Kesi Hope Cuthel was born on December 5th, 2017 to parents Amanda Mullen and Ted Kriel, who were likely fans of Game of Thrones. Chubby cheicked as a baby, she grew into a toddler with a shy, dimpled smile. She had blue eyes and thin blonde hair. She was sweet, bubbly, and talkative.
Her mother said she was very loving, and happy all of the time. She said Khesi was also very smart and she couldn’t wait to start school. Even as a baby when she was first learning to talk, she knew that sheep went bad and the cat went meow. I need to eat, please. What do you want to eat, please? I need to eat. Do you want some pineapples? No, I want some pineapples. They’re all gone.
They’re not all gone. Mommy has a whole bowl of them in there. What do you want to eat? Are you going to tell mommy what you want to eat? Her mother’s cousin, Daniel Mullen, said she was very empathetic and always tried to cheer everyone up. She liked to sing and dance along with music, and when she smiled and giggled, it was contagious.
Daniel said no one could have a bad day when Khesi was around and that everybody liked her. Ted and Amanda had older children they shared with partners from previous relationships, but by 2020, they were living together in Wsboro, Virginia, and raising Kesi as a couple. In March of that year, Amanda had a probation violation hearing because she had failed a drug test.
At that hearing, she told officers of the court that she had been struggling with an addiction to crystal for about 15 years, but she was committed to getting herself better. In April, she was placed in an intensive outpatient group to help her get sober. But a few months later, she was kicked out of the program because she had failed to complete a single session.
She was supposed to turn herself in and finish her jail sentence, but didn’t because she said she didn’t know who would take care of Kesi if she wasn’t there. A warrant was issued for her arrest, and in October, a social worker from Child Protective Services showed up at her house. Amanda wanted Kesi to stay with her father in the family home.
CPS wouldn’t leave her there since they’d been living together when Amanda used drugs and violated her parole. She asked if they could place her with her sister in Cington, about an hour and a half away. The CPS search turned up an open claim with the sister. To be clear, the agency had not substantiated any abuse taking place there, but the sister had recently gotten custody of her stepchildren.
The situation was still unresolved. At this point, Amanda said she was panicking, afraid she would lose her daughter if she couldn’t find someone to take her. She suggested her friend, Candy Joe Royer. Candi had a three-year-old daughter of her own and had babysat Kesi on occasions. Candy had no open CPS cases. She wasn’t on the registry.
She had no documented history of abuse or neglect. However, she was no saint. She also struggled with substance abuse and was currently on house arrest for petty larseny, credit card fraud, passing bad checks, and related charges. She was living with Travis Brown with at least 29 prior felonies, some of which were for violent crimes.
CPS workers searched and found no history of violence in Candy’s past. So, she helped Candy and Amanda fill out a diversionary agreement. This sounds like it could have been a custody agreement, but was actually just a matter of money. Diversionary agreement allocates a lump sum of emergency funds to a family or child in need.
Manda agreed to give up any rights she had to funds on Kesi’s behalf. Give those funds, about $1,500, to Candi. The lump sum of money was supposed to help Candi get items the toddler needed right away. maybe a new bed, bedding, and to also help pay for Kesi’s care over the next few months. Since Candi wasn’t legally allowed to leave the house, she couldn’t come pick Khesi up.
So, the social worker drove the toddler to Cand’s home on Cattle Scales Road. Once there, the worker assessed the home for safety and left Khesi in Cand’s care. The worker said she had no idea Travis was living there and did no search of his records. And even though she drove Khesi to the home herself, it was not considered an official action.
The agency never had custody of the toddler and they didn’t place her with candy. According to their official statement, CPS does not make placements outside of foster care. This meant there would be no wellness or drop in visits. After leaving her there, CPS would not return unless they received a report.
Meanwhile, authorities took Amanda to the Middle River Regional Jail. On November 8th, Candi posted about Khesi on her social media. She said, “Travis is always posting pictures of new automobiles or motorcycles as the newest addition to our family, but I would like to introduce the newest addition to our family, Kesi.” When a friend asked who the toddler belonged to, Candy wrote, “At the moment, mine.
Until her parents are able to care for her, we will. Along with her message, Candi posted photos of Kesi and a couple photos of Kesi and Natalie, the daughter she shared with Travis. A quick glance at the photos seemed to show a happy family. In one photo, Kesi and Candy and Travis’s daughter wore cute costumes for Halloween.
Kesi was dressed as a lion and Adalie wore a piggy costume. Another older child is present in one photo, but unnamed. It could have been one of Cand’s other children as she had six. Two were over 18, but four, including Adalie, were still minors. She did not seem to have custody of her other minor children, and she never talked about them on social media.
Though Kesi was smiling in the photos, Adalie was not. And even though Kesi wore the same purple and green outfit in several of the photos, her ponytails seemed to be missing and her hair seemed much thinner in one of them. But sometimes kids look different and no one mentioned anything in the comments.
Candy publicly promised to take care of Khesi, but behind closed doors, she and Travis were soon mistreating the toddler. The lock on Kesi’s door was turned around so they could lock her in her room while the locks on the rest of the house remained unchanged. and the toddler started losing her hair, which can often happen when a child is suffering, either because of the stress or because it’s being ripped out by some scumbag caretaker.
Kesi’s third birthday was on December 5th, but Candi made no mention of any special plans and posted no photos of a party or presents. Later that month, on the 26th, Candi posted Christmas pictures online. Again, a quick glance seemed to show a happy family, but a closer look revealed disturbing details. Adalie had a deep scratch across her nose.
Kesi was always photographed from behind. Her face was never shown. Candy’s grandmother was confused by these photos and asked online, “Where’s Khesi?” Candy replied, “She is in the pink hat.” Though the hat covered most of her head and in one photo it slid out of place. The base of her head appeared almost bald with only fuzz where hair should have been.
One photo showed a circular wound on her foot that looked a lot like a cigarette burn. Her neck also looked too thin for her age. Her ear looked bruised and her posture was quite rigid. She didn’t look like the healthy bubbly girl that she was only a couple months previously. On January 12th, 2021, Amanda called from the Middle River Regional Jail.
Like all jail communications, the phone call was taped. Kesi said, “Mommy,” and Candy put her on the phone. Manda asked her if she was being good and said, “I love you. I can’t wait to see you. Mommy misses you.” Lisi replied, “I love you, Mommy.” In February of 2021, Candi told her family that Kesi had been removed from their home by CPS.
Said the toddler was taken away to live with her aunt or grandmother. Next time Amanda called, Candi told her a completely different story. So that Kesi was at a birthday party and couldn’t come to the phone and she said they needed more money to help take care of her. In March, Kis’s dad, Ted, and another family member went to the home on Cattle Scales Road and gave Candi money a cell phone to make it easier for the family to talk to Kesi.
Candy gave them an excuse and wouldn’t let them see the toddler. When Amanda called again, Candi had more excuses. Concerned, Amanda wrote a letter to CPS asking them to check on her daughter. The agency never responded. The beginning of August, Candi said she needed more money to take care of the girl, and Ted dropped off more money, and he still was not allowed to see his daughter.
On August 16th, Candi made a tell all post on social media claiming that Travis was cheating on her, had hurt her, and had been arrested. She wrote, “Well, I normally don’t do this, but [ __ ] it. Let’s get real. So, about 2 weeks ago, Travis just decides to not come home. When he does, he waits until I’m gone and sneaks a skank into my home, a home we share with our three-year-old daughter.
When he comes back the next day, he goes off and hits me, tries to hit my 73-year-old dad, and runs when the cops come. They issue a warrant, arrest him for assault, and give him bonds. The day the protection order expires, he breaks in my window at 6:00 a.m. and comes at me again. I escape to the neighbors, they call the cops, and he runs again.
The new protection order gives me the house, the dog, and Adalie, who he can also have no contact with because he choked me while I was holding her, and she told the court. I tried to let him talk to her on the phone, but the first thing out of his mouth was, “Your mom’s a piece of shit.” So, that ended quickly.
News flash. I didn’t walk out on her. He did. You can say you hate me or whatever, but you don’t love someone one minute and hate them the next. Candy also posted a screenshot from Travis’s social media. In the screenshot, Britney Southern, the alleged scandal called Travis her soulmate and professed her deep love for him.
She said that he was her whole world and that he made her feel safe. None of them, not Candy, Travis, or Britney, mentioned Kesi at all. Amanda continued to call and text Candy and even tried to call Travis, but neither would answer her calls. She was already worried, but would soon become frantic.
September 3rd, she saw a TV report that Candi had been reported missing by her family. In the report, Candi’s family said they had last spoken to her around 4 p.m. on August 24th. They said she usually answered their calls or called back, and the long period of no communication was out of character. The news report also mentioned that she had recently filed for a protective order against Travis.
After seeing the report, Amanda told a prison guard that the missing woman was supposed to be watching her three-year-old daughter. Deputies were summoned to the prison and talked to her on September 4th. According to Sheriff Donald Smith, she told the deputies that Candy and Travis stopped communicating with her, stopped taking her calls, stopped taking her text messages.
Everything went black. Manda told the sheriff that CPS had helped place Khesi with candy, but when he contacted the agency, they told him they weren’t part of the arrangement. This led to additional confusion in an already complicated situation before it became clear that an agency worker had dropped Khesi off, but that it hadn’t been an official placement.
Sheriff Smith had harsh words for the department, saying, “It doesn’t help that CPS didn’t do anything to find this child who was removed from her mother in October of 2020. Eventually, deputies located Adalie with Candi’s relatives and were told that Kesi was supposed to be with Amanda’s family. Over the next 3 days, officers interviewed multiple family members of Candi, Travis, and Amanda before announcing that Kesi was a missing person.
No one had seen or heard from her since Amanda’s last phone call on January 12th. On September 10th, police issued an Amber Alert, but by that time, Kesi had been missing for almost eight months. A representative of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children noted that the first 72 hours are considered the most critical in any missing person’s case, especially for a child.
The extended monthslong delay would make it harder to figure out what actually happened to Kesi. Concern was even greater in this case because Travis was still on the run. He was wanted for strangulation and assault and battery because of his recent attack on Candy. When the sheriff entered Candy’s name into the criminal justice computer system, he soon realized she and Travis were going across the state in a crime spree.
Travis was wanted for a string of other crimes across multiple counties, including unauthorized use of a vehicle, two counts of grand lararseny, and at least three counts of breaking and entering, carjacking, trespassing, destruction of property, and two felony counts of eluding law enforcement. Candy seemed to be a willing participant in these crimes, not a victim.
In addition to stealing a car, the couple also stole a boat on Lake Anna in nearby Louisa County. Finally, law enforcement tracked the couple down two states away in Pennsylvania. On September 12th, the Pennsylvania State Police and the US Marshalss knocked on the door of the Nights Motel in South Greensburg. When the couple refused to open the door, the officers broke it down.
They found stolen checks, drug paraphernalia, and what officials described as two large rocks of methampetamine. But according to Sheriff Smith, Kesi was nowhere to be found. He filed felony CA charges against Candy and Travis and drove to Pennsylvania several times to interview them about the toddler’s whereabouts.
Travis told the sheriff a number of stories. First, he repeatedly insisted that CPS had come back and taken the girl. Eventually, after being told there was no record that the agency ever returned to the house, he claimed a family friend took her. When pressed, he couldn’t remember the last time he saw her.
But Sheriff Smith kept coming back to talk to him, and he said Travis was willing to keep talking. He said, “Travis agreed to see me without an attorney present and noted that he and Candy were no strangers to the system.” On September 19th, Travis continued to profess his innocence. He said, “I would never hurt a little girl man, and that he and Candy did anything a good Christian person would do to help this little girl.
” But he also admitted that he hit Khesi. He said, “I might have lost my temper and smacked her. She liked to be smacked.” He also claimed that Khesi sometimes acted as if she was possessed. He told officers that he woke up one night and went to get a snack from the kitchen when he saw her choking his daughter Adalie.
He told them she was clumsy and prone to falling, saying she fell and smacked hering head all the time. He said the three-year-old was a danger to herself. He claimed he and Candy repeatedly called CPS and asked for help dealing with her, but the agency never responded. He said there was no one to help us. For most of his interrogation, Travis had insisted Kesi was still alive.
Eventually, though, he told officers that she was dead and her body was in a landfill, but he still claimed he didn’t kill her. When officers asked where they could find her, Travis got emotional and began to cry. Not because the toddler was dead. No, he wanted to know what he had been charged with. He also insisted that Candy hadn’t done anything to her either.
Instead, he blamed Khesi. He said she rammed her head into a door frame, causing her own death. When officers expressed disbelief, he said, “It’s what she did, man.” Travis said he tried to do CPR on her, claiming, “I tried so hard, dude.” He said he passed out because of the drugs in his system. He woke up. She was dead, so he left her on the floor.
The next day, he wrapped her in a blanket and put her in a trash can because he was scared and didn’t know what to do. Meanwhile, investigators were executing 50 search warrants of places the couple had been, with many of them focusing on the house on Cattle Scales Road. They also seized the couple’s cell phones and electronic devices.
Investigators were able to determine his claim of contacting CPS was false. Sheriff Smith brought in cadaavver dogs to search the home and surrounding properties, but they found no sign of her. Three weeks after declaring her a missing person, the sheriff held a press conference and announced that the little girl was dead. He couldn’t share many details, but he said, “I can confirm that Kesi is not alive.
I can confirm to you that she died at the address where Candy and Travis resided. I can prove that this child was in their care and that she isn’t anymore. He promised to get justice. He said, “We’re trying to make sure that we do everything that we can to bring justice for her. I want to make sure that these two people are held responsible for what they did to this child.
There’s a lot of information that they’ve withheld and I’ve really tried to keep the integrity of this case together.” He also said that he would never stop searching for Khesi. He said, “It keeps me awake at night because I can’t find her.” Candy and Travis plead guilty to their charges in Pennsylvania and were extradited to Virginia in the beginning of December of 2021.
They were both charged with CA and neglect of a child with injury. Travis was placed in the Middle River Regional Jail and Candi was placed in the Rockingham Harrisonburg Regional Jail. Normally, she also would have been held at the Middle River Regional Jail, but since Kesi’s mom was still incarcerated there, Candy was moved for her safety.
They were both held without bond. In May of 2022, they were indicted on more serious charges, including aggravated murder, which is the premeditated, willful, and deliberate murder of a child under the age of 14 by an adult. In addition, they were charged with felony murder, unlawfully concealing a dead body, conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, conspiracy to commit CA, and conspiracy to conceal a dead body.
Travis’s trial began on August 28th, 2023 with Judge Shannon Cheryl presiding. Prosecuting a murder case without a body is always difficult, but Sheriff Smith’s investigators had uncovered damning physical and video evidence, and Travis had admitted he hit the toddler, even if he denied killing her. Though Travis claimed Candy had done nothing wrong during his interview.
His trial, his attorney said Candy was to blame. In his opening statements, he told the jury that by the end of the trial, they won’t know who, what, or how, or when Kesi died. He said Travis wasn’t always nice to the girl, but said he was never violent with her. He acknowledged they would be outraged and heartbroken for Kesi, but insisted they must follow the law and place the blame on Candy, not his client.
One of the investigators addressed the unsuccessful search for Kesi. He said they tested the couple’s trash can for signs of blood, but they found nothing. He conceded that the monthslong delay in gathering evidence might explain the results and said it was also possible that Travis replaced the can. He also testified the landfill used by their garbage company was larger than 90,000 cubic yards.
It would take almost four years to complete a search of the site. There wasn’t a lot of physical evidence found at the cattle scales road home, but it was disturbing and contradicted Travis’s account of events. Blood splatters were found on a wall in the home. One splatter was found about 3 ft high, but the other was 6 ft high, much higher than the toddler could reach.
Forensic investigators didn’t have a sample of Kesi’s DNA to compare, but they were able to use blood samples from her parents to make a match. It was Kesi’s blood. Investigators also found a bent wire hanger wrapped in electrical tape. Strands of Kesi’s hair were found stuck in the tape, and Candy’s DNA was found on the hanger.
Alone, this might not have been enough, but investigators also found pictures and videos on the couple’s cell phones and electronic devices. Prosecutor Tim Martin brought in Dr. Robin Foster, an expert on CA and torture, to help explain the evidence to the jury. First, Dr. Foster testified that the story Travis told how Kesi had caused her own deadly injury by running into a door frame was absolutely impossible.
She also testified that the injuries she could see in the photographs were not a likely result of a fall, even if she was prone to falling. 54 pictures of Kesi were included in the evidence and arranged in chronological order. The images, the happy and healthy girl devolved into a bruised, beaten, bald, and emaciated child.
Prosecutor Martin pointed out the cigarette burns, cuts, and bruises all over her. In some of the images, blood was visible. In others, swelling from trauma was apparent. Over time, her feet became swollen and purple. And as if it were a time-lapse video, the photos showed how thin she got and how she lost almost all of her hair.
Throughout the presentation, Amanda’s cousin Daniel identified the photos as images of Kesi. He continued to testify, even through his tears. Daniel spoke so Amanda didn’t have to. She was asked to leave the courtroom because the evidence was so brutal and too much for a mother to have to bear.
As bad as these still images were, the two videos presented as evidence were even worse. The first video filmed about a month after Kesi was left with the couple, Kesi sat on a bed. Her knees were folded under her and her arms were folded in her lap. Candi and Travis told her they didn’t want her and said they would kick her out. She looked sad as they talked to one another about how they weren’t going to buy her any Christmas or birthday presents.
Candi told her, “Nobody likes you, Kesi. They said they were her mommy and daddy and she should tell them she loved them.” She didn’t. Travis gave her a high five since she didn’t lie. The expert on torture explained that their actions are a type of psychological terror called spurning. Spurning happens when caregivers belittle and reject a child, and it is a form of emotional abuse.
As evidence, the doctor pointed out the khesi had an empty look on her face. She didn’t make eye contact with the camera or the person holding it, and her body language showed she was trying to make herself small and quiet. Dr. Foster also explained that in cases of childhood torture, usually all the adult caretakers are involved and responsible.
The second video was so cruel it needed no explanation. This video was filmed on January 12th, later in the day after the last phone call Kesi had with her mother. in it. She was naked in the bathtub, surrounded by her own feces. She was scared, confused, crying, and visibly shaking. Candy can be heard yelling, “Chesi, stand up.
” I said, “Stand up, Kesi.” The toddler tried, but she was too weak and injured. She was unable to stand up straight. Prosecutor Martin said this was likely the day that Kesi died. In addition to the evidence from the couple’s electronics, investigators also collected evidence from Britney Southern’s electronic devices.
As you’ll recall, Britney was the alleged skink cord that Travis had been having an affair with. According to Candy, while she was with him, she allowed Travis to use her Facebook Messenger account to talk to Candi. In one of these message exchanges, Candi wrote, “Do you lay in bed at night and think about what you did to that little girl? It’s eating me alive.
Britney testified that the message was intended for Travis and three other messages. Candi told Travis to tell Britney about the brush handle, the burns, and the bruises. When she asked Travis about the toddler, she said he threw the cell phone at her and stormed off. She also said that Travis admitted to her that he had killed someone.
She didn’t realize at the time he meant Khesi. She mentioned her own child and said, “When I found out about this being a child, it’s different.” The defense called no witnesses and rested its case just moments after prosecutors were finished. In his closing statement, Prosecutor Martin placed the blame on both Travis and Candy.
He said, “Over the ensuing 3 months, Travis Brown and his girlfriend tortured Kesi to death. There aren’t words to describe the horror of this crime. These two people did it together.” Like he had in his opening statement, Travis’s attorney again tried to place the blame on Candy during closing. The jury deliberated for less than four hours before finding Travis guilty of all counts against him.
The verdict was read. Many in the courtroom began to cry. Travis’s sentencing hearing was held on February 16th, 2024. The judge asked if he wanted to speak. Travis read off several sheets of paper and rambled from one idea to the next. He said he wasn’t responsible because as a drug addict, he was only focused on the next time he could get high.
He claimed he had no knowledge of what was happening to Khesi. He also said he was only in 20 of the 54 photos presented as evidence. He asked, “Why am I being convicted of something she did?” He said he was being unfairly accused because Candi was having an affair with one of the sheriff’s deputies, Dylan Johnson, was also his sister’s ex-husband.
He said all of this is because of a crooked system that includes the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office and prosecutor Tim Martin. He concluded by saying he would be found not guilty after his appeal and he expected everyone to apologize to him. Judge Cheryl was unmoved by his statements.
He called the crime cruel and barbaric and imposed the mandatory life sentence without parole recommended for aggravated murder. He also sentenced Travis to an additional 20 years for the count of CA. Travis is still being held at the Middle River Regional Jail while he awaits his appeal. September 13th, 2023, Candi had an arraignment hearing a few weeks before her trial was scheduled to begin.
At the hearing, she unexpectedly plead guilty to first-degree murder and cruelty with intent to injure a child. The other charges against her were dropped. Prosecutor Martin said he accepted the plea to spare the family the pain of another trial to make sure Candi was held accountable. He said, “There are always risks inherent in trying a case.
There’s always a risk of loss. This agreement made it so Kis’s family will not have to relive the horror of what happened to her, and it gives us a clear path to each of these defendants never walking free again. Candi sentencing hearing was held on February 22nd, 2024. During the hearing, Kesi’s mother, Amanda, was asked to give an impact statement.
In it, she referenced the 54 pictures submitted as evidence. She said, “I didn’t know there were that many pictures. There are infinite pictures I’ll never take of my little girl.” She said she was a better person because she knew Kesi and had the chance to be her mother. She also worried about Cand’s daughter. She said, “I wonder if their little girl will remember she had a friend that she played with.
I wonder if their little girl is okay.” Candi also chose to make a statement. She started with an apology to Amanda, saying, “I know there’s nothing I can say or do to make it better.” She said she didn’t kill the girl, but she didn’t call the police or an ambulance. She said, “I take full responsibility for my lack of action.
I loved Kesi and I failed her.” Even repeating that makes me sick because it’s clearly a lie. This woman taunted a toddler by telling her that no one likes her and yelled at her when she was too hurt and weak to stand. It’s disgusting and worse than if she had said nothing at all. The judge didn’t buy her fake apology.
He pointed out that Khesi was still missing and Candy could help bring her home by telling the whole truth. He said, “Even now, we don’t know all the details. Let me suggest to you that’s what remorse looks like.” Candy was sentenced to life in prison, but since she plead guilty to first-degree murder, she’ll be eligible for what Virginia calls geriatric parole at age 65.
Though she will be eligible, it is not a guarantee. prosecutor explained, saying, “The only sort of parole for which she would be eligible is geriatric parole. And of course, the parole board, whatever its constitution, always takes into account the facts of a case. So, it is not likely Candy Royer will ever see the light of day.
In fact, it’s incredibly unlikely.” Candi is currently serving her sentence at Flu Vana Correctional Center in Troy, Virginia. The prosecutor also had harsh words for CPS, saying they failed Khesi terribly by dropping a little girl off with somebody who was serving an active jail sentence, who had a 29 time felon in the house and then never coming back.
He also said something we’re becoming very familiar with in these cases, that despite the massive failures, he can’t charge anyone. He said, “Doing a poor job, being negligent in your job, that’s not a criminal offense. It’s terrible, but it’s not criminal. Maybe it should be, but it isn’t.
He was still appalled by their behavior, adding, “I have no safety net for CPS.” You’re not going to hear me say, “Oh, well, I guess it was all right.” It wasn’t. What they did here wasn’t all right. It wasn’t close to all right. Their reaction after it happened wasn’t all right. Kesi would likely have lived had they been diligent.
That’s all very painful to even say. Travis’s claim that Kandi had an affair with his ex-roin-law was a shocking allegation. This allegation was repeated by one of Verona’s independent news outlets and shared liberally online, but not covered in other local papers. Surprisingly, Travis was related to a deputy at one time.
His sister was married to Dylan Johnson, and he was a sheriff’s deputy, though he no longer is. It also seems likely that Dylan and Travis’s sister owned and once lived at the Cattle Scales Road property, but they weren’t living there when Khesi was there. They rented the home to Travis and Candy after they split up.
Chris Graham of the Augusta Free Press got so many questions about the allegations that he explained what he would need to see in order to treat them more seriously. He pointed out that Travis isn’t the most reliable source and he’s not impartial. He’s understandably upset with the sheriff’s department that arrested him.
The articles circulating online claimed that the outlet had access to text messages about the affair. If those text messages exist and were made public, then the sheriff and prosecutor would have to respond to them. It’s been over 4 months since the allegations were made and there is still no sign of these text messages. If we find out that they have been released, we will update you with any additional information.
The community of Augusta County was devastated by this case and particularly upset that Kesi was missing for so long with no one to look for her. Multiple people were moved to honor the toddler and hold on to her memory. September 21st, 2021, candlelight vigil that had been organized to pray for her safe return turned into a vigil seeking justice after her death was announced.
Attendees prayed for Kesi and saying, “Jesus loves me.” Sheriff Smith spoke to the crowd acknowledging their grief, saying, “This is not the outcome our community wanted.” He asked everyone to pray for Kesi and to cherish their own families, saying, “Keep your loved ones close to you.
you know, hug your little ones tight. With no funeral and no chance to say goodbye, all anyone could do was try to keep her memory alive. At the beginning of December, the sheriff’s office started a memorial next to their building where community members could leave toys and other items. Sheriff Smith said, “We put the memorial up to let the public know we haven’t forgotten this child.
” On December 5th, another vigil was held in honor of Kesi’s 4th birthday. Kenny sang Happy Birthday and launched balloons. According to organizer Crystal Riddle, after the ceremony, they drove by the sheriff’s office and honked their horns just to let them know we’re there and somebody is there fighting for her. Later that month, on December 24th, another woman named Brandy Marshall organized a Christmas vigil.
She said, “We decided we wanted to have candles and Christmas lights. We’re just singing Christmas music to her. We’re spending our time out here and we’re letting everyone know that we love her and care about her. We’re letting her know that we love and care about her. It’s for her.” This vigil was planned before the devastating news. Now it is a vigil for justice.
This is not the outcome that our community wanted. Dozens gathered under the pavilion at the Augusta County Government Center to light a candle for three-year-old Khesi Kuriel. They were silent, prayed, sangus for the little girl who is believed to be dead. This little girl deserves to have people speak up for her because it seems that she had a life that just nobody missed because she’s been missing for so long and nobody cared to look for her.
Tiffany North Edge didn’t know Khesi, but as a mom, she is heartbroken. She deserves a proper resting place. This case is by far one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Sheriff Donald Smith was invited to speak. I know that uh my office uh has worked tirelessly on this case. Investigators are usually involved hours after a child goes missing. According to Smith, in this case, it was months.
It’s been hard seeing the sheer horror uh of the family, um the community, the men and women assigned to the case. Smith says the family’s hopes were high. We’re trying uh to make sure that we do everything that we can uh to bring justice for her. In the meantime, Smith encouraged everyone to pray for Kesi’s family and to love their own. Keep your loved ones close to you.
Um, you know, hug your little ones tight. Okay. North Edg’s prayer is that Khesi is with God and happy and she’s laughing and she knows what it feels like to be loved because she sees all of us here. Khesi has still not been found. The community and her family still grieve, but they have found some consolation through their faith.
Her mother, Amanda, is out of jail and turning her life around. She posted the following message to everyone on August 30th, 2023 after Travis’s guilty verdict. It read, “I just want to thank everyone for their prayers and support. My heart is still in crumbs, but a great deal of weight is lifted. Just knowing that Khesi is thought of and prayed for and the people that did this to her will be held accountable gives me strength and hope to keep pushing forward.
God is truly good.
