Jordan Marcel Bello Jr was born in Florida on July 29th 2016 to parents Sharice Stinson and Jordan Bello senior he had brown hair brown eyes and a big smile that lit up his entire face his foster father Sam Warren said he was full of joy and laughed so often that they called him our Mr Chuckles he said Jordan was laidback with an easy smile and a twinkle in his eye his grandmother said he was a happy and beautiful child who loved everybody he loved balloons the characters from PAW Patrol and making friends his grandmother called
him a people person he liked to be playful and silly in one of his photos he put a lampshade on his head like a hat his foster father said like most other little boys we saw Jordan’s mischievous side as well during his time with his foster parents he learned explored and HD all the small but important Milestones that Mark the transition from infant to toddler his foster father said he learned to roll over in our house I remember my mom helping him learn to crawl Jordan learned to walk and talk in our family and he didn’t do it alone the family
also had a slightly younger baby girl and his foster sister grew up beside him eventually walking side by side in the summer he played in the pool and went for rides in a little red wagon for Halloween they dressed him as the Cowardly Lion and his foster sister as Dorothy from The The Wizard of Oz his foster father said he flourished and grew in a community that loved him deeply he was loved by our whole family the LifeBridge Church community the Coast Guard community and the Door of Hope Foster Care Community Jordan’s
mother who had a troubled childhood she spent her early life in Apopka Florida where her mother Mary Washington had grown up Mary’s father who was Sha’s grandfather was a pastor at the Temple of Faith there and had been since it was founded in 1975 for though she came from a deeply religious family chesa’s mother had bad luck with men Sha’s father went to prison when she was only 4 years old leaving Mary to raise Sharice and her siblings as a single mother 2008 when Sharice was 11 years old a neighbor who
worked as a cosmetologist accused her of stealing over $1,000 worth of makeup from her home according to the Tampa Bay Times deputies arrested Sharice at her middle school and found some of the missing lip gloss in her backpack as part of her punishment she had to write a letter of apology in it she said I just wanted something to make me look cool because I’ve never even been to the mall she closed with a postcript asking the neighbor to tell her she was forgiven she said could you come over to say you forgive me or write a letter and
mail it around this time deputies also received seven reports of CA and neglect in her home one from a former landlord said the family was living in a pest filled home without electricity family was evicted around this time so the report might have been the landlord’s attempt to get them to leave CPS removed the children temporarily because of the living conditions but never substantiated any other allegations 2010 the family was interviewed for a news story about homelessness among middle class families Mary told the reporter
she had lost her job at a financial firm when the company had closed they had lost their home and car and were living in a motel around this time Mary got remarried but her luck with men sadly did not improve her new husband Eric Baker was twice convicted of DV against her once while she was battling ovarian cancer though he was never convicted of CA Mary’s sister said he was the reason Sharice was removed from her mother’s care and placed in a group home in August of 2012 Sharice was moved to another group home on Turner Street in
Clearwater Florida she still was struggling there she was reported as a runaway at least 19 times over the next 2 years she also friends and found some amount of stability she attended school and worked several part-time jobs according to other residents she could be a really good compassionate friend but she was also noted to have a dark side that she was vindictive manipulative and Moody one of the staff members FZ jaia Shaquan Brown suspected that she suffered from mental illness didn’t know if she was actually getting
any help one of the other residents said counseling was not mandatory there she said said most case managers aren’t going to try to talk you into counseling most will be like okay that’s less work for me because they would be the ones that had to take you to the appointment when the group home ran out of funding in September of 2014 17-year-old Sharice was the last resident to leave the months leading up to the closure she stopped going to school and quit going to her job it is unclear where she went after the home closed but she told staff
member Brown that she ended up in a foster program for young adults that age out of traditional foster care a little over a year after the home closed Sharice became pregnant with Jordan fesia Brown thought the state missed its chance to help Sharice and Jordan she said the system failed baby Jordan before baby Jordan was even thought of because it failed Sharice by early 2016 then pregnant Sharice was living in Clearwater Florida with Jordan senior and some of his extended family in his great-grandmother’s home his mother Jess
Cabello also lived there along with two of Jordan senior’s male cousins and two of his paternal uncles the family already had a reputation with local law enforcement and several of the young men were believed to be members of gangs or gang Associates officers reported dozens of interactions at the Home in 2016 including recovering stolen vehicles from the property and arresting wanted individuals there had been several driveby shootings at the house and a brick thrown through one of the windows in June officers noticed several adults
loitering outside the home they arrested one of the men on a warrant for robbery and aggravated battery they also noted that a homicide suspect and a known offender were among the group questioned but not detained the next month Jordan was born and Sharice brought him into an environment which according to local police the violence was only escalating a couple of weeks after he was born his great grandmother Lori filed a police report because 145 Hydrocodone pills had been stolen out of her car but when police wanted to investigate she
wouldn’t let them process it for fingerprints or other evidence neighbors also reported that Jordan’s father and other occupants of the home would stand outside showing off their weapons he wasn’t well-liked in the neighborhood and police suspected the shootings at the home were done in retaliation against him October 29th violence erupted once again someone shot at his father while he was standing outside Jordan and another unnamed child were inside during this time his father walked down the street and someone shot
at him again he also allegedly pointed a gun at a woman during this incident and threatened to kill her but the woman wouldn’t cooperate with police so no charges were ever filed the violence triggered a report to the ca hotline and investigator came out to assess the situation report from that day noted that the home was filthy and disgusting there was no food in the kitchen even though Sharice was receiving food stamps the report also noted that the parents knowingly allow their infant son to reside in a dangerous environment the
day that the investigator arrived he found 10 to 15 people in the home and most of them refused to provide any identification many were suspected gang members some had previous felonies and many had Firearms investigator asked the people who didn’t live there to leave they left Sharice left and took her baby Jordan with even though the investigator knew she lived there she refused to cooperate until she was told the investigator would get a court order forcing her to let him see the baby other allegations in the report were that Sharice and
Jordan’s father used weed and Coke all of the time and that Jordan senior was involved in stealing cars and selling drugs officer Frederick of the Clearwater Police Department told the investigator that he had told Jordan’s grandmother Jessica that she needed to kick her son and other relatives out of the home because they were making it un safe she refused to do this Jessica said the investigator was wrong she said there was no gang activity at her home said her children were on gang lists but only because they were related to other
family members in the neighborhood not because of their own actions Jordan later denied the accusations in the report including that he had been shot at although the investigator said he admitted it happened at the time he said there were no guns in the house nobody smoking in the house no drugs being sold out of the house it wasn’t Danger ous I just don’t like how everybody is calling me a dead beat great grandmother who owned the home didn’t deny the presence of firearms violence and drugs but she said the children were never in danger
she said they never let the babies have any dealings with that if it was in the household the babies didn’t know and the children always had food they were never left hungry as far as baby Jordan being put in danger I don’t think he was put in danger intentionally over the next two months the agency worked on the case using the court system they got a court order preventing Jordan senior and other relatives from being around the children and they tried to get shice to leave the home they offered her placement at Alpha
House which was a local shelter for pregnant women and babies but she refused according to the report she and Jordan senior both failed to understand the danger the baby was in when around gang members and refused to do anything to help keep him safe the investigator was forced to recommend removal of the baby the official cause for the removal was a hazardous environment and inadequate supervision the agency didn’t do an emergency removal but instead scheduled a hearing Sharice was supposed to take the baby to shelter Court where
the removal would be made official and she could hand Jordan over in a calm and safe manner instead she took Jordan out of the county and left him with relatives in direct violation of the investigator’s instructions when she showed up at Court without Jordan the judge issued ised an order to have him removed directly from the home even then she was still uncooperative she brought the baby back home but wouldn’t answer the door when Child Protection officers arrived they saw her running out the back door with the baby in hand she
realized she was caught she ran back in the house and locked the doors again CPS officials had to call the Clearwater Police Department she eventually brought the baby out to officers she was yelling and cursing the entire time instead of staying calm for the baby she ensured it was a chaotic and traumatic day once removed from his parents custody in January of 2017 Jordan was placed with foster parents Sam and Juliet Warren his time in foster care was full of everything his early life had been missing his new home was clean and safe
he spent time at church with other children and playing at home with his foster sister his foster parents took him on adventures to the park in the lake in the ocean Sam called fostering adopting an expression of God’s heart saying you are literally looking after someone and loving them with your life and by all accounts that is exactly what he and Juliet did they loved Jordan with their lives they wanted to adopt him and make him a permanent part of their family but his mother was still fighting to get Jordan back that same month
January 2017 shares called the police and claimed that Jordan senior had choked her and held a gun to her head the officer that responded noted that she had red marks and bruises around her throat he was arrested and charged with DV and aggravated assault but Sharice decided not to press charges in April Sharice was arrested for DV herself she caught Jordan senior texting his ex-girlfriends and admitted she pushed him during an argument about the messages the next day he decided to drop the charges and asked to drop the
restraining order still none of these arrests resulted in any changes to their case plan and Sharice was allowed visitation with Jordan as long as she didn’t take him around his father on June 18th she had an unsupervised visit with baby Jordan it was Father’s Day so she decided to let Jordan senior see the baby even though she wasn’t supposed to because he was only allowed to have supervised visits they met at Burger King and the baby’s grandmother Jessica came along as well inside they ran into Danielle Ellis a woman they knew from
the neighborhood a fight broke out though reports of the fight vary some say Jordan senior was fighting with the woman but Jessica said she was the one who got into the fight with Danielle some Reports say Sharice only tried to break up the fight others say she was also throwing punches Jessica said Sharice was trying to get out of the way as much as I despise her she was actually trying to protect the baby in that incident that incident had nothing to do with her and Jordan senior it was my incident but all the reports agree
that Sharice was holding 10-month-old Jordan when the woman tried to punch Sharice missed and instead hit baby Jordan in the mouth EMTs were were summoned to the scene along with police he found that his lip was swollen need a small cut inside of it shice declined medical treatment the officer said the baby was calm and did not appear to be in any distress no arrests were made but a follow-up report was done on the incident that report the CPS investigator noted she did not seem to recognize that being near the fight with
the child in her arms put the child in an unsafe situation during the investigation a recommendation was made to drug test both parents but the case Poli manager said that wasn’t part of their case plan at her next court hearing Sharice lied and downplayed the severity of the incident and the injuries to Baby Jordan so no changes were made to their case plans contents of the case plan would turn out to be one of the agency’s biggest mistakes Jordan senior and Sharice had a number of problems that were never addressed in
the plan they were using substances they both have violent tempers but they hadn’t completed DV or substance use assessments shice admitted she had anger issues she might have had an undiagnosed Mental Illness but she was receiving no targeted help and even though Sharice had already broken the rules and been uncooperative several times nothing in the plan required her to cooperate with her case managers and other officials all of these issues should have been in the case plan they should have been addressed with Services when possible
like DV education and mental health evaluations and there should have been clear consequence is listed if Sharice didn’t cooperate or follow the rules instead the case plan focused on the danger of the environment this meant that once Sharice moved to an apartment in Largo she could legally get baby Jordan back even though she hadn’t gotten the help she needed to take care of him safely it also meant that once her case manager changed the new manager never considered that she or Jordan would hurt their child now shares was a
slick talker she had been thrown out of her counseling program because she had stopped going but she never admitted that in court instead she focused on what she thought she was entitled to without ever admitting to what she was doing wrong at a hearing in early March 2018 she continued this behavior in audio released by the state the guardian ad Lim can be heard asking about whether she has completed her counseling but Sharice doesn’t answer instead she claimed that she had done everything that had been asked she made it seem
like the guardian ad lium was taking too long to verify the paperwork but she didn’t have the required documentation because it didn’t exist at one point Sharice even cried her performance was convincing but her statements were full of lies Jordan bellw 1664 this is a status hearing is mother here yes St your name please Sher spinon and his father here yes ma’ state your name uh anyone else child was excused um yes I don’t have a DAT November 1st 2016 thanks Mom all right this was set to address unsupervised overnights in the progress
of reunification for the mother mother’s home study was denied or is it just Mom not Mommy and Dad right well they’re living as their so the parents are together hold on mom you’ll get your chance all right so parents are together and the home study was denied because so I saw a visitation plan but it just reflects supervised visits so the parents are not having unsupervised all right um attorney price yes we are seeking reunification mother has completed her case plan father is prepared to move out of the home today
and continue to pay half of the rent for the mother okay well um anything from gar lium apart from what the department has said no we um we were recently appointed to this case we haven’t gone out to do a visit of the child in the home but we U we haven’t been able to observe the parents with their child yet so we’re working on that okay all right so unfortunately because father’s still in the home we can’t reunify today um the department would need time to verify the father’s out of the home and um that Mom is doing this on
her own without him uh so the motion for reunification from the mother is denied um if that occurs and the department is able to do an updated home study a motion for reunication would have to be heard before the judge um for clarification are you saying the father cannot contribute half of the rent to the mother no did I say that no no of course that’s acceptable well I mean the agency will have to take that into account that would be I can’t say it’s acceptable I mean that’s a that’s something that’s going to happen
in the future he hasn’t even left yet so yes ma’am well I am the only one on the leas so if he has to leave today he can leave today like we’ve already discussed that but my thing is is they keep saying they keep setting back dates and my problem is is that every time they set back a date it’s on their time like we’re ready to get this so like we’ve done everything like I don’t know what else like what do you want us to do because like I don’t know what reports they’re talking about but we haven’t had any issues at all like we work together
on everything we visit our son together I don’t I don’t see the problem of him not being able to come home to a family okay that’s so is Father not case plan complying is that what’s going on Miss Garcia um I just recently got a documentation of his assessment that he did complete he did do that I just need some documentation from him continually go to his apartment what assessment his biopsychosocial okay we were waiting on that okay can I inquire the mother completed her individual counseling it’s Ono okay okay she’s
engaged so it sounds like you’re a little bit ahead of the father um which is why we can’t reunify why he’s with you why he’s in your home um but If he if he did do the psychosocial it said I don’t have to go no more yeah they were going to send the paperwork over to areel my last appointment is on the 31st of next month of March yes ma’am okay yeah they just need to verify everything unfortunately it takes time so how long would this take because like we’re like ready like I I no like seriously I’m going to cry like we’ P
out a daycare like we’ve done everything well now you’re talking about two pasts like no but we’ve done everything for him to come I understand you’re upset but now you’re you’re talking about Dad moving out or dad not moving out so that’s not what I said though that’s what I heard you said he’ll move out today no he will move out today if that’s what they want him to do like he can move out today because I’m the only one on the lease anyway we’re just trying to figure out why keep we keep taking steps back when we’re trying to
get 10 step because you two are not in the same place okay that’s why yeah so um I mean the department I’m sure miss Garcia is a very good case manager not really well ma’am ma’am now you’re just being disrupted and I’m sorry but I’m so why don’t you why don’t you stop interrupting me and listen because you’re not helping yourself right now and I don’t want to see that so it’s it’s kind of precarious right now because the dad has engaged did his psychosocial the department needs to review that and it’s very possible the parents could stay together
they said that last time still well there’s also the issues of 911 calls those will have to be looked into I mean there’s a lot going on here so and who called like and who really called because I just went to court for the same lady who made a false allegation for my son to get taken away and she’s on her way to jail for making false allegations so she might have made those calls against us but I honestly don’t know what police reports they are talking about like we don’t even have time to argue we work so much and those those those reports are
not being determined here today right now I don’t so maybe the answer instead of waiting till June is to set this for another status hearing we need documentation that the father hased that individual and Dad you said you’ll be done by um so you want to set it for early April like April 9 I wish I could can we also address the um reunification progress with the mother as far as the unsupervised visit the father’s leaving the home he hasn’t left Miss price we I’m not going to address that if he’s still there well
we haven’t left so one of the problems is um Mr kin I don’t have any time well I have I have April 23rd sure April 23rd at one um your honor um The Guardian of Light would not and I’m asking for unsupervised in the community uh that would be for the parents to visit separately or just for the mother mother can have unsupervised in the community okay without OB okay I recommend that at the end of the hearing they scheduled the next one for April 23rd at that next hearing Sharice got what she wanted the magistrate recommended Jordan be
returned to her custody the guardian Adel lium was still against reunification she still hadn’t gotten the documentation that shes had been attending her required counseling sessions but the magistrate overruled her objection the case manager supported reunification and the magistrate reading that the main problem had been the Hazardous environment determined that no evidence was presented to show that the circumstances that caused the out ofh home placement have not been remedied to the extent that the return of the child
to the mother’s care with an inhome safety plan will not be detrimental to the child’s safety Sharice was given overnight visitation starting in 10 days and her reunification was to happen in no more than 20 days her reunification was set for May 31st and after another hearing Jordan seniors was set for June 11th the case manager promised the foster parents that they would do everything possible to ensure Jordan’s safety he would check on the boy twice a week and shice would have services to help her adjust to
being Jordan’s full-time caregiver but when she continued to be as uncooperative as she had been the entire time those promises were soon broken During the pre-unification period shice was required to attend five appointments with a clinician in order to prepare for the transfer of custody she missed three of those appointments but the case manager didn’t slow down or stop the transfer after Jordan was handed over to her she was supposed to attend 11 appointments designed to help her deal with a transition that was bound to be
difficult she missed seven of those appointments case manager could have flagged her’s non-compliant and slowed the reunification process down but chose not to when the case manager Guardian ad Liam showed up to check on Jordan Sharice repeatedly refused to let them in either lying and saying she wasn’t home or not answering the door not surprisingly the small amount of progress Sharice had made soon fell apart after Jordan senior’s rights were reinstated in June the couple was finally allowed to live together as a
family what sounded simple on paper was incredibly difficult in reality Jordan had been taken away from the home he’d been in as long as he could remember the home he’d lived in for 18 months and remember by this time he was only 24 months old though he was usually a happy and easy baby it is likely he struggled the abrupt transition and shes had very little experience as a primary caretaker of a baby the first 6 months that she had Jordan she had the help of her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law managing work and a new baby is
difficult for all couples but even more difficult for an unstable couple prone to violence after less than a month as a family Jordan senior wanted to end his relationship with Sharice their problems boiled over into violence July 15th Sharice called the police because of a DV incident with Jordan senior exact details about what occurred are unclear they were arguing about custody of Jordan some sources say Jordan was dropping his son off and Sharice wasn’t ready to take him back other sources say say the father wanted to see the baby
and Sharice wouldn’t let him Jordan senior denied that a physical altercation had taken place but shar’s mouth was swollen and her lip was bleeding still he wasn’t arrested until he told the police I quote there is going to be a lot of dead cops tomorrow and I’m going to kill that bch too responding officers should have called the ca hotline and reported the incident because it involved baby Jordan and happened when he was present however they did not it’s worth taking a second here to explain why that Miss phone call was so
important in this case in Most states Child Protective Services is part of the state’s family services division now in Florida several counties decided in the 1990s to put the local sheriff’s department in charge of those investigations of CA and those police departments contracted the case management and Social Services required to outside companies in Jordan’s case the penis County Sheriff’s Office hired a company called directions for Living they provided the case management and hired another company eer connect to provide
the community-based care the primary way to communicate serious issues to the other agencies was far from high-tech the agency with the important info was supposed to call the ca hotline and file a report so the information could be added to the case File but even though everyone involved was a mandat reporter including the police officers that didn’t always happen so when the officers who arrested Jordan Senor forgot to call their oversight meant that no one who could have helped the baby had information about how this
situation had dangerously escalated it wasn’t discovered until the case manager completed his monthly check for 911 calls on August 3rd and discovered the police report the incident was reported to the ca hotline at that time and an investigator was assigned when the investigator showed up the next day on August 4th Sharice refused to open the door he had to call the police to the residence and they had to negotiate for almost 2 hours and use their bullhorn to demand entrance before she allowed the investigator inside despite her unhinged
and uncooperative Behavior the investigator decided the danger had passed since the father was no longer living in the home and a restraining order had been issued the purpose of his investigation was to determine whether the father was a threat to the B but he overlooked signs that the mother was unstable and clearly struggling meanwhile Teresa’s life was falling apart she wanted to continue the relationship with Jordan’s father but he wasn’t interested was no longer helping her pay for the apartment she had lost
her job and was going to be evicted most of her furniture had been repossessed leaving her apartment be she was 5 months pregnant with another baby when her casew worker wanted to stop by she either had an excuse or would not answer the door Gard ad lium tried to visit on August 24th but Sharice wouldn’t let her inside finally on August 31st she met with her case manager she was emotional during the meeting and said I’m trying my best but it seems like it’s not enough manager warned her that if she didn’t address all the issues she would
lose custody of her son she told him she was worried if Jordan went to live with his dad that she wouldn’t be allowed to see him they discussed her mounting problems and went over possible solutions for her including new places to live took pictures of Jordan who looked sad without the smile he wore in most other pictures they spoke for more than an hour by the end the manager said she appeared to be much calmer told her everything is going to be okay before leaving though he visited her on Friday he didn’t update his case notes until 2
days later on September 2nd in the early hours of September 2nd a bruised and staggering Sharice entered a Hampton Inn and collapsed on the floor of the lobby she told Hotel staff she had been assaulted and needed to call 911 she told detectives that she had been walking to Jordan’s father’s house while carrying the baby in her arms when a stranger in a white Toyota Camry offered her a ride she accepted because the walk was so long and Jordan was getting too heavy to carry inside the car she said the stranger told her his name was
Antoine and he propositioned her for an intimate favor she said she put Jordan in the back seat and did what he asked for but refused when he asked for another favor she said he hit me on this side like with his fist like this and then I even told the lady to see if she could get DNA in my hair cuz he did pull my hair and kept hitting me he had like a mason jar with weed in it and he kept hitting me with that after hitting her with a jar he punched her multiple times in the face and mouth according to Sharice she tried to open the car door
but said that after that everything was just to blur she lost Consciousness and woke up in a wooded section of central Largo Park alone officers were skeptical but worried about the missing boy so they proceeded as if her story was true and launched a fullscale search for him police brought in K9 units helicopters and divers to search the park but they found no sign of Jordan he issued an amber alert for the missing boy and ask the public to be on a lookout for a 2-year-old wearing a blue shirt with the number 72 on the front blue gym shorts
black socks and black and white sneakers the alert also mentioned a cut on Jordan’s chin an injury that didn’t appear in the picture the case manager took 2 days prior police had found blood and bloody children’s clothes rolled up in a carpet outside shar’s apartment but Sharice explained it away as just an old injury said A week prior Jordan had accidentally fallen and hurt his chin and she had taken him to get butterfly stitches this wasn’t her first lie it was among several that raised the suspicion of officers she sat with a
sketch artist and provided details for a drawing of Antoine the artist asked her to describe his hair she said and these are shar’s words I believe it was either brown or black and he had dreadlocks um they were kind of large they were pretty fat she said he was about 25 years old wearing a white tank top and black basketball shorts and had gold teeth she also provided additional details about the Camry saying it had a white Grill and dark tinted windows she said a of rosary beads and a black ice air freshener hung from the rearview mirror
sketch of Antoine was released to the public Jordan senior had an alibi for the evening he had planned a weekend at a hotel to celebrate his 22nd birthday and was away from the home overnight when he heard that baby Jordan was missing he texted Sheree saying I know you know where he is she responded JoJo all I remember is getting a ride and waking up in the ambulance Jordan senior’s mother Jessica was frustrated with the way the media was portraying her son she said what my son did years ago has nothing to do what is going on
right here right now she also wanted everyone to know that he loved his baby Jordan no matter what had happened she said just because his parents didn’t get along doesn’t mean Jordan was unloved my son loved that baby on September 3rd Largo Police major Steven Slaughter asked the public for help he asked locals to check their surveillance cameras for any footage of Sharice Jordan Antoine or the white Camry he said we’re still hoping for that one big break we just haven’t received that tip yet somebody saw something knows
something we want them to reach out family members and volunteers from the community searched the streets checking dumpsters and any place they thought a small child could have been hidden on September 4th the search continued by this time officers had been searching for almost 60 hours and the county had spent close to a half a million dollars of taxpayer money still any amount of money would have been worth it if they could still bring Jordan safely home major Slaughter said in a news conference that morning we’re keeping a
positive attitude because we are going to find Jordan that is our goal that is what we’re here to do but I will say that we need some help he said the FBI US Marshals and Florida Department of Law enforcement’s child abduction Response Team offered to help with the search you’re going to see boots on the ground today and you’re going to see boots on the ground tomorrow over 60 tips came into the department and several were helpful in tracking her movements that night footage from the park showed Sharice climbing on playground equipment
video from the lobby of the hotel showed her collapsing on the floor then a local homeowner showed officers footage of Sharice walking down the sidewalk carrying Jordan limp in her arms video taken 20 minutes later showed her walking without him carrying only his green backpack the biggest tip came from a friend who told police she had driven Sharice to a dumpster on the north side of the Largo Sports Complex no details were released regarding when the friend drove her there but the dumpster was a mile and a half away from the original
search area police searched the swampy wooded area behind the baseball field they found Jordan partially covered with vegetation and submerged in 5 to 6 in of water he was dead he was decomposing he had been there long enough that maggots had hatched and were feeding on his skin he was wearing a blue shirt a diaper blue shorts white socks and only one black shoe as his left one was missing he was not wrapped in a blanket he didn’t have a toy he didn’t have a stuffed animal with him shes hadn’t chosen a nice dry spot under a tree with
a nice view none of the things people try to do to offer a small Comfort to a loved one who was passed on she just dumped him in boggy water and left him there is unclear whether he was even dead when she left him or if he died there in the swamp alone after words spread that Jordan had been found major Slaughter who had been so hopeful just that morning made a brief announcement he said Jordan has been found in a wooded area behind me we have no further statement at this time the news rocked the crowd grandmother Jessica broke down
when she had heard the news she said when she heard her heart just broke and it’s a pain I can’t even describe she stole his whole life from him when asked if she wanted Shar to get the death penalty she said the death penalty is too easy I want her to live her life out knowing what she did to my grandson on September 5th the Largo Police held a press conference where they shared what details they were able to so uh we are attempting right now to follow up and tie up uh all the leads we possibly can uh one question that we had last night
was uh we had released a composite and information on an Antoine we do not believe there was an Antoine there was no Antoine related to this case uh we don’t believe there was a white Camry that was all fabricated by Miss Denson to uh to help cover her Alibi for what she hadd actually done so uh we are not currently looking for that person we did release a video of a person that was at the uh uh 7-Eleven station at 1200 East Bay Drive we are still looking for that person as a potential witness somebody that we would like to talk to to find
out if he had any information or if he had actually spoken uh to miss bson uh on that night um right now uh like I said it’s active and I can’t release uh a lot of information still based on the nature of the case you guys have probably read the rest advisories so you kind of have the the gist but I can tell you that uh her story about being in Central Park was uh a deception on her part uh the detectives have characterized her interviews as being deceptive and uh she was not in Central Park and she uh in subsequent interviews
had admitted that uh she made up the story that she had been in Largo Central Park the injuries to her were by her own admission self-inflicted um and that in the time in question when she stated that she was unconscious in the park she was actually at another location which is where we subsequently found the body question uh Sir You released a video from 7eleven East Bay what about the video from Ice Cold Air that we I understand that you guys yesterday uh I’ve talked to detectives and we do have a video I don’t know what’s on it and really in
the rush of things that are occurring we have not gone through all the pieces of evidence we have or you know we we’re doing our due diligence and taking now our time to make sure that we can examine everything and put it into place did you doubt her story from the beginning uh initially there were parts of her story that the detectives felt uh were possibly not true um but at the same time we’re trying to find a missing child so uh we have to kind of go with that as our main thrust uh so yes parts of her story didn’t make sense however
we know from working missing persons cases and working cases like these that sometimes people’s Recollections aren’t good or they say things that are that are uh that maybe uh look inaccurate on the face so we kind of had to go with the fact that what she was saying was believable at the time can you talk to us about what led you to the child’s body even if you can only talk about it in generalities uh generally speaking uh we received information that led us to a particular area which was not an area that we had been looking for the child
initially so that led our detectives uh to that wooded area where they actually found the body but this was not information provided by the mom that’s correct can you talk a little bit about we all were at the apartment complex yesterday there was some clothing that was found wrapped up or rolled up in a wet rug was that did that come into into part of the investigation leading up to her arrest that was uh there was evidence at the scene that was collected the uh the value of that evidence right now uh we’re not certain about um we
know that there was a video that was on Facebook and Twitter about a rug outside and and other information um I would I wouldn’t say right now that that was uh key to our case any forthcoming arrests no we do not believe anyone else was involved that uh she was the the loone actor in this uh horrible crime and so we are not looking for any other persons however we are asking the citizens to give us any more information they can that if they have knowledge about what might have happened please call the Largo Police Department so this
person at the 71 was not someone that you believe being accomplished just solely that’s correct we believe this person was driving on East Bay Drive may have encountered Miss Stinson that night and spoken to her but again we we would like to find out what this person had to say what type of relationship they may have had he spoken to her like just passing or we believe it was a passer by we believe he was driving on East Bay Drive and may have just randomly encountered her do you know yet the child was already had already passed
away before she put him in the woods or did that Happ did he pass away when after we don’t know the autopsy will be going on this morning at 11:00 and uh once the medical examiner uh does his investigation we’ll know a little bit more about uh how the child passed we’re we’re we’re not certain at this point can you talk to me about the child child’s um status leading up to this murder in other words um in the the weeks and months ahead of this how long was that child in um like foster care and then when was the child returned to
the mother we’re trying to put together a timeline of where this child was throughout its to your life yeah we’re also trying to put together a timeline so I can’t give you specifics I know that the child had been in foster care I do know that uh DCF had been involved uh with an investigation into the family and that uh that DCF was out uh the Friday night uh before the child passed and had seen the child but other than that I I can’t give you a a timeline on it do you know when the child was when when the child returned to the mother’s
care approximately how long they’v been together I don’t can you talk a little about the um there was a black Duff bag in the middle of the road um when he showed up on the Ming Road um yesterday was was a child in that bag no that was probably part of our equipment there we were I’m not aware of any any kind of evidence like that that was found in the area of Lake Avenue can you the mother uh express any remorse since she’s been arrested has she said anything according to the detectives uh during her interview she would
constantly change what she was saying based on the line of questioning there was no feeling with them that there was any remorse only her attempting to escape the reality of of the story by making things up as she went can you provide any details to the evidence that you have found within the apartment itself and how that corroborated with her uh admission or with your uh affidavit yeah I can’t comment on anything that was found in the apartment right now like I said that some of that evidence has not been processed yet um so it’s I can’t comment
to the value of anything inside the apartment is there a possibility of any sort of charge because of the involvement of the Amber Alert system for example when 911 is used under false pretenses and any other there situation that can be an additional charge is there anything like that possible for this case I’m not aware of any charge specific to misuse of an amber alert system um in this particular case I think she’s being charged with uh with what’s appropriate and it’s enough that uh a misuse charge would probably be uh
something that would be minor compared to everything else was Jordan wrapped in anything did he have any toys or anything with them what the uh he was not wrapped in anything um and that’s all I can say about that you mentioned that she made admissions did she explain why she didn’t reach out to rescue Personnel while she claimed that the son was having seizures after being struck I’m not privy to everything that was said during that interview um we had had multiple interviews with her um over the days so uh I I can’t tell you
exactly what she did or didn’t say over portions of it have you been in touch with the father uh yes we had reached out to the father has he said anything or um I’m not I’m not aware of what he may or may not have said clarify something when the when you guys saw president lady or so ago you said that there was evidence that she was at or there was some type of surveillance or some video that placed her at Largo Central Park is does that change now now you’re saying she fabricated the story was there ever any
evidence that she was at lgo Central Park she was at Largo Central Park we do have video of her there that was at the uh after she uh made her way to the park and where we knew that she had deposited Jordan uh she went to the park specifically with the intent of um of making up a story that she had been dumped in the park um in self-inflicting injuries by her admission in the park and then walking across the street to the Hampton Inn where she um basically feigned uh unconsciousness I think do you believe Jordan’s body was moved from a
different location to that wooded area at this point I think uh I just want to step that and say that we we are right now doing an investigation into a criminal matter um what we’re able to release is somewhat confidential this point until the panel’s Pasco State Attorney’s office is able to properly investigate this case I originally said in many pressors that our goal was to find Jordan although that has happened our goal now is a successful prosecution and in order to have a successful prosecution there there there are some things that uh
we’re just not able to discuss yet meanwhile detectives confronted Sharice with the truth one told her they had found her son he said I saw him with my own eyes I found him with my group of people we found him right where you left him wearing the clothes wearing the shoes your lies are over when asked if she got angry often she talked about recent incidents where she had thrown a TV a can and a bottle of juice she also told detectives she hadn’t cleaned up the apartment or done the dishes in weeks eventually she admitted that she
had hit Jordan she said he fell from his bed and hurt his right leg when he would not stop crying she got frustrated and hit him in the face with the back of her hand the blow was so hard that his head slammed into a wall after this injury she said he started to have seizures instead of taking him to get medical help she took him to the woods and left him there all alone theres was arrested on September 4th 2018 she was charged with aggravated CA and murder in the first degree her bond for the ca charge was set at a half
million however Bond was withheld on the murder charge so she remains in the penel county jail as she should 3 months later she gave birth to her daughter Serenity Maurice Stinson Sharice had to return to jail while her baby remained at the hospital Sam and Juliet Warren the foster parents who had cared for Jordan had already filed paperwork with the court saying they wanted to adopt her but Jordan senior had been working to turn his life around and he wanted custody of his daughter on December 27th Sharice wrote a letter asking the court
to give custody to Jordan senior and his mother Jessica both families hired lawyers and petitioned the court 2 months after that Jordan’s autopsy report was released on February 4th 2019 a medical examiner found that his cause of death was blunt trauma the manner of death was homicide Jordan’s left leg was swollen and his thigh bone was broken he wouldn’t and couldn’t stop crying that night because he had a broken leg he also had a gaping wound on his chin that showed signs of healing that meant it had happened sometime after the case
manager took his picture but before the time that he had died his upper lip and frenulum the piece of tissue inside the mouth that attaches the lips to the upper gums had been lacerated he also had cuts on his scalp and ble bleeding beneath his scalp his skull had been fractured and he was bleeding inside of his brain if she had just stopped got him help after his chin was gashed open or after he had broken his leg would been able to be safe at the hospital and could have easily recovered but that did not happen because she chose for it not
to happen on October 13th 2020 shice pled guilty to a charge of second deegree murder more serious charge of first-degree murder was dropped as part of her plea deal she also pled guilty to making a false report to law enforcement and was fine $28,000 Teresa’s mother attended the hearing and asked the judge to be more lenient she said I have more years behind me than I do in front of me I would love the opportunity to hold my baby again be able to fix dinner for her unmoved by this the judge sentenced Sharice to 50 years in prison with
credit for the two years she had already served she was sent to the low correctional institute in Maran County she will be eligible for release on July 2667 Jordan Senor didn’t attend the hearing he wasn’t sure if he could emotionally handle it he didn’t want to cause a scene when a reporter asked if shar’s sentence was Justice he said he didn’t think so he said I’m not nobody’s Creator can’t say when somebody dies but that’s what I would have liked after her sentencing Charice made her own statement she said I want the court to
know that I am not the same Sharice I was when I walked in I’ve done a lot of things to change and I’m continuing to change for a while I was so angry and bitter before I came to jail I’m not held in bondage anymore and that is the greatest gift that God has given me and I thank my son for that because I was lost for a long time yes thanking her son for dying so that way she could be set free from her bondage as she put it in regards to the 48 years she still had to serve she said it is a long time but I will walk with my head held high
though on the surface she seemed to be saying positive things but something about her statement just sounded wrong like holding your head up high over the fact that you murdered your son in Cold Blood now later that same day she granted a local reporter from WFLA a jailhouse interview um well for the longest um I thought I was going to get a life sentence you know I thought I was going to get life in prison and then uh let’s see I just literally found out Friday that they accepted my offer so so I didn’t really have too
much time to like really um what’s the word I’m looking for like absorb it but I knew that I didn’t want to do life in prison and then I also was thinking okay well what is Justice going to look like you know in the eyes of the media in my eyes in the Bello’s eyes like what is Justice because we would never be able to have him back you know what I’m saying so I had to I had to really think of a number that was going to please everybody and that was going to look justifiable you know so I don’t know I’m still trying to deal with it Sharice
spoke about her love of God how she found happiness in jail and how her whole personality had changed because of her faith okay so I was raised in a church when I was younger but I always felt like I believed in God because my mom believed in God like or my family believed in God I didn’t know God for myself and honestly being in here I had no strength like I had nobody to lean on but not but God at that point like I had lost everything so it was it got to the point where it’s like okay either I’m just going to be miserable and continue
to be miserable or I’m going to trust in God and actually like follow through with it and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done in my entire life next the reporter asked the disgraced mother what she wanted viewers to know about the real Sharice Stinson noting that most people think of her as a monster and they’re not wrong yeah um so for a while I C myself that you know for a while I hated myself um but I’m not the person that I was when I walked in this jail I’m happy I’m loving I’m caring I’m sympathetic you know I’m kind now and I
wasn’t a kind person before and I can admit that for myself and I’m actually kind like and it’s crazy because I have so many women in here that actually applaud me on strength and I’m like don’t give me that because that comes from God and God alone because without God I would not have strength there’s a lot of women in here that just want to give up and they’re facing County time you know what I’m saying like they don’t they’ve never even walked them out in my shoes and they want to give up you know and I haven’t and the only reason why I
haven’t given up is not because of me is because I owe my son that I owe him strength I owe him to change because if I didn’t change none of this would matter you know like so I owe him that I do that for him I couldn’t protect him the way I should have so this is my way of giving back to him the reporter asked Sharice what led her down the dark path that resulted in the death of her little boy he referred to it as some sort of hell that Sharice went through it’s it’s really hard when you don’t have support like when you don’t
have anybody you know and I had nobody I had it was just me and my son and and I was already pregnant and I was suffering through postpartum depression from from from my previous pregnancy and I didn’t know what postpartum depression was because in in Black households they tend not to believe in Sude or depression and stuff like that and it’s wrong to even have that mind set you know but I was going through a lot of depression like I didn’t want to be here so at the time I didn’t want to be here so it was just
like I was just in the dark I hated everything I hated life I hated myself I didn’t know how to love anybody but I love my son and and I’m so disappointed in myself because he he did not deserve what happened to him at all no child deserves that you know and I pray to God that the Jordan law prevents this from happening you know I pray my situation prevents this from happening like cuz this is a tragedy you know and and I just really want people to see that you need Unity you need support you need love you need kindness like you
need some you need be able to be like hey I need help and somebody not judge you for needing help you know like so that’s what I want people to to to just be more Mindful and aware of what’s going on with others what’s going around in the world today like we need each other to lean on she mentioned being sentenced to 50 days in solitary confinement but didn’t say what she had done to receive that punishment she said she spent that time talking to her son that she told him she was sorry but also told him that she had to move on she
apologized and said no child deserved what happened to her son but something about her apology seemed Hollow the community held several prayer vigils in Memorial services in Jordan’s memory his father’s family attended a prayer vigil held on the evening of September 8th near where his body was found his father did not speak tendies gathered around him at one point during the service placing their hands on his head and praying for him it’s just so heartbreaking balloons rise up to the sky in memory of 2-year-old Jordan Bello family friends
and strangers also lit candles honoring the little boy it’s so good to see a community come together for one little boy earlier the group surrounded Jordan’s father they stood in a Circle praying together and just about a mile away that we could be able ohmighty God to show forth oh God that we as a community can come together that nothing like this happens again another gathering near the area where Jordan was found his own mother Sharice Stinson was arrested for killing him I can’t imagine a mom doing that to her
baby I can’t imagine I would have taken him in in a heartbeat Sher stolen ther visited the memorial where many found comfort from each other it broke my heart we are out here for you we praying with you and they hope for justice there’s so many people in this world that can’t have children and then these people that do have children don’t take care of them kill them you know it’s not right it’s cruel and she needs to be put away for a very long time on September 14th a viewing was held for Jordan’s family and friends at the St John’s
Missionary Baptist Church in Clear Water and he wore Justice for Jordan t-shirts his father’s shirt had dad printed on the back the funeral was held at the same church the next day an image of Jordan wearing angel wings was printed on the front of the program an image of his favorite Paw Patrol characters appeared behind him the poem inside the program read in part just believe that when you say my name I’m standing next to you I know you long to see me but there’s nothing I can do I’ll still send you messages and hope you understand
that when your time comes to cross over I’ll be there to take your hand Jordan was cremated and his grandmother said they would use some of the money raised by the community to buy necklaces to hold his ashes in the wake of Jordan’s death questions were raised as to why so many red flags were missed by her case manager learning more about the conversations Sharice Stinson had with her case manager weeks before her two-year-old son Jordan Bello was murdered News Channel H Jam shows Us exclusive text messages where Stinson
did not cooperate various text messages show how Sharice Stinson was not cooperating with case workers who were worried about seeing Jordan I do believe that their work is wonderful I do believe that ard’s work is wonderful um I just feel like the privatization of child safety is where the flaws lie former directions for Live case worker Becca Bryce says Sharice Stenson should have never gotten Jordan back her case plan did not include cooperate with case management and the guardian at lium and it didn’t include batters intervention
did not include domestic violence assessment or substance abuse assessment Stinson was breaking down a month after she regained custody text messages to her case manager between July and August showed she wasn’t getting along with the child’s father lying about being home for mandatory visits and not showing up these are the last pictures taken of Jordan Bello after the case worker demanded to see him in late August the case worker last saw Jordan Friday the day before he disappeared but didn’t enter the case notes until Sunday an
oversight that could have made the difference Bryce says the system needs to change I did my visits on Fridays and entered my notes on Sunday granted that is technically against policy but we don’t have the support to do it any other way as case managers we’ve learned the case worker was assigned to Bello’s case in April he’s been with directions for Living for three and a half years and is still working April lot the CEO of directions for Living said Jordan’s primary case manager had already left the agency but his new case manager and
everyone else involved in his case were and I quote placed on an immediate corrective action plan last September now this directly contradicts the news clip from WFLA that we just shared with you most of the action plan involved additional training though they did commit to improving communication between all the individuals working on a case on September 12th 2018 eard connects and directions for Living held a joint press conference we’ll share some of that with you now let me know your thoughts in the comment section
down below to me I feel like they’re really shirking responsibility Miss Denson is the person responsible for this tragedy this is a legal process not only a social services process we welcome the feedback of the independent review of the system of Care by the Department of Children and Families and we implement ment every strategy necessary to continue to protect and serve our children case managers do not have the legal authority to remove a child or children from their caregivers that responsibility lies with the child
protective investigators I’ll turn it back over to Chris no I think we’re open for questions now if somebody yes sir um yeah I wanted to raise a question concerning the uh custody of Jordan Belo there’s been reports that uh that as early as a day before his he disappeared that there was a there was a warning to that was a warning to his family that he was possibly going to be removed is was that true that that your agencies were trying to threaten to remove him a day before he had disappeared I don’t know that there was
a threat there certainly was a discussion with mother that if Miss stensson that if she uh you know did not uh increase her uh participation in the activities that had been set forth by the court uh that there would be the potential of a removal of her child that that’s pretty standard uh dialogue in a during a home visit uh for you know parents who have been reunified and who have tasks that they need to complete how long before that say that statement was made to her what is the process that would happen after that that could carry
out that statement the case manager uh and any other child welfare professional who was uh working with the family uh would have the opportunity to bring that to the attention of the child protective investigator assigned to the case there is still an open case there was an open case at the time uh so it would have been reported to the child protective investigator uh and or if they’re you know Andor calling another uh another abuse report into the hotline what I what evidence had Miss Stinson showed from the
time um really from the beginning of 2018 until the child was put back in her home what evidence had she showed that the problems in that home and with her and her boyfriend what had she shown that she improved in any of those areas Miss Stenson the reason for removal was environmental hazards uh and certainly from the time frame that you’re referring to from 2018 she had uh secured uh independent housing that was free of those environmental hazards she had uh secured employment and she was uh cooperating in completing her uh therapy sessions if I
if I may one of your case workers and this is in the documents released today said essentially that all of those things fell apart almost as soon as the child was put back into the home and she asked miss tinson that and Miss Denson got up said and began I think it said crying although I don’t remember the exact verb it used so how could it have been so fragile that things fell apart almost as soon as the child was put back into the home we are going to wait for the independent review to um to identify that uh I
I can’t really speak to you know your statement that almost immediately that it began to fall apart I I I need to wait casew worker said do you agree with that’s what the casew worker said I don’t believe I don’t know if the case worker said that Miss lot the night before this child’s murder your caseworker visited the mother at that point he knew that in July there had been fiscal violence between the mother and the father he knew that in August the mother uh wouldn’t open her door to child investigators that had to take a
police bullhorn to get her to open the door and cooperate later the week before also knew that the guardian at lium was refused access to the child knew that the mother was being evicted knew that the mother was pregnant knew that things were being repossessed from the house her entire life and more importantly the bargain that she made with the court the contract she made with the court she wasn’t holding up so when you add up all of those things why didn’t your case worker either that night or on all those
previous occasions take any action to initiate the action of taking the child out of Harm’s Way the case worker did not assess impending danger uh the case worker was in fact as you’ve indicated uh in the home on the 31st on Friday spent uh a significant amount of time with Mom and the case manager did what case managers do which is they assess uh and identify barriers and uh begin to task you know manage around those and put into place how we can solve and resolve the barriers and uh in fact that is what he
did uh I will say that the case manager uh also uh after you know had conducted a 911 check uh post reunification and that is when we were in informed that a domestic violence call had been made uh the case manager did uh call that into the hotline the case manager did cooperate with child protective investigators during that process the case manager did update the case plan to include that fact and to identify additional tasks so I think to suggest that the case manager didn’t do anything is is a mischaracterization uh the case
manager did uh what that case manager believed to be uh right and and in the best interest of that but if I could follow up when you say the 911 call that was triggered by what the abuse was triggered by which of them as a part of the case plan one of the uh strategies that we used and and use often is uh to on a routinely basis on a monthly basis to pull 911 checks to see if there’s been any 911 calls to a home uh we did that as a part of our case plan and when we did that that is when we were notified of that domestic
violence incident that took place in July and and then we called a hotline and the hotline investigator came out and did a their investigation but in that situation again when when there was a visit by the CPI investigator it took lgo police with a bullhorn and an hour and a half or two hours of negotiation for this woman to even open the door wasn’t that in and of itself to think this child was in danger it was a virtual standoff that would be a question for Largo Police Department not not lgo question if your caseworker was
managing the case he knew about it but it would be that’s a protective investigation decision and the protective investigator had declared that there weren’t sufficient grounds to remove our case manager is the only thing they would do is call that investigator back again and say what do you think and they’ve already said we don’t have grounds so that’s I mean we’re not trying to excuse this we’re try not trying to make uh light of it but but there was that that event and that investigation and that took place
and and they did not find grounds how many how many times was Jordan removed from the home in his two years of life once just once was that in the in may we also hear that in November 4th of 2016 that he was removed that he was reunified in May of this year so he’ been out of his mother’s care for that length of time and could you explain to us we’re trying to understand what was it that made the magistrate decide that it was safe for him to return home in May and then 3 months later he ended up being dead there were identified
conditions for return and those conditions for return had been met what were those conditions uh the one of the conditions was that the mother Andor parents had a uh safe environment that was free of environmental uh hazards which was the original reason the child came into care that the uh parent had um stable employment that the parent could demonstrate the maturity level to take care of her uh child that the parent mother would understand the relationship between you know being exposed to gun violence and or gang violence would be
uh harmful to the child and it’s it’s important to note that the parents were represented by legal counsel who were advocating in that courtroom for their the rights of the parents there was also for also in that Court was Guardian at Liam who was uh aggravating for the child and they had said that they did not recommend that he be put back into their care how much weight does their opinion carry in this again I believe that that question is probably for someone other than us I will say they serve under you though no
they do not they they’re a volunteer group I understand they’re separate in independent uh organization from either one of us but does eer con eer connects or directions for Living give an opinion to the court on whether someone should be returned to a a child should be returned to a parent yes what was your recommendation on that day our recomendation on that day was uh to move forward towards reunification on the particular day that that you’re referring to there was an objection by all parties based on the fact that there
was not supporting documentation in the record uh to support Miss Stinson’s claim to have completed her counseling uh so there was a an objection by all parties uh including the guardian at lium and the case manager referencing those documents one of the one of the fundamental requirements in that Court order which returned the child to the parents is that the mother should have stable housing and income your case worker knew for months she didn’t have either she was being evicted she was jobless she had no furniture it was
being repossessed it was domestic violence she wasn’t cooperating with your case worker other investigators the guardian ad light them how does any of that not add up to danger for that child the issue around stable housing in is you know one that we Face routinely uh many of our parents are get into housing maintain housing for for months and then housing becomes unstable again uh you know permanent housing affordable housing in pelis county is uh difficult and the fact that she was behind in her rent had been identified uh and we were
working in partnership with her to uh either uh pay the back rent and stabilize her as she went on job interviews and continued to uh seek and gain meaningful employment but again it wasn’t just the fact that she was going to be evicted she didn’t have a job she was going to be evicted there had been domestic violence she was refusing to cooperate with anybody involved in the case how could all of that be ignored and not brought to the attention of the Court why wasn’t this brought to the attention of the court so so one one
thing I would add to that is that we work with these families all the time in in housing and employment and she knew that we would we would secure housing for her uh she had identified a couple of places that she thought would be good for her and affordable and also with employment you know we we work with these families all the time in these Arenas remember the the issues that that initiated this case were not that Mom was abusive towards her child it was that there was she was living in a dangerous place and we were committed to
helping her stay out of that dangerous place I have a couple questions about um this domestic viol inci that happened on July 14th um charges are filed by deputies on the 15th the final order and I understand the hearing had happened before that but the final order was signed by a judge on the 16th so you’ve got the incident the Char is being filed and then the final approval given on the 16th three successive days literally one after the other how is it possible that a judge is able to stamp a document when the day before there was a
physical altercation over this child did did is there no Safeguard in place and how do you explain to all the people with children in the system that that could have happened the safeguard that is in place is that when the responding law enforcement agency responds to a domestic violence call they are a mandated reporter just like most of us probably in this room uh if they assess danger to that child as a result of that domestic violence incident they are uh mandated reporters to call that in uh I I can’t speak for the responding law law
enforcement agency in this instance uh if they had assessed present danger if they had assessed that child was in uh Peril they would have called that into the hotline had that happened we would have brought that immediately to the attention of the court I just want to be clear so you’re saying that that either of your group neither of your groups were made aware that there was a physical altercation between the two parents literally over the child in question the day before this was given that is correct you were not made aware
that is correct and the way we were made aware is when the case manager doing his job did a 911 check and when he did the 911 check there it appeared and the minute it appeared he brought that to the attention of of leadership it was called into the hotline an abuse Report was generated a child protective investigator commenced the next day and went in and began their investigation the case plan was updated uh to reflect that fact and submitted to the court understand the investigation into his death found that Jordan should not have
been reunified with his parents the decision to do so was driven primarily by the parents perceive compliance to case plan tasks and not because of changes in Behavior or Lifestyle the biggest contributing factors were shar’s lies about what was happening important emissions in the case plan and failure to identify clearly observable dangers investigation found that Jordan should have been removed from the home in August Florida Secretary of the Department of Children and Families Chad Poppel said reviewing the events that
led up to Jordan’s death is incredibly saddening despite multiple opportunities no one changed his circumstances DCF policies were not followed communication throughout the process was poor several clear warning signs were missed there were even specific concerns raised that were not acted upon the report should be a call to action for the entire child welfare system and I intend to treat it as one after Jordan’s death representative Chris lot Vala wrote and pushed for Jordan’s law in his memory this was the law that Sharice was
referring to in her jail housee interview it took two years but he finally got it passed and signed into law in 2020 one of the goals of the law was to reduce case loads from 30 to 15 per case worker however the law didn’t include any funding to implement the suggested reforms the events of 2020 made the situation even more dire the common number of case loads Rose from 30 in 2018 to 40 and even 50 over $200 million of funding was pushed through in 2021 but turnover in the agency still remained High 2023 in part because of
Jordan and other high-profile cases like his Florida decided to undo the experiment they started in the 1990s legislation was passed requiring the county sheriffs to hand child prot Protection Services back to the state where it will be managed by the Department of Children and Families only time will tell if this results in better outcomes or not Jordan’s grandmother filed a wrongful death suit against Sharice and the two agencies involved in managing Jordan’s case eered in directions for Living the lawsuit
appears to still be open there hasn’t been a new Motion in the last 4 years regarding it Jordan’s foster parents released a written statement about his sister they wrote last fall we were broken by the death of a child we loved dearly as the fall continued the question of what would happen to Jordan’s little sister began to weigh on us we knew that shares would not be able to care for her after much prayer we approached shice about allowing us to adopt the baby and she agreed though she later wrote a letter on behalf of Jordan
senior her support for the Warren meant Sam and Juliet were able to take baby Jordan’s sister home the day after she was born the adoption was finalized in November of 2020 they wanted to let everyone know that Jordan’s sister is being taken care of saying we wanted to make it clear that this beautiful girl is safe healthy and deeply loved
