Ohio CPS Gives Full Custody to Attempted Murderer So She Can Kill Her Baby

Introduction and Background

Avery Lee Deia Hobbs was born on September 22nd, 2011, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Britney Mays and Jamie Hobbs. Both parents were barely out of their teen years at the time of her birth. Oftentimes in our episodes, we start our story with the birth of the victim, but in this case, it’s important to talk about some of Britney’s history before sweet Avery came into the world.

Much of our information on this case came from a book written by Avery’s grandmother, Tammy Ryzen. In Tammy’s book, many of the people in the story are given pen names to protect their identity; we will be using some of those names, particularly for the minors in the story.

Britney first entered the life of Tammy and Jamie in May of 2009. She arrived abruptly with a clear air of trouble and chaos about her. She showed up at Tammy’s home, began rummaging through her cabinets for a drink to wash down a handful of pain pills before even saying hello to Tammy. It seemed from the start that Britney had unsavory motives. Jamie, only 17 at the time, had gotten a chunk of money from a car accident settlement, and unfortunately, was pretty loud about it. It seems that Britney’s interest in Jamie was only monetary.

That day, Jamie was invited to an overnight party where Britney’s mother, Jean, assured her she would be there to supervise and that Jamie would sleep in a separate part of the house with Britney’s brother. However, when Jamie returned the next day, he openly told his mother about the uncomfortable and rough intercourse he had with Britney. He also told her Britney insisted she could feel that she conceived a child that night. Despite Tammy informing him that it wasn’t possible for her to know that soon, Jamie fell into her trap, and they began dating regularly the next week.

A Web of Lies and Manipulation

In July, Britney’s brother called Tammy to tell her that Britney was about 12 weeks pregnant. This information ruled out Jamie as the father, as they hadn’t met until she would have been about 3 to 4 weeks pregnant. When Tammy suggested they get a DNA test before going any further in the claims of Jamie as the father, Britney decided she was done with Jamie and Tammy and walked out of their lives. At least, that was how it initially seemed.

Over the next six months, she would pop up periodically to harass Jamie for money, claiming she needed it for baby items. In March of 2010, Jamie received a call to inform him that his baby had died during birth. There had been complications during the delivery, and the baby had been stillborn. Jamie was crushed, fell to the floor in despair, and told his mother that the funeral would be taking place in a few hours and that their family was not allowed to attend.

Tammy felt like this was fishy. So, when Jamie went to lay down, she turned to an internet sleuth to try to find the truth. She discovered pictures of the new baby on the hospital’s website, as well as new photos uploaded into a Photobucket account that Britney had forgotten to log out of on Tammy’s computer. In the photos was a beautiful, healthy-looking baby with her mother, her grandparents, and her father. To no one’s surprise except Jamie’s, another man was clearly the father and was being acknowledged as such.

After recovering from this shock and betrayal, this seemed to give Jamie the clarity and space to finally move on. The summer months proceeded normally and without drama. Jamie found a job to occupy his mind and his time, but unfortunately, this did not last.

In October of 2010, Tammy received a call that Jamie had not been showing up to work. This was news to Tammy, as she had seen Jamie leave for work every day. One phone call to Jamie that included the sound of a crying baby in the background revealed that Jamie had been pulled back into Britney’s twisted web. This web turned out to be even stickier than the first.

Britney claimed that her mother had actually orchestrated all the drama, including claiming Jamie as the father and the fake death of the baby. Allegedly, she had even planned for Britney to be arrested, causing Britney’s pregnancy to help her claim more welfare dependents. These claims were then followed up with the further claim that since Britney had spilled the beans and told Jamie, Jean had kicked her out and they had nowhere to go. Jamie begged Tammy to let them come stay in her home.

Tammy was very hesitant, as this girl had already proven to be untruthful and intentionally caused Jamie mental anguish. But before Tammy could even make a choice, Jean pulled up in the driveway and dumped all of Britney’s belongings onto Tammy’s yard. Next thing Tammy knew, she had a teenage mother and her baby living in her home.

For the next month, Britney returned to work while Tammy and her daughter, Angie, took turns caring for the baby. Not only did they provide childcare, but they bought everything the baby needed. The plan had been that once Britney was earning money, she’d find another place to go. However, none of that money ever made it back into Tammy’s home, and Britney made no effort to move out.

Escalating Violence

Over a month later, Britney’s brother came to check on the baby. He feared how Britney and Jamie were treating the baby, and the baby was referred to as Katie in Tammy’s book. But Britney refused to let him see her. Tammy spoke to him, assuring him that this baby was well cared for. This was when Tammy and Jamie learned that not only was the welfare fraud story a fabrication created by Britney, she also hadn’t been kicked out of Jean’s house; she had left on her own accord. In addition, Britney had been telling everyone that Jamie was mistreating her, adding to the concern of Britney’s family for the welfare of her baby.

Unfortunately, this trend of lies was nowhere near close to being over. On November 25th, 2010, many Americans were celebrating Thanksgiving, and it was no different here. They ate a hearty meal and enjoyed the presence of a sweet baby in their home. But alas for Britney, she was not the center of attention during this joyous day, and this would unfortunately prove dangerous to those around her.

A Void Marriage and Continued Abuse

After this incident, Tammy reached out to a family friend who was also a county sheriff and had some previous involvement in Britney’s life. He told Tammy to get herself and her son out of that situation as soon as possible. Britney’s family had a long history of violence, fraud, arson attempts, and more. He was adamant that no good could come from staying involved with Britney.

However, Tammy’s efforts to break up the relationship were in vain. On January 22nd, Jamie and Britney were wed at Tammy’s house, with the ceremony performed by Tammy’s sister. It was later discovered that her sister’s license was void, so their wedding wasn’t valid. Tammy kept this a secret, however, to give Jamie an easy escape route later.

As we would expect, the fake marriage did not slow down or stop the violence from Britney. Over the next several weeks, she broke Jamie’s leg and attempted to strangle him, among other things. Jamie’s stepfather, John, essentially became his bodyguard, constantly intervening between the two to protect Jamie. Tammy also witnessed Britney pick up her older child while she was sleeping and throw her into the air to try to get a reaction out of Tammy. She did get her reaction: the result was that Tammy kicked her out of the house.

Tammy felt she could no longer sit silently and watch Britney neglect her daughter. Unfortunately, despite the extreme mistreatment that he was enduring, Jamie insisted on going with her. So they both left to go stay with Jamie’s grandparents.

According to Tammy, there was an incident a few weeks later that led Jamie to discovering that Britney was cheating on him. He finally decided to end the relationship. When Britney returned home to Jamie’s grandparents’ house, she grabbed her baby, Katie, roughly and carried her to the other room dangling by one arm. The next day, Jean, Britney’s mother, noticed bruises on her arm, and a report was made to Jobs and Family Services (or JFS for short). Instead of opening a lengthy case or pressing charges, JFS gave Britney the option to turn over her parental rights to Jean. This was done without Jamie’s knowledge or consent. At this point, despite not being the parent listed on Katie’s birth certificate, Jamie considered himself to be her father.

For a short period of time, Britney went to live with another man. Jamie became lonely without his older daughter, whom he was not allowed to visit. To fill this void, he invited Britney back into his life once again. In the spring of 2011, during a visit from Jamie and Britney, Tammy was told by Britney that her mother, Jean, used to give her sedatives to calm her down. Britney learned to do this as a “legal high,” as she referred to it. Tammy instantly felt sure that Britney had been doing the same thing to Jamie and Katie to keep them under her control. This type of behavior will come into play later in our story.

Around this time, the couple got their own rental in a very decrepit part of town. Britney was holding down her job at a burger place while Jamie did odd jobs to try and get by. Without Tammy, any money they did earn was squandered by Britney on non-essentials while they had no food in their house. During a visit from the couple, Tammy learned that Britney had purposefully set fire to her non-operational car in order to cash in on an insurance policy. Jamie was not aware of her plan and was the one to call 911 when he awoke to find the car burning. Britney was able to claim that the vehicle had been running and soon had a rental car to drive to work.

When the police became suspicious, Britney turned in Jamie and her roommate, falsely accusing them of arson and fraud. The boys did not turn on Britney because they did not want her imprisoned while she was pregnant, so they went to jail instead. Jamie was released from jail after a short stay and moved back in with his mom, intent on living his life free from Britney. That lasted a few months.

The Birth of Avery Lee Hobbs

Until his daughter, Avery Lee Hobbs, was born on September 22nd, 2011. She had raven hair, and when Jamie came to see her in the hospital, he instantly fell in love with her. At the hospital, Britney and Jamie agreed to try co-parenting, and this seemed like the first sure move Britney had ever made. Jamie’s family was delighted by this.

However, when Avery was just two days old, Britney showed up on Tammy’s doorstep to abandon her daughter. She said she didn’t want motherhood getting in the way of living her life. The one stipulation she had was that Tammy had to return her whenever Britney asked for her to do so. Tammy agreed, expecting this to be very short-lived.

Jamie and Britney soon became a couple again and became legally married, moving back in with Jamie’s grandparents. Avery ended up being with Tammy more often than she was with her own parents. By mid-October, Britney was still working at the burger place while Jamie was working late nights at a nightclub. Britney seemed irritated by this arrangement, as she claimed that it meant she was caring for Avery all alone. Tammy, on the other hand, would argue that she did most of the childcare.

The night of October 18th, Jamie returned home late after Avery had been home with Britney and Jamie’s grandmother for the day. He went immediately to bed, which infuriated Britney because she had already been alone with the baby for 7 hours. According to Grandma Lee, Britney then went to the bathroom to bathe Avery in the regular bathtub. However, there was soon a loud thump followed by Avery’s screams. Britney came out of the bathroom with a dry Avery wrapped in a towel, claiming that she had accidentally dropped the baby in a tub of water. Neither Avery nor the bathtub were wet.

She kicked Jamie until he woke up and drove to the pharmacy to get nighttime acetaminophen to give Avery. Jamie ran the errand to get what Britney wanted; however, when he returned, he saw the baby’s head was swelling up, so he refused to give her the medicine, insisting that she needed to go to the hospital. This likely saved Avery’s life. Keep in mind, at this point, Avery is less than 1 month old. It is important to note that though there are a few over-the-counter pain relievers labeled as infant formulas, most are not for babies under 2 years of age without a doctor’s advice, and the nighttime formulas are all marketed for children over the age of six—definitely not for a newborn baby.

When Avery arrived at the hospital, she was found to have a linear skull fracture. But that’s not all; she also had fractures to her tibia and ulna. That’s right, a baby less than 1 month old with a fractured skull, a broken arm, and a broken leg.

For obvious reasons, the hospital called in a social worker to interview Britney, Tammy, and Jamie. Jamie and Tammy did not have any solid answers, only speculations as they were not witnesses to the incident. Meanwhile, Britney was rattling off lists of possible ways that this had happened: maybe a dog jumped on her, or maybe Jamie’s grandfather had dropped her accidentally. After the social worker left the room, unaware that they were still being recorded, Britney turned on Jamie, telling him to take the fall so that she wouldn’t have to go to jail.

Avery stayed overnight in the hospital while the adults went home to attempt to rest. Tammy and Jamie were given instructions to follow up with the Sheriff’s Office in the morning before returning to the hospital. At the Sheriff’s Office in the morning, Jamie finally reported what Grandma Lee had witnessed, adding that he thought it must have been an accident. However, his attempts to divert blame from Britney were unnecessary. Britney took a polygraph that proved she had intentionally harmed Avery.

Britney was arrested, and Tammy was asked to be at least temporary guardian of Avery while everything was sorted out. The next day, Tammy was visited by a social worker, referred to as Terry, to sort out the arrangement. Tammy was told that Avery would remain in her care, with both parents having the right to unlimited visits during daytime hours. Tammy found this to be odd, that the person currently being charged with harming her baby would be allowed unlimited visits.

Tammy also inquired about taking full custody of Avery, just as Jean had taken custody of Katie. The caseworker said that wasn’t possible and that all protection cases had to follow a certain procedure. He told Tammy that nothing could be done before the family meeting; any attempts to submit a custody proposal before that time would be a waste of everyone’s time and money. Unfortunately, even though Tammy was confused at how differently Katie and Avery’s cases were being handled, she simply did not have the knowledge needed to advocate for herself or for Avery. She didn’t know at the time that anyone can request emergency custody at any time.

As we have seen in other cases (like the case of Logan Marr in Maine), the agencies designed to help parents and families are not always truthful. Unfortunately, families rely on agency workers who are in a position of power to disseminate information to them. Regrettably, those people tasked with communicating information often do not do so truthfully or accurately.

Systemic Failures and A Flawed Reunification

Due to Britney’s plea of innocence in court that day, she was released while awaiting trial. Britney returned to Tammy’s house boasting of freedom and claiming there was no proof of her wrongdoing. Britney seemed to have no remorse or concern for the seriously injured child.

Tammy claimed that she attempted to get Britney to care for her baby appropriately. For example, she suggested that Britney should give Avery her bottle instead of snuggling her poor, injured newborn. Britney propped the bottle in Avery’s mouth and walked away. Tammy tried to remind her that feeding times were a great opportunity for babies to bond with their caretakers; however, simply in suggesting Britney do something different, Britney felt that her performance as a mother was being criticized. Britney’s response to this was to pick up her daughter and throw her in the air, catching her again.

Tammy immediately took Avery away from Britney and told her to leave. Keep in mind, Britney had just fractured the baby’s skull the day before. Britney initially refused, saying that kicking her out went directly against the social worker’s terms of visitation. Luckily, Jamie was able to talk her down and got her to leave the house.

Over the next several months, Avery was cared for by Tammy and John. They took Avery to every appointment requested by JFS, which was a lot. John cared for Avery during the night to give Tammy time to sleep. Avery soon fell in love with her “Pappy” and favored him over anyone else. Jamie continued to visit, but Britney never came into the home unprompted. When she did, Tammy reported that she never looked at or touched Avery unless she was told to do so.

Somehow the family made it through Christmas and the New Year with few incidents from Britney. In January, the family meeting was finally held. There were 10 family members present, as well as the caseworker who was referred to as Joan in Tammy’s book. There was also a Guardian ad Litem referred to as Melissa and the head of JFS. In this meeting, Tammy fought for custody of Avery to ensure she stayed safe and out of the system. Ultimately, Britney agreed because Tammy promised that if she ever got back on her feet, she would consider returning Avery to her. This was a promise she had not gotten with Katie.

The custodial agreement was signed by both parents and Tammy in a room full of witnesses. Joan then informed them they would be made official in court the very next day, but insisted that no family members needed to be present—just the JFS workers.

The next day, Joan came to Tammy’s house to inform her of the court’s finalization of the custodial agreement. However, without any family members present in court, the caseworker lied, saying that no family members had come forward to claim her, and instead Avery was made a ward of the state. Ultimately, Joan’s goal was reunification between Avery and Britney, and she lied to get her way. After all, in her mind, being with the biological mother was “in the best interest of the child.”

Tammy was horrified and continued to insist that Joan and all the other witnesses there at the family meeting knew the truth. Through Tammy’s insistence, Joan continued to state that no family had come forward and what was done was done. After Tammy decided she would need to play by JFS’s rules, she was instructed to sign an agreement if she wanted to remain in Avery’s life. The first thing she was made to do was sign an agreement stating that she would not speak about Avery’s case with anybody who was not a JFS worker. She also had to agree to be Avery’s primary caregiver, and with that, she was in charge of getting her to all medical appointments and parental visitation. In addition, they made her sign a statement saying she would never use physical discipline against Avery.

By the time Britney’s trial for the charges of child endangerment began on April 17th, 2012, Avery had a new cousin born to Tammy’s daughter, Angie. Britney and Jamie’s tumultuous relationship had pushed them to move out of Grandma Lee’s house and into a rental; however, due to lack of payments and their lack of cleanliness in their new home, they were evicted.

The morning of the trial, Britney injured her puppy by slamming him into the ground in front of the family before climbing casually into the car to go to the courthouse. Once again, everyone was left in shock that Britney seemed to have no regard for the safety of anybody; even her sweet puppy was just a pawn to shock people, or perhaps a scapegoat for her sick need to hurt something. Britney ended up taking a plea deal that carried a 6-month sentence and was cuffed and taken that day.

In August of 2012, Jamie was in a new relationship. Sadly, one night when Jamie was babysitting his new girlfriend’s daughter, she fell out of her bassinet and was injured. Jamie, being the adult in charge at the time, was blamed for the injuries. Tammy hired a lawyer per the recommendation of the Guardian; however, Joan had already developed a bias against Jamie and was clearly in Britney’s favor. For this reason, Jamie was blacklisted and told to stay out of Avery’s life. A restraining order was put in place preventing him from visiting Avery.

Jamie proceeded to try his best to jump over every hurdle that JFS put in his path. He attended class after class required by JFS without any acknowledgement from the agency that he was clearly meeting requirements. Meanwhile, Joan’s bias continued to show. During a visit to Tammy’s house by Joan, Avery bumped her cousin in the head with a rattle. Joan recorded this as a child being injured in Tammy’s care.

Tammy continued to ask about filing for custody, and she even filled out the paperwork and gave it to Joan. Unfortunately, Tammy was repeatedly told that she could not file for custody while Britney was imprisoned. In the fall of 2012, Tammy brought her concerns about Joan’s bias to the Guardian ad Litem, Melissa. Tammy was encouraged by Melissa to request a replacement social worker because of her blatant favoritism of Britney. However, this request was denied based on staffing shortages in the agency.

Britney was released on October 14th, 2012. She returned home to live with her mother, Jean. The next question for Jamie’s family was what life would look like now that Britney was out of jail. Britney kept insisting to Jamie that her goal was to reunite their whole family. However, she claimed she was instructed to live with one of her children instead of with him to increase the odds of getting Avery back. Jamie’s false record of mistreatment made it detrimental to Britney’s case for reunification if they lived together.

Now that Britney was released, Tammy and John filed for custody, which was soon followed by Jamie’s biological father and fiancée filing as well, and then subsequently Jean followed suit. Unfortunately, it seemed that Joan was determined to get Avery placed back with the mother who had fractured her skull and broke two limbs before she was even one month old. Their petitions went nowhere. Everywhere Tammy and the other grandparents turned, they kept hearing the same phrase: “In the best interest of the child.” The default position of JFS was that being with the mother was the best interest of the child.

After a few short 1-hour supervised visits, Britney was allowed to start having unsupervised visits within a few weeks of her release. Avery, who had lived with Tammy for 14 months, was struggling with this transition. Jamie was still not allowed any visitation due to the injuries to his girlfriend’s child. During Christmas of 2012, Jamie sent a giant teddy bear that they named Daddy Bear. Daddy Bear became one of Avery’s most prized possessions. Jamie told her, “When you hug Daddy Bear, I can feel it too.”

The Ignored Pleas of a Child

Avery was very bright for her age. As Avery grew older, she would tell caseworkers what her mother was doing to her during visits. However, they discounted all of these claims, saying that Tammy had coached her with those answers. When Avery was seen flinching in her mother’s presence, JFS hired a therapist who determined that Avery was having flashbacks to a time in utero when Britney was beaten by Jamie. Yes, that’s right: Avery was having flashbacks to mistreatment that didn’t happen while she was in her mother’s womb, but she wasn’t actually having flashbacks of her getting beat by her mother when she was out of the womb.

On New Year’s Eve 2012, Joan called Tammy from her personal phone to inform her they were going to skip the standard steps in reunification and push for immediate reunification between Britney and Avery. Phone calls from Joan’s personal phone and unreported visits became the way that Joan would deliver information that she did not want in Avery’s permanent records. I assume this is illegal.

According to Joan, the first step to reunification was doing multi-day stays in Jean’s home as Avery reintegrated back into Britney’s life. Joan’s favoritism for Britney became more and more apparent. This even included transporting Britney in her personal vehicle to go shopping or to many of her JFS appointments. Whenever this happened, they had to borrow the car seat that Tammy owned, as neither Joan nor Britney had an appropriate car seat for Avery.

At this time, Avery’s older sister was nearly 4 years old and not yet potty trained. Katie reported in front of JFS workers that Britney wouldn’t allow her to wear clothes in the house and she didn’t like being naked all the time. Britney defended this as a potty training strategy so that her daughter would “feel it” when she urinated or defecated, and that it would reduce the dirty laundry Britney had to clean.

During this same visit, everyone witnessed Britney take her two daughters over to a play structure and tend to her four-year-old while her wobbly 16-month-old was left on her own. Everyone watched as Avery tumbled off a 5-foot structure straight onto her head on the cement below. The JFS Guardian who witnessed this simply shrugged and said Britney was new to motherhood and was still learning. Keep in mind, Katie was 4 years old. Now, Avery was her second child. Sure seems that four years should be an adequate learning curve to understand how to monitor a toddler.

As Avery’s extended overnight visits with her maternal grandmother, Jean, began, so did more problems. Initially, Britney was not supposed to be present. This seems strange, as these visits were supposed to be part of reunification, but it is likely that this is another one of Joan’s ploys to favor Britney. It was quickly clear that Britney was indeed present, as she was there taking pictures of Avery and Jean together.

Within just a few hours of leaving Tammy’s care, she received a picture of Avery with an enormous, egg-sized bump on her head. She was told Avery had fallen and hit her head on a table three times in the same spot. You heard that right: she hit her head three times in the same spot. Being a mandated reporter, Tammy reached out to insist that Avery had been taken to get an X-ray, as this bump was as bad, if not worse, than the one Avery had when her skull was fractured. Joan said that it was Britney’s call, and if Britney said no, the answer was no. So Avery was not seen.

A month later, Avery had a doctor’s visit where the bruise was still visible, but the doctor could not confirm nor deny if her skull had been fractured, as he was not allowed to X-ray without the appropriate consent. Over time, Tammy repeatedly reported the disclosure of mistreatment that Avery made to her. Avery was repeatedly screened by medical professionals chosen by JFS. These professionals continued to say that Avery—who was bruised, battered, bitten, burned, and clearly articulating that she was being hurt by her mother—was simply lying.

A Note on Child Removal: Just for a point of reference, in many states, there are rules about what justifies removal of a child from a situation. It often cannot be done on bruises or injuries alone. The investigators have to know where the bruises came from. So in many of our cases, we see children coached to say they fell down the stairs, or tripped, or fell off a bike. When children are not openly disclosing CA (Child Abuse), it is very hard to have them removed from a home. But in this case, Avery was very clearly reporting who was harming her. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Tammy would later get video recordings of Avery describing the CA from her mother.

During a court hearing in February of 2013, Tammy was hopeful that the court would hear about the injuries Britney was inflicting on Avery while in her care. However, out of nowhere, Tammy was accused of trying to “steal” Avery because she and her husband could not conceive. When Tammy attempted to point out what Avery was going through, all of her injuries were explained away by blaming any culprit other than Britney. This list of perpetrators includes sleeping pills, tables, concrete sidewalks, bed bugs, the sun, jealous siblings, and a washing machine shrinking her clothes.

However, Tammy’s list was very different. Tammy reported multiple skull abrasions, road rash, burned skin, bloody lips, bloody nose, cigarette burns, black eyes, belt lashings, hair that had been pulled out, and teeth imprints on her body—even on her genitals—as well as other tearing and bruising to her privates. Tammy had reported these things repeatedly, repeatedly to Joan, but they were rarely or never written up in the reports that Joan made. Despite all of the injuries to Avery, the plan to proceed with reunification continued. After all, being with her mother was in the best interest of the child.

A System that Refused to See

In March of 2013, Avery returned to Tammy and John covered in filth and dog feces. As the layer of filth on her skin was washed away, numerous injuries were revealed. Avery had a double laceration on her scalp just above where she had previously hit her head three times against the table. She also had multiple circular burns to her ankles and the bottoms of her feet. These appeared to be consistent with cigarette burns.

Again, Tammy tried to report these as she had been instructed to do as part of her agreement. This time, instead of having them simply ignored, Joan came to Tammy’s house and, according to Tammy, threatened to take Avery from her and put her in a “nasty foster home” if she did not stop. Joan said that Tammy’s constant reporting was messing up the reunification plans. As it should have! If someone is constantly harming a child, it should mess up reunification plans. According to Tammy, that was the first time (though not the last) she was directly told to lie about something. Tammy said Joan didn’t even look at Avery to see if Tammy was telling the truth. Joan had already spoken to Britney and believed Britney’s story that they were not burns, they were bug bites.

When it came time to sign the visitation paperwork, Joan had not even included the injuries in the report. Tammy refused to sign until Joan added them to the description of the visit. Tammy also said that about an hour after Joan left, Joan called from her personal phone to tell Tammy that she was no longer permitted to take Avery to a doctor without Britney’s consent.

Shortly after the second serious injury in Britney’s reunification plan, the Guardian, Melissa, removed herself from the case. Tammy took this as a sign that Melissa found it to be a lost cause to fight against Joan and Britney. She was replaced by a new Guardian named Derfla Jenkins. Unfortunately, Melissa stepping out of the case may have been the nail in the coffin. It seemed that Melissa was the last member of the agency workers that was willing to admit the severity of the case. Without Melissa’s advocacy, there was no one else willing to listen to Tammy.

At this point, Avery was 16 months old and bouncing constantly between Tammy’s home, Jean’s home, and Jamie’s biological father Tim’s home. She also had many other appointments and obligations. Tammy kept advocating for a more consistent schedule for her, but her requests continued to be denied. Tammy calculated that with all the visits, Avery was only in her home 18 days a month. On the days that she was with Tammy, she was constantly running to counseling appointments, therapy appointments, preschool, and other visits with Britney.

By the time Avery was 20 months old, her verbal abilities were developing to the point where she could more clearly communicate what was happening to her. After returning from visits with Britney, she would go into rages where she beat on her dolls and repeated “Mommy bad” over and over. Joan even came to see one of these episodes after Tammy expressed concern. When Avery was asked where her mommy hurt her, Avery repeatedly hit the doll, saying again, “Mommy bad. No like Mommy.” At this, Joan took the doll from Avery and called her a liar. She asked Avery if Tammy had made her say these things, but every time she was asked this question, she would say no. Joan continued to blame Tammy for these behaviors from Avery.

When Joan left, Tammy decided she could not keep waiting for Joan to do the right thing, so she called Joan’s superior and reported all of the injuries that had been happening. Joan’s superior, surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly), defended Joan’s actions, admitting that perhaps she was being unprofessional, but that ultimately she was doing her job. Tammy could not believe that once again she was facing another agency worker who continued to defend the harm that Avery was suffering from.

At another preliminary hearing shortly after this incident, Britney had still not met the requirements of reunification. So once again, she was granted another six-month extension to prove that she could meet the requirements needed to regain full custody. In contrast, Jamie, who was meeting more of the requirements than Britney, was still not even allowed to visit his daughter.

Shortly after this, Avery was being repeatedly injured by a child at daycare. Interestingly, Joan was all about making sure that Avery was moved somewhere new. Avery started a new daycare, and almost immediately, the teacher there noticed the consistent pattern of new injuries to Avery anytime she returned from Britney’s care. However, when the teacher tried to report it, she was told by Joan that it was none of her business. Joan then accused Tammy of putting the teacher up to making these accusations. When her verbal report to Joan did not seem to be taken seriously, the teacher wrote a letter instead and submitted it to the agency hoping someone other than Joan would see it.

That summer, Avery continued to accumulate injuries in Britney’s care. She suffered severe sunburns, had pattern bruising on her legs, and additional small round burns, likely from a cigarette. She also had bruising and human bite marks on her fingertips, chest, upper thighs, and private areas (both front and back).

When Avery went for her 2-year-old well-child checkup, Britney was late to the appointment. At this point, both Tammy and Dr. Beth had been warned that Avery was not to be seen without her mother present. But Britney was not there, and Dr. Beth chose to start the appointment without her. When Avery was undressed, the excessive bruising was immediately evident. That was when Britney finally showed up and berated Tammy and the doctor for starting without her. Avery quickly began talking about how mommy hurt her, but she was repeatedly cut off by Britney. However, Britney did admit that she hit Avery when necessary, and sometimes things got out of hand when she did.

Remember, Tammy had been forced to sign an agreement that she would never use physical punishment with Avery. Britney, however, just got a gentle reminder to refrain from using excessive force on a girl that young.

The only bright side as 2013 came to a close was that Jamie was granted a Christmas visit with his daughter. Despite the judge granting Jamie the right to see his daughter at Tammy’s house, as soon as they left the courtroom, Joan insisted that she would not allow it. They were forced to have their Christmas in a JFS office. Despite the disappointment, Jamie would get to hold his little girl, and that was the most important thing for him. However, after the big deal that Joan made about needing JFS supervision for Jamie, she left the room shortly after the visit started and didn’t return. Despite the anger at having to jump through yet another unnecessary hoop, Tammy and Jamie were grateful to be together for Christmas.

The next year continued much the same. Avery continued to accumulate injuries, including sunburns so severe that it caused her kidneys to struggle and her urine to turn red. Joan and the new Guardian, referred to as Derfla in Tammy’s book, continued their blind efforts to reunify. Tammy became more and more irate at their lack of care about a child being constantly mistreated. Avery also became more verbal and continued to disclose CA from her mother.

In one interview just before she turned three, Avery was once again asked by Joan about her injuries. When Joan didn’t get the answer she wanted and asked Avery if she understood the questions, Avery replied with annoyance, and I quote: “Mommy whips my butt. She hurts me all the time, and so does [Charles].” Joan listened and once again concluded that Avery did not understand the questions. I don’t know about you, but it sure sounds like she understood them to me.

The Betrayal of Custody

In the Spring of 2014, after continued flip-flopping from JFS about what was expected of Tammy as Avery’s primary caregiver, the custody trial began. For the first time, Jamie turned on Britney and testified about her mistreatment towards himself and his daughter. Tammy tried hard to reveal all the evidence against Britney but was blocked or dismissed at every turn. After a long wait on the verdict, the unthinkable happened: Joan was informed that Britney had been awarded full custody. This was based primarily on the recommendations from Joan and the lies that Britney told claiming she had completed all the steps required of her.

Tammy and John were crushed. However, in a strange turn of events, Joan showed up at Tammy’s house that night and requested that Avery stay in her care, as Britney was not ready to parent her full-time. Tammy was outraged at being dragged through the trial only to have JFS go back on their testimonies, but she felt this was the best way to keep Avery safe, so she agreed.

Now that the case was closed and Britney no longer had to comply with a certain number of visits for her program, Tammy suddenly saw less of her. However, when she did take Avery, the child was still returning with horrific injuries. In addition, Avery’s preschool teacher got more involved. She wrote two more letters about Avery disclosing the beatings she suffered at the hands of Britney. At this time, Avery was repeating threats that Britney made about planning to kill Tammy and John. Joan, who was still determined to reunify, removed the letters from Avery’s file, arguing that the teacher only reported those things because she was friends with Tammy and that they weren’t actually true.

Tammy and John filed an appeal against the custody ruling. In the meantime, they continued to document evidence and videotape the disclosures that Avery made to them. In the many months between the initial verdict and the appeal, Avery, Tammy, and sometimes Britney regularly saw a family therapist referred to as Sage in the book. Sage was working very hard to give suggestions to help Tammy and Britney heal the rift between them and make Avery feel safe as she transitioned back and forth. However, like with Joan, the target kept moving. If Tammy complied with something, she was praised until Britney made a stink about it, and then suddenly Tammy would be told to stop what she was doing.

One example was that Britney would send Avery to Tammy with a temporary tattoo or sticker on her hand to remind her of her mommy while she was away. When Avery requested something similar from Tammy, Tammy drew stick figures on her hand to represent her family. This enraged Britney, and Tammy was instructed to stop.

In addition, Avery began reporting about a game Britney played called “tickle thumb,” where Avery said Britney was touching her privates. She said it was gross, it hurt, and she wanted her mommy to stop. Avery even built up the courage to say to her mother in front of Sage that she wanted her to stop. Britney claimed that this was simply coming from her assisting Avery in wiping after using the bathroom, or perhaps when she was cleaning her in the bath. Avery insisted that she did not need help because she was a big girl. Sage agreed and told Britney to stop if Avery wanted her to stop. Britney said no, she would not. And as this encounter happened in front of Tammy, the therapist just turned to Tammy, shrugged, and said, “Well, she is the mother.”

That’s right: a small child disclosed to her therapist that she was being SA’d (Sexually Assaulted) in front of the perpetrator, and the therapist just shrugged and said it was in the mother’s rights.

The custody appeal was presided over by Judge William Payne. Fortunately, despite Britney failing the polygraph and then later admitting to intentionally fracturing Avery’s skull at 6 months old and intentionally injuring Katie as well as attempting to kill Jamie, the verdict remained the same. He upheld the ruling that Britney would get custody back, as well as the bizarre twist that Avery would still stay with Tammy until Britney was ready to parent full-time. After all, they just wanted what was best for the child, which was to be with her mother. It is also important to note at this point that Britney was once again pregnant, despite being instructed by JFS not to have any relationships while she worked on regaining her custody.

Dragged into the Darkness

However, everything changed suddenly on May 15th, 2015, when a petition for immediate reunification was granted, and Britney showed up at Avery’s preschool without warning and dragged her kicking and screaming to Jean’s car. After this incident, Tammy was left to fight for visitation with Avery. Initially, Britney and Joan insisted that Tammy and John be removed from Avery’s life entirely—another bizarre twist after being asked to keep Avery safe from her mother for years.

However, the judge who was ruling over this issue insisted that visits be allowed, at the very least out of gratitude for everything Tammy and John had done for Avery and Britney. At the same time, he instructed Tammy and John to be sure they did not do anything to disrupt Britney’s custody. They were not permitted to photograph any injuries, change Avery’s clothes or alter her appearance in any way, and they were never, ever allowed to take her to a medical provider for any reason. If they violated these orders, they would face fines, jail time, or both.

That’s right. These adults were instructed to ignore any signs of harm or neglect that they saw, and if they reported it, he would try and throw them in jail for trying to protect a three-year-old.

Tammy was granted three visits per month, each lasting five hours apiece. Britney made sure to schedule these visits at times when Tammy was supposed to be working. That did not deter Tammy, however, and she made sure to travel to get her granddaughter every single time. By the time Tammy had her first visit with Avery, several weeks after the abrupt change in custody, Britney was no longer living with Jean and had moved in with a new boyfriend named Charles. This further complicated the visits, as the new location was further away than her previous residence had been.

Over the next few months, Tammy only saw Avery during the sporadic visits allowed by Britney. Avery appeared with injuries every single time. Sometimes she was wearing winter clothes to cover up any evidence. Despite being instructed not to report anything, when Avery came to Tammy’s house, she had a 1-inch by 4-inch chunk of skin missing from her back after she was beaten with a belt. Tammy reported it immediately. She was once again told to stop reporting.

Tammy continued to see Avery deteriorate, including the loss of weight and hair. Avery reported that her mother pulled her hair out, though she didn’t know why. Suddenly, after 4 months, Avery’s temperament changed. She was suddenly flinching less as people got near her and was less hesitant to share about Britney. It turned out that Britney had decided Avery’s behaviors were “too much” for her and had placed her in Jean’s care for several weeks.

Tammy reached out to Joan to request that if Avery’s custody arrangements were going to change, they please consider her household for the placement. In fact, this was part of the court order put in place with Britney’s reunification plan: if Avery was to be removed again from Britney’s home, she was supposed to return to Tammy’s care. However, JFS claimed they had nothing to do with this change; as the mother, Britney had every right to choose where her child would reside. It wasn’t until much later that Tammy learned this was another lie. Avery had started a new daycare, who immediately started to report the signs of harm that Avery was suffering. This led to Avery being taken from Britney and placed with Jean on JFS’s orders.

Shortly after that, Tammy learned that Britney was dragging Avery to multiple medical facilities trying to get her diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It took several tries, but eventually she found a doctor willing to prescribe the drugs and sedatives that Britney wanted to make Avery easier to manage.

A Note on Bipolar Disorder in Children: We’d also like to point out to our listeners the absurdity of this diagnosis. Bipolar disorder is very rarely diagnosed in children this young; doctors will usually refuse to make this diagnosis until a person is in their late adolescence or adulthood. This is probably why it took so many tries for Britney to find a doctor to agree to this. In addition, Avery did not show any signs of a mental disorder when she was with any other members of her family or in any of her various daycares.

Through all the juggling, all the grandparents fought to stay involved in Avery’s life. Fortunately, the constant moving around from one place to another added a hardship of traveling great distances to see her. Eventually, Jamie’s father Tim was cut out entirely.

By January of 2016, Tammy learned that Britney was no longer under the orders of a JFS safety plan for Avery. The terms of this original plan stated that it needed to be in place for a year after Avery’s return to Britney’s custody, and it had not yet been a year. In addition, Avery had spent much of that time in Jean’s custody. And even with that lack of sole supervision from Britney, the four-year-old was still showing up to visitations with handprint bruises all over her body and more chunks of hair missing.

Every time, Avery reported that she heard Britney tell the doctor that Avery hit her head against the wall and pulled her own hair out. Avery insisted that it wasn’t true. She said Britney pulled her hair out and then hit her in the head with a hairbrush to make the bruises.

In addition, in late October of 2015, Tammy was informed that Britney had miscarried and was no longer pregnant. To be clear, she would have been about 7 months pregnant at the time of the supposed miscarriage. It is certainly possible that it was genuinely a spontaneous loss of pregnancy. However, at 7 months, that would have been classified as a stillbirth; Britney would have given birth to that baby. With her previous threats to terminate her own pregnancy at home herself and her false claims of a stillbirth in the past, it’s impossible to know what really happened with this pregnancy. All we know is that the baby disappeared without a trace.

The Final Summer

In 2016, the pattern that Tammy, Avery, and all JFS workers became familiar with only continued to grow. In March, during one visit with Tammy, Avery was bleeding from the mouth. She kept spitting out blood, and Tammy asked her about it, to which Avery told her that she was “popped in the mouth.”

In May, when Avery came to visit, she was clearly underweight and nearly bald. She was sluggish and tired, and she seemed to slip in and out of consciousness. When Tammy scooped the little girl into her lap to rub her back, she felt a lump under Avery’s shirt. She lifted her shirt and found a medical patch. As soon as Avery felt her touching it, she jerked awake and cried out that Tammy couldn’t take it off or her mommy would hurt her. Tammy was convinced that Avery was overdosing on whatever medication was in the patch, or perhaps a combination of medications. But as we know, she was not allowed to bring the child to a doctor. When Tammy dropped her off at Britney’s house again, she immediately called the Guardian ad Litem, Derfla, to report what she had suspected. No one ever followed up. No one checked on her medical needs or talked to her doctor. Not even with a report that Avery was being drugged into unconsciousness did anyone who was supposed to do something do anything.

The most disturbing visit came later that May. Shortly after the visit with the apparent overdose, in an attempt to keep Avery’s relationship strong with her cousin Lou, Tammy set them up on a phone call together while she saw clients in her hair salon. That’s when Tammy overheard Avery telling Lou a horrific story. She told Lou that Charles and Britney made her do push-ups and stand until she fell. They would duct-tape her legs and mouth. She would be taped to a post at the bottom of the stairs. If she misbehaved or tried to stand up, Charles would kick her in the stomach. She also told Lou about how Mommy’s “tickle thumb” was hurting her. She said she was too afraid to pull down her underwear, which was why she was having accidents all the time. She also said that they only fed her half of an apple per day.

This conversation was overheard by a client at Tammy’s salon, who immediately called the CA hotline. She was told there was no evidence, so they would not investigate. Tammy decided her silence was no longer worth it to stay out of jail or avoid fines. On the ride back to Britney’s, the little girl repeated the story, and Tammy recorded it on video. She took the footage to Magistrate Paul Demit, the same man who threatened her with jail time if she caused any more trouble. Shockingly, he listened to the footage and agreed that someone needed to get involved again. Unfortunately, he appointed the Guardian ad Litem, Derfla, to be that person.

As we could have expected by this point, Derfla’s only follow-up on this issue was in the form of a scheduled visit. During this visit, Avery played quietly with Play-Doh. According to reports, Derfla did not check through the residence for any evidence to support Avery’s story. By the summer of 2016, there were 22 reports made on Avery’s behalf that were not investigated. Of the five reports that were investigated, most were just brushed off with a cursory stop at the home and then swept under the rug.

As the summer progressed, Avery continued to go downhill. She came to Tammy soaking wet in winter clothes. She was terrified to use the bathroom alone. She ate and drank anything she could get her hands on. She had left Tammy’s care weighing 48 pounds the year prior and was now only 20 pounds. The light hurt her eyes, and she was often unresponsive. She was weak, drugged, and exhausted with no energy to play. She became withdrawn and defeated.

In early June, when Tammy and John attempted to take her to their favorite park, Avery barely had the strength to be there. She could not play in the water park and was too exhausted to eat. Tammy carried her to the top of the slide, and they slid down together. She cradled Avery in her lap on the swings. Avery begged her to take her to Magistrate Demit so she could “tell on her mommy.” A heartbroken Tammy had to tell the girl that no one would listen until she was older, so they made a deal that she could go see the magistrate when she turned five, and maybe then he would listen.

During a visit in July, Avery seemed to be doing a little better. She was wearing summer clothes and had the energy to eat. She played happily with her cousin and her Pappy all afternoon. Avery’s father, Jamie, happened to stop by Tammy’s house unexpectedly. He had not been able to see or hold Avery for years due to the restraining order. He watched her through the window and ignited a newfound fire to get her back in his life. When it was time to go, Avery raced giggling down the driveway to Pappy’s car. Tammy teased her about racing off without giving her a hug. Promises of a hug “next time” and a new hope after seeing Avery being a playful toddler again, they parted ways.

The next day, Jamie went to the public defender’s office to seek counsel and get his custody back. They were hopeful that with new counsel and a new judge, perhaps someone would be willing to hear the years of evidence they had proving the harm that Avery had been suffering at the hands of her mother. He left that day with hope and an appointment the following Monday.

On August 1st, the family spent the weekend gathering evidence and preparing for their appointment on Monday. Tammy was excited to see Avery that Tuesday and tell her they had finally found a way to fight for her.

The Tragic End

On Monday morning, as they waited for their appointment, Tammy got on the computer to fill the time and found a comment from a friend extending their condolences and prayers. Tammy was confused. She asked her what she meant. She initially thought that perhaps the friend knew about the new custody fight, though she couldn’t think of how that would have happened. Finally, she called the woman, who told her that Avery was at the Children’s Hospital. She apparently had a freak accident, and the doctors were preparing to check and see if she still had any brain activity.

Panicked, Tammy began calling family members to gather them while they tried to figure out what was going on. She called Derfla, the Guardian ad Litem. She called the police, the hospitals, Britney, and Jean, but no one would answer her calls. The hospital said Avery wasn’t there. Jamie’s father, Tim, drove to the Children’s Hospital, where they still insisted there that Avery wasn’t there. He did not leave until someone agreed to take Jamie’s phone number. He explained that Jamie was the father of this child that they were trying to find.

After Tim left, a detective called Jamie and apologized. Avery was at the hospital and was placed under a protection order. They had been told that Britney’s new boyfriend, Charles, was her father, which is why they had not been able to disclose her location to Jamie or his family. Jamie explained that there had been a restraining order against him but begged the detective to let him see his daughter before she died. The detective agreed and told them they could come to the hospital and he would find a way to get Jamie in there.

After getting off the phone with the detective, they began gathering their things. As they waited for John and Tim to arrive at Tammy’s house, they grabbed Avery’s birth certificate to prove that Jamie was the father. Unfortunately, before they could leave the house, Jamie’s phone rang again. This time it was with the last thing any of them wanted to hear: Avery was dead.

When they arrived at the hospital to view Avery’s body, what they found was not the little girl that they had seen just a few days prior. Avery’s whole body and head were swollen. Tammy described Avery’s head as being the size of a basketball. Avery’s hair was also cut off in clumps right to her scalp in some places. Tammy asked if they had done that to perform a procedure, but the nurse told them she came in that way. The family was not permitted to touch her body except to kiss her on the forehead before they left.

The family soon learned that Avery had been injured the previous Friday and had been fighting for her life in the hospital for the past 3 days. For those 3 days, Britney’s family sat in the waiting room and took turns seeing Avery. No one called Tammy or Jamie. Not a single member from Britney’s family. Not the caseworker, nor the Guardian. Instead, Avery laid in a room dying with the monster that hurt her as the only one standing vigil.

A doctor soon joined the family to explain what had happened. He said that it was clear that Avery had suffered at the hands of her mother for a long time. The night that she came to the hospital, she had sustained several severe blows to the head, and her body had been underwater in a bathtub for an unknown amount of time. When she arrived at the hospital that Friday night, she was already dead. No heartbeat, no breathing. They had been able to resuscitate her to get her stable but soon realized that there was no hope of her ever surviving. Her skull had essentially been crushed, resulting in a catastrophic brain injury. The amount of internal bleeding she was experiencing was making it impossible for her to keep her heart beating.

It is unclear if Avery’s body finally just gave out after 3 days on life support or if Tammy’s suspicions are correct and Britney actually pulled the plug. Either way, family never got to say their goodbyes to her. She died alone in a hospital room surrounded by sterile cloth, beeping machines, and her murderous mother. She was robbed of her last chance to be surrounded by love before she left this world.

The next day, the family was invited to meet with Detective Withers in the homicide department. The detective gave them more details of what had happened on the night of July 29th. When Avery came to the hospital, paramedics responded to a 911 call made from Beach Avenue in West Price Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio. They found Avery underwater in the bathtub. She had sustained multiple blows to the head. Britney had told them that she had put Avery in the shower to cool her off because she wasn’t feeling well after a day of playing in the hot summer sun. She then claimed that Avery collapsed in the shower and became limp and unresponsive. Britney said she attempted CPR and rescue breaths, but that seemed unlikely as Avery was still in the bathtub full of water when paramedics arrived.

Even more bizarre was that Britney had made a phone call to Charles that lasted 6 minutes before she decided to call 911. We will likely never know the true story of what happened to Avery Lee Hobbs that night, but there have been some additional claims that came out over the years that deserve to be mentioned. One inmate who did time with Britney heard her state that Charles was involved with her killing. She claimed that Charles would give her heroin if she would allow him to drug and SA her child. Her claim was that on July 29th, they accidentally caused Avery to overdose during an assault, and Britney put her in the tub of water to revive her. She said when she regained consciousness, she thrashed around banging her head on the tub, which ultimately caused her death.

Now, I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sound like enough force to crush Avery’s skull. And if Charles was present for the assault, why would Britney have spent six minutes on the phone with him before calling 911? This just shows that nothing that comes out of Britney’s mouth can be trusted.

The Aftermath and Avery’s Law

When they parted ways with the detective, Jamie’s family was told to start preparing for a funeral. So the family did all the things necessary. They went out to the funeral home and picked out a tiny white casket, gathered clothes for her to wear, her favorite stuffed animals, photos of Avery, and the flowers to decorate her grave. Jamie’s sister, Angie, somehow managed to collect much of the hair that had been hacked from Avery’s head. Tammy, being a hairdresser herself and a specialist in hair loss, had a plan to reattach as much hair as she could before the funeral.

The next day, when the funeral director went to collect Avery’s body from the morgue, Jamie received a phone call that Britney was also at the morgue. Britney was trying to get her body cremated. Jamie frantically looked for an avenue to stop her—not only from destroying the chances at the funeral they wanted, but also to stop her from destroying the evidence of her crimes. Jamie was able to get a 72-hour hold on her body while matters were sorted out.

After a hearing in probate court, they received a date of August 17th to plead for her remains. Britney was still legally the guardian with full custody, so until the judge decided on their motion, Avery’s body had to lay rotting in the morgue. However, on August 5th, 2016, well before that court date, the coroner ruled Avery’s death a homicide.

Britney was arrested on August 10th for the murder of Avery Lee Hobbs. Her partner, Charles, was not arrested due to insufficient evidence. He also was not present at the time of her fatal injuries on July 29th. At Britney’s arraignment, she was charged with one count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, and one count of criminal child endangerment. All of these came with the special circumstances that the victim was only 4 years old. Britney pled not guilty and was held on a $2 million bond. That bond was later revoked by a judge, and she was held without bail.

We would like to note that in Avery’s autopsy, there were dozens of injuries documented, including bruising and tearing in her private areas. However, no one was charged with SA’ing her. The medical examiner noted that due to the absence of male DNA, there was no proof that she had been the victim of SA. But if she was being assaulted by her mother, as she repeatedly reported to adults, there wouldn’t be any male DNA present. So the fact that a medical examiner would claim that male DNA is the sole thing needed to determine if Avery was assaulted is ridiculous.

On August 17th, the court sided with Jamie and his family, giving him full custody of Avery’s remains under the condition that they also list Britney’s family in the obituary. Jamie and Tammy agreed, with the caveat that they would not list her mother. They argued that the person who murdered a helpless child did not deserve to have her name listed. The judge agreed, and the family went about finalizing their funeral plans. Unfortunately, they were soon called by the funeral director to tell them there was no way they could do an open casket funeral. Avery’s body was too deteriorated. Jamie begged to be allowed to see his daughter and hold her one last time. The funeral director refused, saying that the trauma of seeing her in this state would be something he would never be able to escape for the rest of his life.

On August 19th, Avery Lee Hobbs was laid to rest in a tiny white casket with wildflowers cascading over it. Her casket was surrounded by displays of photos, toys, her baby dolls, artwork, her favorite bedtime story, and most importantly, Daddy Bear—the giant bear Jamie had brought her for Christmas years earlier. Avery was buried next to her Nana Joanne, who had succumbed to cancer the year before. The plot also had spaces reserved for her father Jamie, and her surrogate parents Tammy and John. After her casket was lowered into the ground, Daddy Bear was placed on top.

Avery was remembered as a 10-month-old with big brown eyes and a hearty giggle. She’s remembered as a toddler whose favorite show was Bubble Guppies. She was a bright, vibrant child who had the bravery to stand up to her mother. She was a warrior and a light in the life of her entire family.

Britney’s trial did not take place until January of 2020. She pled guilty to lesser charges in order to avoid the possibility of the death penalty. She received a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years. Her plea left her with just one charge of aggravated murder. It took 3 years, 5 months, and 3 days from Avery’s murder until her mother was convicted. Even with the contingent of possible parole after 20 years, Judge Robert Ruehlman, who sentenced Britney in both cases against Avery, doubts she will ever be granted parole given the details of the case.

Avery’s loss has left a gaping hole in Jamie’s family. We spend a lot of time in our podcast doing our best to give dignity to those who have been taken from us in any number of horrific ways. However, the murdered children we speak of are not the only victims. Especially in a case like this, where a little girl was so loved by so many people around her, the victims of this crime number in the dozens. Avery’s cousin, who watched her demise, now has PTSD and an eating disorder. To this day, Tammy no longer puts up a tree or celebrates Christmas. Tammy’s health, as well as the health of many others, greatly suffered, either during the time they jumped through the JFS hoops or in the years after her murder.

Tammy and John were financially ruined after years of providing for a child that they weren’t permitted to protect. They spent years missing work for visitation or appointments for Avery. They hired lawyers to fight for their baby girl and continued to try and support Avery and Jamie in any way that they could. However, the emotional and financial devastation has not stopped Tammy’s fight for justice.

It is abundantly clear that Avery was failed by the system in a catastrophic way. In Tammy’s own words, the court giving Britney custody was like handing her a loaded gun with unstoppable reign to use it. So I ask, who is responsible? Who in this entire saga is responsible? I suppose a more appropriate question would be, who wasn’t?

Tammy has proposed a bill called Avery’s Law that includes stricter and more detailed restrictions in the reunification process to parents with a history of CA.

One of the proposed changes would be mandatory periodic medical assessments. These medical assessments would be to screen children for additional signs of CA, in particular in young children who do not have the verbal skills to advocate for themselves. The bill proposes that the testing should be periodic and random, with at least four medical evaluations in the first 12 months after reunification, and continuing for up to 5 years. She proposes that these assessments should happen independently from Social Services, appointed Guardians, and the parents.
The law also proposes that a foster parent should have the right to report CA, and that report should trigger a periodic medical assessment. Again, this should not be able to be altered by the JFS workers or Guardians. In addition, the person accused of CA should not be present during these assessments.
The third part of her law is a proposal for a Child Protection Registry. This would act similar to an offender registry. Any persons who are convicted of CA, neglect, or endangerment would be added to this registry. This information would be available to all mandated reporters and people living in surrounding areas. Anyone listed on the registry who has a concurrent citation of CA would be immediately investigated by law enforcement. I’m sure you’ve heard this proposed many times in other cases that we’ve done, especially the one of Jessica Lunsford.

The bill goes on to include ways to allow children to advocate for themselves without having to speak through potentially biased or dishonest agency workers. It also proposes a new branch of the social service department or investigations called DEAR. DEAR stands for Developing Essential Advocate Restoration. This branch would be an outside resource where any person could make a complaint against a social worker, case manager, Guardian ad Litem, or other parties in a child protection case. This branch would also support these workers wearing body cams or otherwise recording meetings to assist them in accurately reporting data and as a protection for themselves against false accusations. This is similar to how many police departments now require body cams as a way to protect civilians and law enforcement personnel. In addition, contact from private phone numbers and email addresses would not be permitted, or at least restricted, to people involved in child protective cases.

In Tammy’s efforts to make changes, she discovered that 19 children died at the hands of their parents in the state of Ohio in a 2-year period. All of these 19 children were also under the care of JFS. Through her research, she also found data that estimates that every year there are 450 children murdered by their parents in the United States. 58% of those children were murdered by their mothers.

After reading Tammy’s book, In the Best Interest of a Child, which you can find on Kindle for 99 cents, there were many quotes that stuck with us. One quote referenced the rights of children versus the rights of animals. She said, “I have to say that animal rights outweigh human rights. When you abuse a pet, Animal Control places you on a list to prevent further adoption. Also, they may charge you a fee and sentence you to a jail term more stringent than the six months Britney spent for fracturing a human skull.”

Tammy also said, “You know, it is painful enough to have a child die from an uncontrollable illness or an accidental death, but having a healthy, vibrant child die at the hands of someone put on earth to love her is by far the most atrocious crime. There’s no level of understanding of that act. There is no excuse, justification, or a way to heal from it. People do not write books on how one should recover from a mother torturing and murdering her child while the system hands them the axe. Nor is there a 12-step recovery program, because no one creates programs for crime considered taboo.”

Now, when CPS—or in this case, JFS—is negligent or downright heinous, as in the case of Avery, many people ask us in the comments, “Well, did they suffer jail time? Were they punished? Did anything happen?” And I unfortunately have to tell you that we could find no evidence that anything happened to Joan or anyone else at JFS or the Guardian ad Litem. Nobody from our research, nobody was punished for what happened to Avery.

If Avery were alive today, she would be 13 years old as of the date of this recording. She’d be in middle school playing sports, making friends, maybe experiencing her first crush. She’d likely still be best friends with her cousin, and she’d be a great little sister. She’d be learning who she is as a person as she transitions from childhood to adolescence. Judging by her behavior in her lifetime, she’d likely continue to fight hard for what is right in the world and stand up against people doing wrong.

Instead, she never even got to go to kindergarten. She never rode a school bus or got her school picture taken. She never got to see the ocean or wake up in her father’s home on Christmas morning.

Avery, you are very loved and very missed. Rest in peace, sweet girl.