A 3-year-old has lost his life, a mother has lost her son and a family has lost their star. The child lost his life at the hands of one person; that one person who was always supposed to protect his son. On September 5, 2015 near Memphis, TN, 3-year-old Josiah was transported to the hospital and pronounced dead.
Josiah's father has been charged with first degree murder, child abuse, and child neglect resulting in death. According to an affidavit during the investigation, the father Terry Patterson, admitted to beating the child with his fists and with a belt, then leaving him alone on the couch to go and pick up his girlfriend. It wasn't until the next day Patterson and his girlfriend finally decided to call for help.
Josiah's mother, Kerra Brown, had been entangled in a bitter custody battle since the Josiah was 8 months old. Despite documented abuse, Patterson was granted joint custody of the child. It was during his first week-long visit with the child that Patterson got upset at Josiah for spitting food on his couch, and took out his adult size range and anger on the child to the point where family members have said they could not hold an open casket funeral due to the condition of the child's body.
How can this happen? Is our system that incredibly broken? Kerra Brown spent two years fighting in court, doing it the right way to keep her son safe. She had documented evidence of police reports and DCS reports. At the infant stage of only 8 months old, Josiah was brutally beaten. Pictures were given to the police department and DCS was called, yet no charges were filed against Patterson. Brown even had previous documents of Patterson's felony record, which includes being a sex offender. Despite all of that evidence and documented proof, on August 27, a judge ordered Brown had to allow her baby boy to spend 26 weeks a year with his abusive father; within a few short days, that baby boy was gone forever.
Josiah's family wants justice. "I don't want to look on the news and hear another parent saying the same thing I have said", said Brown. The family doesn't just want justice for Josiah, they also want justice for all children that have died from abusive situations. Funded Justice , a crowd-funding platform specifically for raising funds for legal issues, has started a funding campaign for the family of Josiah. The goal is to raise enough funds to help find justice for Josiah. The hashtag #JusticeForJoJo is gaining popularity as news of this horrible situation spreads.
The biggest question I have is how does our system allow this to happen? Is it lack of funding? Is it lack of empathy from DCS officials and police upon receiving the calls? Too many times, I have seen a good parent put through the ringer of DCS investigations. DCS will choose to investigate one case but then use the slide of hand to say they didn't have time to investigate the important and valid cases. This happens most with children who understand the system and who know how to cry wolf. The child will go to school and fake an injury or make a statement that forces the school to investigate. Time and resources go into those cases all the while real abuse cases, like Josiah, are swept under the rug until someone gets around to it. Unfortunately, this time it was entirely too late.
I wish I had the answer to make sure this doesn't happen again. If in fact Patterson is guilty as he states in his affidavit, I hope he spends at least a lifetime behind bars thinking about the life he took.
My heart absolutely aches for Josiah's family. No parent should ever have to bury his or her child. It could be one of the most unnatural things a parent could have to do.