. She wrote in her notes that it was almost gone. Now, according to department policy, Ms. White should have undressed Leila to look for additional injuries during her visit. Patricia said that when she realized the caseworker was not going to follow the rules, she undressed Leila so that Ms. White could see the areas covered by her clothes. Ms. White told her supervisor that she did not believe either girl was in any danger. She was very wrong.

Two weeks later, both girls came home from their visit with fresh red bruises. Leila had another bruise under her eye; Millie had one on her leg. Jennifer said they were playing and got hurt. Patricia tried to report the injuries to Ms. White and Ms. Warner. When she got no answer, she drove the girls down to the DFCS office. She had a caseworker in the office document the injuries.

Each of these injuries should have been investigated, but Ms. White chose to believe Jennifer’s explanations without any follow-up. She noted in the file that the explanations were plausible. Even if the individual injuries weren’t enough to cause concern, the pattern of injuries reported by two longtime foster parents should have raised a red flag. It should have halted any plans to place the girls in Jennifer’s custody.

The girls returned from another weekend visit. This time, Leila had three distinct marks on her palm. It looked like someone had stuck a fork in the toddler’s hand. Patricia was quite concerned and demanded a meeting with the caseworker. She was told the visits with Jennifer would stop. Instead, the girls were removed from her home and placed with Jennifer a few days later, on July 25th.

Only Ms. White and Ms. Warner approved the placement. They were supposed to get approval from their DFCS administrator, but Ms. White never submitted the approval, and Ms. Warner never checked to see if she had completed the process.

Once Leila and Millie were placed with Jennifer and Joseph, Ms. White had to visit their Lincoln Terrace home once a month. In September, she found a bruise on Leila’s wrist. Jennifer said that another child at daycare had hit Leila. At the visit, she should have undressed Leila to look for additional injuries. Two experienced foster mothers said Ms. White never followed that policy. Ms. White claimed she sometimes did. She wrote in her notes that Leila had no other bruises on her body and that Millie had no marks whatsoever. Given Ms. White’s previous behavior, it is hard to believe if she was telling the truth or not.

According to Ms. White, she called to confirm Leila had been at the daycare. However, later reports from DFCS state there was no record of Leila attending daycare.

Jennifer made sure to do one thing during the four months the girls spent with her: she took lots of pictures, over 2,000 of them. She made sure the pictures she showed the world displayed a happy and well-adjusted family. She decorated a beautiful bedroom and playroom for the girls, complete with bunk beds, a child-sized play kitchen, and a TV. She took the girls to the zoo and the local fall festival.

In early October, Jennifer held a birthday party for Millie. She invited great-aunt Kim. Kim was disturbed when she saw how much weight Leila had lost. She jokingly asked Joseph, “Are you feeding her enough? Maybe she needs more of that birthday cake.” She realized later that her joke had actually hit upon the truth. Jennifer wasn’t feeding Leila enough. The toddler was starving.

A damning picture taken around this time showed exactly how thin Leila had become. No longer chubby, her eyes looked wide in her shrunken face. In the photo, the little girl’s hand was in front of her mouth; she appeared to be making the sign for “eat.” Kim also questioned bruises she saw on Leila’s face. Jennifer told her that Leila bullied another little kid in daycare and he had hit her back. She said Leila gave the other kid a black eye. But again, there was no record that Leila ever attended daycare.

The last time Kim saw Leila during a visit after the party, she said, “Leila was clutching my shirt so hard and in tears because she didn’t want to go. I wanted to believe it was because she loved her Aunt Kimmy, not because she was fearful of where she was going, but I think in retrospect that’s what it was.”

Tessa was also concerned. At first, Jennifer sent Tessa pictures of both the girls, but after a couple of months, she stopped sending pictures of Leila. Once she was out of prison and able to, Tessa tried to schedule visitation with the girls. Jennifer either said it wasn’t a good time, or she would schedule a visit and cancel at the last minute because Leila was sick. Tessa said it seemed like Leila was always sick.

Tessa and several of her family members, including Kim, tried to report their suspicions to DFCS, but no one would listen to them. They called Ms. White and left messages, but the caseworker never called them back. According to department policy, Ms. White should have called back to get more information so she could investigate.

On October 19th, Jennifer texted Ms. White to tell her Leila broke her leg at gymnastics. Jennifer said in her text that Leila was doing fine. She said, “By her attitude, you would never know anything was wrong, laughing, playing, singing, and hasn’t cried once, not even when it happened.” Now, nothing in her message made it sound like the injury had happened days before. Jennifer texted Tessa the same information. She also elaborated that Leila had fallen off the bars during gymnastics class.

That same day, Jennifer took Leila to urgent care. She told the doctor there a different story. She said that four days earlier, on October 15th, Leila hurt her leg when she fell into a hole in the yard of a family member’s house. She told the doctor that Leila fell at gymnastics the next day, on October 16th, and hurt the same leg again.

The urgent care doctor splinted Leila’s leg and referred her to pediatric orthopedist Dr. Sean Duxbury. She visited Dr. Duxbury the next day. He was very concerned. He said the leg had broken very close to the knee. This was a very unusual injury because it would have taken a great deal of force to snap the bone there. Jennifer’s delay in getting Leila treatment for such a serious injury also troubled him. He didn’t believe Jennifer when she said Leila was fine. The injury was so painful there was no way she would have been able to walk around on it, let alone do gymnastics.

He suspected child abuse and wanted Jennifer to take Leila to the ER at Egleston Children’s Hospital. He wrote in his report:

“I am a little concerned about the history of this child and the amount of time it took her to get to the urgent care to be worked up. I’m having them go up to Egleston where they can be evaluated by social work. As far as the fracture goes, she has been immobilized in a splint for the time being. I’d like to see her back in a week, and we will put her into a long leg cast. She should be non-weight-bearing on that cast until next week.”

Jennifer never took Leila to the ER. Ms. White never knew she was supposed to because she didn’t follow up with Dr. Duxbury. She also never called the gymnastics center to see if anyone there could confirm Jennifer’s story. Leila wasn’t even signed up for classes there, only Millie was. If she had called, the staff could have confirmed that Leila never played on the equipment or participated in class; she just sat on the sidelines.

In fact, one of the other mothers at the gym reported that Leila was listless and unwell on the day Jennifer claimed she broke her leg. That mother said her daughter handed Leila a stuffed animal. When Leila reached up to grab it, her shirt rose up, showing her stomach. That mother saw red marks and bruising all over Leila’s belly.

Ms. White didn’t thoroughly investigate the injury, a clear violation of DFCS policy. She talked to the urgent care doctor but never talked to Dr. Duxbury. Once again, she had a chance to stop the terrible things Jennifer was doing, but once again, she failed to follow procedures and missed a giant red flag. Ms. White should have filled out a Serious Injury Report. She also should have told her supervisor about the broken leg. Ms. Warner claimed she was never informed.

On November 1st, Tamara Warner was transferred to another position and no longer supervised Ms. White.

On November 2nd, Ms. White had another visit with the girls where she noted a bruise on Millie’s head. Jennifer told her that she left Millie alone in the bathtub for just a moment while she went to retrieve her cell phone from another room. When she returned, Millie had bumped her head against the faucet. Leila was asleep, and Jennifer said the toddler had been having trouble sleeping because she was teething. Ms. White didn’t want to wake her up. She admitted she did not undress Leila on this visit because she was sleeping.

She wrote in her report: “There are no signs of maltreatment. Millie hit her head on the faucet in the tub. There was not any serious bruising. I asked if she was okay, and she stated that she was and it didn’t hurt. There are no other marks on the girls’ bodies. There are no safety interventions needed. The girls are closely watched, and when medical attention is needed, it is given quickly.”

At this point, Leila had a broken leg and a cast, as well as a broken arm that had not been treated. She was underweight and likely covered in bruises. But Ms. White still believed anything Jennifer said. Jennifer would lie, and Ms. White would write down that everything was okay. On this visit, Ms. White missed her last chance to intervene before the unthinkable happened.

On November 17th, a few weeks after Ms. White’s visit, Jennifer was alone with the girls at the couple’s Lincoln Terrace home. It was Jennifer’s birthday, but Joseph was working. They had planned to celebrate that weekend. At around 5:42 that evening, Jennifer called 911 and said Leila was choking on a chicken nugget. She said that she had tried to perform the Heimlich maneuver before she placed the call. She said she thought the airway was clear and that she tried to perform CPR.

She told the dispatcher that Leila was breathing, but slowly. During the call, she told the dispatcher that Leila didn’t look good. She said, “I’m hoping I didn’t break her rib, I’ve been pushing hard. I don’t know how to do this.” Of course, if she had followed the rules and taken the appropriate training, she would have learned how to perform both the Heimlich maneuver and CPR on children, toddlers, and infants.

During the call, the dispatcher had Jennifer tell him every time Leila took a breath. After a few minutes, Jennifer asked if it was okay that Leila was asleep with her eyes rolled in the back of her head. The dispatcher was concerned but said she didn’t need to give chest compressions if Leila was breathing. A few minutes later, Jennifer said Leila stopped breathing, and the dispatcher explained how to give the little girl CPR. Jennifer was giving CPR breaths when first responders arrived. Firefighters arrived first, about 10 minutes after she placed the call. About four minutes later, the ambulance and paramedics arrived.

We actually have a large portion of that 911 call, and we’ll play it for you now:

Jennifer: “I have a toddler, a foster daughter that I just got, she was choking and I had to do the Heimlich on her, and she’s still breathing but it doesn’t sound right.” Dispatcher: “How old is she?” Jennifer: “She’s two years old. She is… she is breathing now. She is breathing. I’m trying to do CPR… she keeps on going white on you all right. I’m hoping I didn’t break a rib, I’ve been pushing hard. I don’t really know how to do this.” Dispatcher: “Okay, I’m going to give you instructions on how to do it. Is she still choking on it now?” Jennifer: “No.” Dispatcher: “Okay, so it is out, so we just need to do CPR then?” Jennifer: “Yes… okay… she keeps breathing, but it’s not good. Please hurry.” Dispatcher: “Okay, none of this just slows them down, other dispatchers getting them on the way. I’m gonna give you instructions for you on what to do. Are you with her right now?” Jennifer: “I am. She’s breathing very, very low.” Dispatcher: “Okay, lay the baby flat on her back… uh, on the ground, flat on her back. Remove any pillows.” Jennifer: “There’s no pillows.” Dispatcher: “All right, look in the mouth for any… uh, for any food or vomit. Is there anything in her mouth?” Jennifer: “No.” Dispatcher: “Okay, place your hand on the baby’s forehead, your other hand under the baby’s neck and shoulders, then slightly tilt the head back. I want you to… I want you to put your ear next to her mouth and tell me if you can feel or hear any breathing.” Jennifer: “I hear it.” Dispatcher: “You do hear it?” Jennifer: “Yes. Okay. All right, stay with her… uh, make sure her head is slightly tilted back, and I want you to keep checking breathing. Also, I want you to… uh, starting now, every time she takes a breath in, tell me. Just say ‘now’ every time she breathes.” Jennifer: “Now… now. Does it matter that she’s asleep?” Dispatcher: “No, that’s fine.” Jennifer: “Oh my gosh, I’m so nervous. I don’t know how to do this. I just kept trying to push and everything.” Dispatcher: “You’re fine, you’re doing a good job. Like I said, I got help on the way to you, okay? Yeah, we’re just monitoring breathing right now.” Jennifer: “She is breathing. You just said she breathed again?” Dispatcher: “She’s breathing on that same little schedule, okay. Yeah, she’s doing fine. Like I said, we got them on the way.” Jennifer: “She just breathed again.” Dispatcher: “Okay. Yeah, she’s doing fine. Well, do you know what she was choking on?” Jennifer: “A chicken nugget. She is asleep, yes, like her eyes are rolled back. She is breathing. Yeah, make sure she keeps telling me… all right… yeah, she just breathed again. Okay, she breathed again. Like, this is so scary, are her eyes supposed to be like rolled back? Her eyes are rolled back. Oh my God… yeah, like I told you, like she’s… her eyes are rolled back, her eyes are closed but they’re rolled back. She’s really pale. She is really pale now. Okay… yeah, she’s still breathing on that same schedule but she’s… hey, she’s still breathing but it doesn’t sound as good as it was. It doesn’t sound as strong anymore.” Dispatcher: “All right, we’re going to go ahead and do CPR then.”

Lieutenant Brian Gibson was the first person on the scene. He said he found no food in Leila’s throat but noticed bruising on her back, the back of her neck, and on her hips. He said the bruising was not anything like what he’d expect to see from the administration of CPR or the Heimlich maneuver. This bruising was much more serious. He also noticed that her arm had a slight curve in it. When he checked her body, he realized she was not breathing. He said Leila was clinically dead. They tried to revive her, but she was already gone.

The other paramedics noted that Leila was bruised from head to toe. They took her by ambulance to the Piedmont Henry Hospital, where staff there saw the same injuries and called police. The ER nurse said that Leila didn’t have the marks in her eyes that would be expected if she had been choking. She also noticed a strangely shaped bruise on Leila’s hip.

Detectives soon arrived at the Rosenbaum house, where Jennifer showed them a chicken nugget in the sink. She pointed out saliva on the floor where she said she tried to clear Leila’s airway. She told them she had used her finger to get the food out. When that did not work, she said she tried to use a butter knife to remove it. She also claimed she used the kitchen sink sprayer to run water into Leila’s mouth. She said Leila had a seizure while she was choking and that her arms and legs moved around wildly.

Police photographed the evidence that Jennifer pointed out, but the important evidence was found on Leila’s beaten and bruised body. Even if Leila had choked on a chicken nugget, Jennifer would have been responsible because her manipulation of the system guaranteed that she wasn’t prepared to handle a medical emergency.

It would soon become clear to everyone that Jennifer was lying. After Leila died, Ms. White picked up Millie from the house. When she examined Millie, she found injuries on the little girl, and she said, “Honestly, at that point, I just started crying.” She took Millie to the ER for a thorough examination.

At the ER, a nurse practitioner examined Millie. She found multiple bruises in different stages of healing on her left inner elbow. She found at least 15 bruises and two abrasions or scrapes on her body. The bruises were mostly on her spine, in the center of her back, and on her right hip. She also had a red bumpy rash on her private parts. She told the nurse that the rash was from mosquito bites. She said she got the bruises playing outside, riding her bike, and at gymnastics.

Later, once she was safe and knew she wouldn’t have to go back to Jennifer, she said she had been told to lie. She said when someone asked how she got hurt, she was supposed to say that she fell.

Ms. White took Millie back to Patricia so that she could be somewhere familiar while she dealt with the trauma of losing Leila. Patricia also noted the bruises up and down Millie’s spine. She said Millie told her that Jennifer beat her on the back. Millie also had thinning hair around her ears, another sign of mistreatment. Though Millie didn’t talk much about what she’d been through, Patricia said the trauma sometimes came out during her play.

One day, she noticed Millie playing strangely. The little girl was stumbling around and acting odd. When Patricia asked what she was doing, Millie said, “I’m being Miss Jennifer. I’m drunk.”

On December 4th, both Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum were arrested. Initially, Jennifer was charged with Leila’s death. Joseph was given a lesser charge of child cruelty to both the girls and was quickly released on a $10,000 bond. Later in December, Jennifer was granted a $100,000 bond. Once released, she was required to wear an ankle monitor. She quietly ended her run for the Board of County Commissioners.

As often happens, this case moved quite slowly. It was extra complicated because Jennifer had worked in the DA’s office. About a year after the initial arrest, the Henry County DA recused himself from the case. Prosecutors for Cobb and DeKalb counties took over. Years passed, and Jennifer and Joseph were still out on bond, still breathing free air, and living their lives while Leila’s family prayed for justice.

In March of 2019, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that information on Jennifer and Joseph’s electronic devices couldn’t be used in court because the state waited too long to get search warrants. The police seized the devices during the initial investigation, but because of a miscommunication between the officers and the lead detective, they didn’t file for the warrants until over a year later. The exact nature of the evidence was never officially released, but a post on Tessa’s social media seems to indicate it might have included additional photos of Leila with visible injuries and in pain.

Two months later, Jennifer and Joseph were re-indicted. This time there were a total of 49 charges. In the new charges, prosecutors made two important types of changes. First, they made the charges more specific. For example, one of the initial charges alleged blunt impact injuries to Leila. The new charges included counts for each body part, like blunt injury to the torso and blunt injury to the abdominal area.

The second important change is they made the charges against Joseph more serious. He was charged with second-degree homicide. Information from the autopsy made it clear that Leila had been hurt multiple times over the course of a month or longer. He had to have known what was happening and did nothing to stop it. The most serious charges were against Jennifer, and that was of malice and felony homicide, child cruelty, aggravated assault, and aggravated battery.

The jury trial began on July 8th, 2019, just a few months shy of the four-year anniversary of Leila’s death. Judge Brian Amero presided. In opening arguments, prosecutors said the couple had lived a life of lies. The couple created a facade to hide what was really happening in their home. DA DeKalb Young said, “Since 2015, these defendants have been putting on a facade, but in this trial, they will be exposed as liars, abusers, and murderers.”

Their trial lasted for over three weeks, and Millie testified against her abusers. She said Jennifer would get angry if they didn’t get dressed fast enough. If Jennifer was angry, the girls would get a spanking. Jennifer would hit them on the butt with her hand or a belt. Millie said Jennifer took them into her bedroom to spank them. She said the spankings hurt and that sometimes Jennifer would make them pull down their pants so she could hit them directly on their skin.

According to the woman who eventually adopted Millie, the little girl didn’t like talking about her time with Jennifer and Joseph. She would sometimes mention things that happened. She told her new mom that Jennifer forced her to eat mashed potatoes even though they made her throw up. Then she said Jennifer made her eat the vomit. She also recalled a time where she wasn’t doing something fast enough, so Jennifer twisted her ankle and then sat on her. Millie told detectives that when Jennifer beat the girls, all Leila did was cry. She did not know how to speak.

Dr. Stephen Meister, a pediatrician and child abuse specialist, said Leila’s injuries were consistent with physical abuse. She had loop-shaped bruising that indicated she had been hit with a belt or a cord. She had round marks consistent with being punched with a closed fist. She had burns on her stomach that appeared to be healing. Leila also had bruises on her inner thighs and private parts. Half the skin on one of her ears was missing. The little girl who loved to eat had been starved; she was suffering from inadequate nutrition.

The injury to her arm was a “nightstick fracture.” It got that name from back when law enforcement used to carry nightsticks. It was the kind of injury caused when a person would throw up their arms to protect their face and head during a beating. According to experts, this type of fractured arm is almost unheard of in a two-year-old. The broken arm showed signs of healing. Leila had received no medical treatment to ensure it healed straight, which caused the curved appearance first responders noticed on the day of her death. Dr. Meister concluded that these injuries were not accidental. They could not have been caused by CPR or the Heimlich maneuver.

Medical Examiner Dr. Lora Darrisaw elaborated on Dr. Meister’s findings. She investigated the full extent of Leila’s injuries, both outside and inside the toddler’s small body. First, Dr. Darrisaw was certain that the chicken nugget story was a lie. She was clear: Leila did not choke. A thorough examination of the esophagus and trachea showed no obstruction and no trauma in that area. It was one of the spots on Leila’s body that was not injured.

There was also no sign that Leila had been eating. Dr. Darrisaw said, “When I conducted the autopsy, I didn’t find any food particles in the trachea. Normally, if one eats shortly before death, we will be able to identify the food itself because it hasn’t been digested yet.”

The defense tried to blame Leila and Millie for their injuries, trying to paint them as rough-and-tumble children who hurt themselves by jumping on their bed and at gymnastics. The autopsy was able to rule out gymnastics as a cause. Dr. Darrisaw said that some of Leila’s injuries could have been caused by accidents, but as a whole, it was impossible. There were too many, and they were spread all over her body.

Leila had evidence of severe abdominal trauma that occurred over time. The trauma started after being placed with Jennifer. She also had multiple bruises over her entire body in various stages of healing. There were 22 injuries to her head and neck, 11 injuries to her torso, 17 injuries to her legs, and 12 injuries to her arms. In addition, she also had a broken leg, an untreated broken arm, an untreated broken rib, and damage to her diaphragm. The blows to the toddler’s belly were so forceful they split her pancreas in half and lacerated her liver.

The seizure Jennifer mentioned to police was likely caused by Leila’s abdominal injuries as she bled to death internally. Her official cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries to her abdomen, which caused extensive internal bleeding. Based on the medical evidence, the doctor believed the beating occurred about an hour before Leila died. She lost so much blood that she went into shock. She didn’t have enough blood to keep her heart beating.

During closing arguments, DA Young said to the couple, “You’re going to be held accountable for each and everything you did to those children. You will be held accountable for each injury you inflicted.”

After two days of deliberations, the jury had to start over again when one of the jurors was replaced. A juror reported having a brief conversation with a reporter. The defense wanted a mistrial, but instead, the judge replaced the juror with an alternate. He also sequestered the jury to prevent another incident.

On August 1st, Jennifer and Joseph were found guilty of second-degree homicide. Jennifer was found guilty of felony homicide. They were also found guilty on most of the lesser charges. Joseph’s attorney asked for mercy on his behalf. She argued he should have a shorter sentence because he has cystic fibrosis and diabetes. But it is hard to find mercy for a man who had no care or mercy whatsoever for Leila.

Jennifer was sentenced to life plus 40 years. Joseph was sentenced to 30 years, with another 20 years of probation. After sentencing, the judge apologized to Leila’s family for the horrific pain she had to endure. He said, “I feel for and am deeply pained by your loss, and I hope that you will somehow find a way to recover.”

In October of 2019, the couple appealed their conviction, which was not successful. Jennifer is currently serving her time at the Pulaski State Prison in Hawkinsville. Joseph is serving his time at the Georgia State Prison in Reidsville.

Leila’s funeral took place on November 23rd, 2015, in the chapel of the Haisten Funeral Home. Both of her former foster mothers attended the funeral. After seeing Leila’s body, Patricia said, “That was a completely different baby in that box. She was so skinny, she looked like a baby in the womb.” Leila was buried in Berea Cemetery in Hampton.

DFCS paid for her burial cost but did not pay for a headstone. When two former police officers read a newspaper story that mentioned she had no headstone, they were determined to honor the little girl. They wanted to remain anonymous, and together they purchased an 120 lb stone marker. One of the men had experience carving gravestones. He added the dates of Leila’s birth and death, along with an image of a little girl on her knees. To the right, it says: “In God’s care.” Several years later, another headstone was added near the first. This one says: “Fly High Angel” in soft pink letters.

On February 14th, 2016, the family held a candlelight vigil to remember Leila. The event was held at the Hampton train depot. Pink balloons decorated the space. Many attendees had signs that said “Justice for Leila.” Her great-aunt Kim said, “We are just trying to keep Leila and her story in everyone’s heart. We do not want anyone to forget because we realize this is going to be a long, drawn-out process.”

Both Anthony and Tessa attended the vigil. Tessa spoke, saying, “I have a lot of blame. I blame myself, but I think all I can do now is make the future better instead of dwelling on the past. I think Leila wants me to bring her sisters home.”

Tessa was allowed supervised visits with Millie for some time after Leila’s death. At one of those visits that took place in the DFCS office, Millie asked her mother if there was a swimming pool in Heaven. Tessa had two more daughters after Leila. One was born just a month before Leila’s death, and the other was born a year after her death. Tessa never regained custody. She eventually lost visitation rights as well. Millie and both the younger girls were adopted by another family.

The caseworker, Samantha White, and her supervisor, Tamara Warner, were both fired for violating DFCS policies in regard to Leila. Henry Cagle, Director of DFCS, considered Ms. White a rookie because she had only been working there for two years. He attributed some of her mistakes to inexperience. Unlike many other stories we have covered, Ms. White wasn’t overburdened with too much work. She had an average of 14 cases, which was below the state’s goal of 15.

He said Ms. White and her supervisor both showed poor decision-making skills. He had to fire them because he could not trust them to make good decisions on behalf of the children in their care. He said, “My concern arises when you have multiple reports and each time you take the word of the person who is considered to be the habitual perpetrator without going behind them to check to see if what they’re saying is true.”

He also criticized the lack of injury reports. He said, “You do a child service injury report so people up the chain of command with more experience than you have can look at that. That didn’t happen.” Henry Cagle and others believe that Leila would still be alive today if her caseworkers had followed DFCS procedures.

Tessa and Anthony, Leila’s dad, sued the state and the caseworkers, but they did not win their case. The court said White was negligent, careless, and could have even been lazy in her actions. They said it was clear that Ms. White missed signs of abuse and allowed months of abuse to occur unchecked. However, they said the actions did not meet the definition of “deliberate indifference” required by law, so they dismissed the case.

In October of 2020, Tessa’s mother, Gina, was arrested for trafficking crystal meth and other hard drugs. She was convicted and sentenced to 30 years. She is currently serving her time in Coweta County Jail and will be eligible for parole in October of 2036.

Tessa still posts pictures and memories of little Leila on social media. She also mourns the loss of her other girls who have been adopted by another family. She knows that they are being taken care of and has made some sort of peace with the situation. She hopes to see them again someday. On Leila’s birthday this past year, she wished her a happy Heavenly birthday. Leila would have been 10 years old.

Tessa is a different woman than she was 10 years ago. She is no longer with Leila’s father. Her pain and grief have allowed her to build a new life. She had another baby, this time a boy, and she is taking care of him the way she wishes she had taken care of her girls. In June of 2023, she posted:

“His happiness makes everything okay. He is my son. I’m so in love with his love, admiration, and appreciation for me, it’s truly unconditional. I just want my girls to know I am so sorry for not seeing their unconditional love when I had them, sorry for taking them for granted, for failing them as a mother and seeking love elsewhere. I still think about y’all daily and I will until I see you again.”

Someday, her other girls will be grown. They may come seeking Tessa and their much younger brother. Leila, though, will only visit in Tessa’s memory. Tessa posted the following poem in October that captures both the joy and the pain she feels remembering Leila:

“They say there is a reason. They say that time will heal. Neither time nor reason will change the way I feel. For no one knows the heartache that lies behind our smiles. No one knows how many times we have broken down and cried. We want to tell you something, so there won’t be any doubt: You’re so wonderful to think of, but so hard to be without.”