It's a tragedy no mother would ever want to face: a child taken away from her family to be placed in a home that was supposed to be a safer environment, only to end up dead. That's what happened to 4-year-old Ayana Bennett. The little girl was put into the custody of the Department of Human Services three months ago, and today, and autopsy report revealed that she was beaten to death. The brutal incident happened while she was in the care of her foster parents, a mennonite couple in Spanish Lookout.
Now, her family wants justice, not just from the police, but from the Human Services Department as well. Courtney Menzies spoke with the toddler's aunt today and has this story.
This is 4 year old Ayana Bennett - an energetic toddler who was taken out of her mother's custody by the Department of Human Services in August.
In early September, she and her 2-year-old sister were placed with a foster family here at the Plett home in Spanish Lookout - and a in rural setting that seems a world away from the southside. And it was inside this house that Baby Ayana took her last breath.
She was found unresponsive by her foster mother on Friday morning at 3:30, and this morning, her body was taken to the Belize Medical College for an autopsy.
That autopsy revealed that the toddler had badly beaten, with bruises along her little body.
Her mother and aunt waited for hours outside the college, since they weren't allowed inside, until they got the crushing results.
Andrea Moody, Aunt of Deceased
"I'm sad, I'm broken hearted, the autopsy came out that my niece died from blunt force trauma, and I'm sad, I want justice from God and I'm glad everything is coming out, the truth, and I'm saddened by the loss of my niece."
"They were cruel to my niece, I want the people who did this to my niece pay, and for them to remain in jail forever."
"My sister didn't even know that they put the children in a home, that Human Services, they put the children with some Mennonites to live and then what happened, they're twisting and turning the story, Human Services are telling a lot of lies and what happened the grandmother, my mom, the kids used to live in my mom house, my mom wanted access to see the kids, my mom didn't get a chance to see two of her grandkids, one of her grandkids is dead now, we are just fighting to get the other one out of the home."
Now Andrea Moody and her sister, Alva, are trying to rescue Ayana's little sister before she suffers the same fate. The 2-year-old is the last remaining sibling, since Ayana's older sister, Etana, was murdered five years ago as she slept in her home.
The Moody family is now grieving the death of a second baby girl taken too soon.
Andrea Moody, Aunt of Deceased
"When I knew my niece alive, they usually spend time with me, my niece was jovial, both of them are jovial, my niece was loving and she's very, you will say, she's very bright, she's a bright child and knows things and she knows her mom, things like that. I just want justice and I want to see the Human Services get sued, the director is not doing the job good."
"All of a sudden when my niece died, they want to say that how my niece had, we had access, the uncles and aunts had access to see the child, and we haven't had any access to see the child, my mom wanted access to see the child and did never see the child."
"They could have called us, they didn't even check if the family members could have taken the kids, none of that, they do their own thing. Just give up my niece into a Mennonite hand, and this is the outcome."
The Mennonite community has its own story - and the Pletts are a highly regarded family. Today their fellow villagers waited outside the San Ignacio court for hours in a show of support.
They have been charged initially with aggravated assault and according to the ComPol, that charge could see an upgrade.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"The pathologist today conducted a post mortem examination on the body of the child and certified that she died from multiple trauma, which would indicate that she was beaten severely and that beating is what actually caused her death."
"I can say that the both foster parents have also admitted to having lashed the child with a belt according to them, I don't know if a belt would would cause that amount of force as the doctor had prescribed following the post mortem examination, soh…"
Jules Vasquez:
"Sir, in fact we received information that they were telling her to identify the color of a tractor or something outside which was yellow and they felt that she refused to do it. Is that your report?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"It's something along that line yes."
Killed over colors is brutal and vicious way for a child to lose her life, and for the Moody family, they can't understand how what was supposed to be three months in foster care could lead to the death of a little girl.
And now, they wait to see if the justice system will provide any sort of consolation.
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