5 yr old Jahessye Shockley missing since 10.11 in AZ/Mom, Jerice Hunter arrested on child abuse charges & released 11/28/11/Teen Daughter Tells LE That Mom Told Her to Lie/Mom pregnant again!/9.6.2012:Mother arrested on first degree murder AND child abuse

In an emotional interview on Phoenix KPHO TV, Jerice Hunter, the mother of missing Glendale Ariz. girl Jahessye Shockley has promised her daughter that she will find her:

"Jahessye, somebody’s thinking about you, if nobody but us [the girl’s family],” said Jerice Hunter, on the brink of tears. “Mamma coming to get you.”

Hunter then went on to adamantly express that she will not allow her daughter to remain away from her family.

It has been one month since the little girl disappeared on Oct. 11, after Hunter is reported to have left the child locked in her apartment while she ran an errand.

Still the police have been unable to come up with any leads after reportedly more than 100 officers and a number of volunteers searching the outlining community. The search has focused on sex offenders, as well as knocking on the doors of individuals in the little girl's neighborhood.

Hunter has also been under a cloud of suspicion since little Jahessye disappeared.

She was sentenced to eight years in a California prison in 2006 for child abuse. The charges included the torturing of her 7-year old daughter and the infliction of physical injuries on her other children.

The mother complained that investigators and the media had focused too much on her past instead of on finding her daughter.

"We feel that law enforcement is not active in finding Jhessye and that they're more active in persecuting me instead of finding out where she is," according to The Associated Press.

In her recent interview, Hunter stated, "If I knew where my child was she would be here, do you understand that? If I could take back Oct. 11 I would never have walked out that door to go run an errand.”

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Search for 5-Year-Old Missing Girl Jhessye Shockley Shrouded in Mystery
November 15, 2011 By Dizzy

*The family of missing Arizona five-year-old Jhessye Shockley are outraged because they claim that the media is not giving enough coverage of the missing girl, who disappeared on Oct. 13.

Meanwhile, white, blue-eyed Lisa Irwin has been on the news headlines and magazine covers since her disappearance on Oct. 4, while Jhessye’s family claims her story has been overlooked, as reported on Radar Online.

The parents, desperate to get media attention for Jhessye, recently marched on the Arizona state capital to draw attention to her disappearance, according to the Arizona Republic.

Mother Jerice Hunter said her daughter was reported missing when she went to run an errand and came home to find her daughter had vanished without a trace.

Police are investigating whether Jhessye unlocked the door and walked out of the Glendale, Arizona house, or if she had been abducted by an unknown suspect.

But news has been uncovered that Hunter pleaded no contest in California to abusing her children in 2005, according to the New York Times.

Hunter, who has several other children, served three and a half years in state prison.

According to 2006 court documents, Hunter was “accused of torturing her 7-year-old daughter and of causing corporal injuries to three of her other children.”

Hunter’s kids told police that their mother would whip and punch them, sometimes beating them so badly with extension cords she left welts.

Her 14-year-old son said that the beatings occurred multiple times a week for several years.

Family members have said that the search should focus on the child, not on the mother’s criminal past.

“I feel like they’re (the media) covering me, instead of my daughter because it’s a juicy story for them and they want to get ratings,” (um..she Just contradicted herself. She said there isn't enough "media attention" but Then states what I bolded.) said Hunter, who is currently eight months pregnant. “Because I wouldn’t speak to them initially, they decided they would draw me out by demonizing me.”

The child’s biological dad, George Shockley, is a registered sex offender who is currently serving 12 years in a California prison for a sex offender conviction.

Although the police have not implicated the family in Jhessye’s disappearance, Child Protective Services took three of Hunter’s other children into care the day after she went missing, and refuse to say why they were taken from the home. (Not "rocket science" here)

Cousin Mahogany Hightower, who helped look after Jhessye when her mom was in jail, recalls that the little girl exhibited bizarre behavior during a family BBQ in April.

“She cried really bad, telling us she wanted to go home now,” she told the Arizona Republic.

“We told her, ‘You can’t go home with us now but you will later.’ She goes, ‘I can’t go later. I ‘ve got to go now.’”

Hunter told news reporters that she would never hurt her daughter and became angry when a reporter suggested she may have harmed her.

“Do I look like I hurt my daughter?” she repeated several times.

On the day of her disappearance, Jhessye was wearing a white T-shirt, blue jean shorts and pink sandals.

Glendale police are offering a $11,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to Jhessye’s return.

Glendale police told CBS 5 that no one has been ruled out in the girl’s disappearance.

“Everyone is a person of interest,” said a Glendale police officer.

Anyone with information should call 480-WITNESS.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Glendale police withholding new information on missing girl

by John Genovese - Nov. 15, 2011 11:37 AM
The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

Friday marked one month since 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley was reported missing, and authorities on Monday said there are still no new significant leads or suspects in the case.

Sgt. Brent Coombs, a spokesman for Glendale police, said the agency has made progress but is not ready to disclose any new information.

Coombs said police have been in contact with Jerice Hunter, the girl's mother, for several weeks about taking a polygraph test, but no hard date has been set.

Police and the FBI are continuing to follow up on all tips that are received, he said.

The search for Jhessye began Oct. 11, when police said Hunter returned to her apartment near 45th and Glendale avenues after a brief errand and found her daughter gone.

The girl's siblings, the oldest 13, had been left to watch her. The family initially thought Jhessye had unlocked the front door and walked away, but when they couldn't find her, they called police.

Child Protective Services removed three of Hunter's children from her custody on Oct. 12. Hunter gave birth to another child this month, and the newborn girl was also taken by CPS.

Hunter was previously convicted of child abuse involving her children in California in 2005, but Glendale police have never listed her as a suspect in her daughter's disappearance.

Authorities offer an $11,000 reward for tips that lead them to Jhessye's whereabouts.

Anyone with information should contact Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

What is going on here? This article says she gave birth a month ago and the other one says she is 8 mo pregnant. Both articles are dated today's date. Is she pregnant or NOT??

Sidenote: Seems to me in this case & the Sky, Irwin & Lunsford cases, the writing is on the wall - yet..NO arrests. This is Ridiculous!

GLENDALE, AZ (KPHO) -

The case of missing Jhessye Shockley reached the 5 week mark on Tuesday.

Glendale police released the following statement on the investigation.

It's very important to the Glendale Police Department to reassure the community that our investigators are still working every day, diligently, on the disappearance of 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley from her Glendale home on October 11, 2011. We are encouraging anyone listening, no matter where you reside, to be hyper-aware of your surroundings. It's important to look for and report anything out of the ordinary involving a 5-year-old black child near where they live, work or shop; something that's different than what might have been occurring just prior to Jhessye being reported missing 35 days ago. Investigators need to hear from you.

The investigators and other support personnel working this case are still hopeful that law enforcement will locate Jhessye alive, and our commitment hasn't wavered in the least. Although we cannot speak to specifics of our investigation, if and when we have new information that would be useful to the community and would not compromise our investigation, we will come forward with it. We continue to encourage anyone with any information that might help us find Jhessye to call 480 WITNESS or 911.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Does cousin have missing Glendale girl Jhessye Shockley?

Posted: 9:12 PM
Last Updated: 16 minutes ago

* By: Susan Casper By: Susan Casper

GLENDALE, AZ - There’s a new twist in the case of a Glendale 5-year-old girl who went missing last month as her grandmother claims a family member might be responsible for her disappearance.

Jhessye Shockley vanished from her home in the area of Glendale and 43 rd Avenues in October.

Her grandmother, Shirley Johnson, told ABC15 a cousin might have taken the girl.

According to Johnson, the cousin cared for Jhessye as the girl's mother served time in prison.

“That's four and a half years of emotional investment she had in her,” said Johnson. “ want them to look into people that may have been distraught by the baby being taken back by the mom. I don't want them to not look into that.”

Glendale police continue their search for the missing girl. The family is planning another march outside the state capitol Friday at noon.

Read more: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[i]Did this "cousin" ONLY take care of Jhessye for four years??????? Has the "cousin" been questioned/poly'd? I don't buy what the grandmother is selling.

Glendale missing girl: Mother arrested, according to family

Jerice Hunter, the mother of a missing Glendale girl has been arrested, according to her mother Shirley Johnson.

Police told Johnson they have not found the missing girl, Jhessye Shockley, and they had not given her a reason for Hunter's arrest.

"I have no answers right now," Johnson said.

The grandmother said she still does not believe her daughter was responsible for Jhessye's disappearance. "I don't feel it and a mother can feel certain things," Johnson said.

She continues to believe the girl was taken by someone who knew her.

Johnson and other family members were briefly at the apartment, which has crime scene tape around its perimeter.

Sgt. Brent Coombs, a spokesman for Glendale police, confirmed that police are on the scene but would not provide further information.

Crews in white gear were visible at the home, but few details on the latest development are known at this time.

Police have scheduled a news conference regarding the case for 2 p.m.

Jhessye was reported missing Oct. 11. Hunter said she returned home from running errands and found the 5-year-old missing from their apartment near 45th and Glendale avenues. Older siblings were supposed to be watching the girl.

Child Protective Services removed Hunter's other children the following day. Hunter later gave birth and that child was removed from the home as well.
Read more: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Glendale police to hold briefing on Jhessye Shockley investigation

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Police and the FBI are at the home of the missing Glendale girl, Jhessye Shockley, who disappeared from her home more than a month ago.

The home was taped off Monday morning.

A suitcase was seen being removed from the home around 10 a.m. reported 92.3 KTAR's Jim Cross.

There are multiple reports of the girl's mother, Jerice Hunter, being arrested.

The specifics for the arrest are not known.

Glendale police have not confirmed any arrests.

The Glendale Police Department will hold a Media Briefing on the Jhessye Shockley Investigation Monday at 2 p.m. at the Main Public Safety Building located at 6835 N 57th Drive.

New information on the investigation will be provided at 2 pm.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thank you, Raine, for the update.

I am NOT surprised by this news. It is quite evident IMHO.

Please keep updating us on this - I always believed she killed Jahessye.

I agree with both of you unfortunately. That poor little girl.

The grandmother said she still does not believe her daughter was responsible for Jhessye's disappearance. "I don't feel it and a mother can feel certain things," Johnson said.

Now who does this sound like!?!

Exactly. And upthread, the mother had stated she suspected her daughter.

Did they have the news conference yet?

News conference coming up at 2PM......in 10 minutes.

Police in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale have arrested the mother of a missing 5-year-old girl on child abuse charges.

Sgt. Brent Coombs said Monday that Jerice Hunter was arrested on child abuse charges "directly related to Jhessye (JES'-ee)."

Jhessye Shockley has been missing since Oct. 11.

Coombs said at a news conference that investigators don't believe they'll find the girl alive and that Hunter "is our No. 1 focus."

Hunter's apartment was surrounded by police tape Monday as investigators in white jumpsuits searched inside.

Police have said they believed Jhessye wandered from her Glendale apartment while Hunter was running an errand. The girl's three older siblings were the last to see her. Police have repeatedly said they had no evidence, suspects or promising leads.

Hunter's four other children, including a newborn, were removed from her home last month.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

If they arrested her for child abuse, I bet they got the story out of one of the older siblings.

Ok so after listening to the news conference, it sounds to me like someone talked - probably the oldest child or several of the children have talked. They know what went on in there. Taking a suitcase out of the aparment was interesting - thats how she got the body out, or used something like it. The police know she is dead and they now know her mother killed her,
another poor victim -of a woman who was pregnant with another child. What an unreal world it has become

PD: Mother of missing 5-year-old arrested for child abuse
GLENDALE, AZ - The mother of a young girl missing for over a month has been arrested for child abuse and police admit it is unlikely the woman's 5-year-old daughter will be found alive.
Read more: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I have no sound on my computer.

But, I agree w/what you said, ART. Knew it was simpy a short matter of time before this convicted felon for child abuse would be back in the clink. I have no doubt she killed her little girl.

Id like to see the charging document so we can read exactly what she is charged with - I would think in that document they would have to be a little more specific
than just "child abuse" and possibly some dates listed.

I'm looking.....

JERICE HUNTER : #P821406
Date Of Booking: 11/21/2011

Gender: FEMALE
Race: BLACK
D.O.B: 10/13/1973
Height: 5'07
Weight: 130
Hair: BLACK
Eye: BROWN
In Custody For:
CHILD/VUL ADULT ABUSE-INTENT

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

"VUL"??? Never saw that before. Vulnerable???? Anyone?

Monday’s Statement from Glendale Police Department
GLENDALE , Ariz. – On Monday November 21, 2011, the Glendale Az Police Department, along with our partners from the FBI, served a second search warrant on Jerice Hunter’s apartment near 45 th Avenue and Glendale, in Glendale. This is the same location where Jahessye Shockley was reported missing from on October 11th. The search warrant was served based on information recently received by Glendale Investigators, which cannot be discussed with any specifics at this time.
All leads that have come in to date, which dealt with sightings or a belief that extended family members have Jahessye, just have not been found to be accurate. More substantive current leads have pointed back towards the apartment in question and Jahessye’s mother, Jerice Hunter.
Today Jerice Hunter was arrested by the Glendale Police Department for Child Abuse directly related to her daughter Jahessye Shockley. Investigators have yet to find Jahessye.
Questions on the use of a polygraph have continually come up. The Glendale Police Department has offered the polygraph to Jerice Hunter on more than one occasion. To date, Jerice Hunter has not cooperated with those offers.
About a week ago, The Glendale Police Department, in conjunction with Silent Witness, made arrangements to increase the reward to $25,000 for information that would assist law enforcement in locating Jahessye Shockley, and bringing to justice that person or persons responsible for her disappearance. Now, with information that has come to light in the past few days, investigators believe it highly unlikely that we will find Jahessye alive. However, the reward still remains in place for information that will help us find Jahessye and charge that person or persons responsible.
Our department does not consider this case closed by any means. This is just another step down the investigative path towards that closure. Our mission will continue to be locating Jahessye Shockley.

Read more: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

artgal16 wrote:Id like to see the charging document so we can read exactly what she is charged with - I would think in that document they would have to be a little more specific than just "child abuse" and possibly some dates listed.

The search warrant was served based on information recently received by Glendale Investigators, which cannot be discussed with any specifics at this time.

ok BJ thanks

Wrapitup wrote:"VUL"??? Never saw that before. Vulnerable???? Anyone?

It's a general charge that covers either a child OR a vulnerable adult.

The grandmother of Jerice Hunter believes she is responsible for the October disappearance of her daughter, 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley.
Following a Monday news conference by Glendale police , Hattie Hunter told reporters Jerice had 'something' to do with Jhessye Shockley going missing.
"I don't know if (Jerice) hurt (Jhessye) or what," said Hattie Hunter. "It might have been an accident."
Hattie Hunter and other family members of Jhessye attended the news conference to hear firsthand from Glendale police about their search for the missing girl.
"It's sad," said Jhessye's great aunt, Tammy Hunter, upon hearing the news that investigators don't expect to find the 5-year-old alive. "Jhessye is gone and nobody knows where she is."
Compounding that sadness are accusations by police that Jerice Hunter abused her daughter and is the sole focus of detectives investigating the 5-year-old's disappearance.
"Of course it's hard to hear that, that a family member is a child abuser or having something to do with your daughter being dead," added Tammy Hunter.
As she left the police department, Hattie Hunter told reporters she believes Jerice needs to take responsibility for her daughter's disappearance.
"I believe she's responsible for the disappearance," said Hattie Hunter.
Her family hopes Jerice cooperates with investigators so that they and everyone else can know the truth about what happened to Jhessye.
"If Jerice had something to do with it, she needs to be punished," said Tammy Hunter. "Whoever else had something to do with it needs to be brought to justice."

Read more: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Its not a surprise that the grandmother knows this -I think they whole family knew it was Jerice. Her mother is in denial, but the only way that they could have gotten information was from the children that protective services took in. Im sure they had a child psychologist help to question them. This time at least, their torturer and abuser will be locked up for good as I have no doubt that they will offer her a plea to tell what happened and she will take it.

Hunter makes court appearance in missing daughter's case

PHOENIX - It was supposed to be her first contact with a judge after being charged with child abuse.

During her initial court appearance, Jerice Hunter gripped her arms, nodded her head and rocked back and forth as the wait got to her.

"Is this legal," she said. "They do this to everybody?"

The judge excused herself from the bench several times. After over an hour sitting in her jail stripes in the courtroom, a brief outburst from the frazzled defendant. "I don't even know what's going on. This is not fair," Hunter cried out.

The judge would not say why the intial appearance was being pushed back.

Glendale police remained tightlipped on the events in court.

Hunter's initial appearance will take place at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Above BBM.
That so called mother has some nerve, it's not fair that she has to wait??? Her poor little girl is still waiting to have her body discovered. I'd love to slap the s*** out of that witch!

Document details abuse in Ariz. missing-girl case

A court document released Tuesday says the teenage sister of a missing 5-year-old Arizona girl told police that her mother instructed her to lie about the girl's disappearance, that her mother kept the girl in a closet, and that the girl had black eyes, cuts, and bruises before she was reported missing.
The document was released minutes after the girl's mother, Jerice Hunter, had her first court appearance, during which she proclaimed her innocence.
"I'd just like to be given the chance to prove my innocence," Hunter told a judge, who ordered that she be held on a $100,000 bond because of her history of child abuse and the seriousness of the charge against her.
Hunter was arrested on a felony count of child abuse Monday, more than five weeks after she reported her daughter Jhessye Shockley missing. Police said at a news conference that they received new information in the case that led to her arrest and to a second search of her apartment in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale.
Investigators declined to say what that information was. But the court document details a recent interview they conducted with Hunter's 13-year-old daughter, who was removed from the home last month by state Child Protective Services.
The document, a probable cause statement, said the teenager recently began to talk to her foster mother about Jhessye, telling her "she was told by her mother, Jerice, to lie to police about Jhessye being missing."
Police then interviewed the teen, who told them she did not see Jhessye the day she disappeared, reversing her previous story to authorities that she had seen the girl.
She also said that several weeks ago Hunter became angry when she returned home to find Jhessye wearing a long T-shirt while watching TV with a neighbor boy, telling the girl that she was a "ho" before taking her into a bedroom, according to the document.
The teen said she could hear her sister screaming and crying in the room, the document said.
She also told police that Hunter kept Jhessye in a bedroom closet and deprived her of food and water, and that she had seen the girl in there with black eyes and bruises and cuts to her face and body, according to the document.
"(She) reported that Jhessye's hair had been pulled out and described Jhessye as not looking alive and that she looked like a zombie," the document said. "(She) said that the closet where Jhessye had been looked like a grave and smelled like dead people."
The teen said that a few days before Jhessye disappeared, her mother spent the entire day cleaning the apartment and cleaning her shoes from the closet with soap and bleach. Police said they found a receipt that showed Hunter bought food and a bottle of bleach two days before she reported her daughter missing.
Jhessye was last seen Oct. 11 after Hunter said she went out for an errand and left the girl in the care of three older siblings at their apartment.
At a news conference Monday, Glendale Police Sgt. Brent Coombs said authorities do not expect to find Jhessye alive, but he didn't explain why. He also said Hunter is the "No. 1 focus" in the investigation.
Hunter, meanwhile, has maintained her innocence, telling The Associated Press she had nothing to do with her daughter's disappearance. She also has criticized the Glendale Police Department's investigation.
"We feel that law enforcement is not active in finding Jhessye and that they're more active in persecuting me instead of finding out where she is," Hunter said last month.
State Child Protective Services removed Hunter's other children, including a newborn, from her apartment last month but declined to say why. Glendale police said they had no part in the decision to remove the children.
Read more: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I knew it! I knew it was from the oldest child - I wish to hell I had been wrong. That no good bitch and those idiot social workers who gave her children back to her. Im so upset about this I cant stand it.

PHOENIX (KPHO) - Jerice Hunter had her initial appearance in court Tuesday, where prosecutors revealed that Hunter never legally obtained custody of her children, following her release from prison.

Hunter was convicted of child abuse in California several years ago, then moved to Arizona.

"At the time of those convictions she had her parental rights severed and her children taken away," the prosecutor said. "She did get those children back. Not legally, but from her mother."

Hunter's 5-year-old daughter, Jhessye Shockley, was reported missing Oct. 11 from her Glendale neighborhood.


Police conducted a Valleywide search, then announced Monday that Hunter had been arrested on child abuse charges directly related to Shockley's disappearance.

Hunter is now the prime suspect in her daughter's disappearance, police said.

CBS 5 news has learned that Child Protective Services had been out to Hunter's apartment - this past spring to investigate a complaint of possible child abuse, yet no formal action was taken.

Rev. Oscar Tillman said the system broke down by allowing Hunter to care for Jhessye and her three other children, after serving prison time in California.

"You send a person to prison for beating a child severely and then you release them without any type of oversight," Tillman said. "If that's the case, CPS, then why didn't you do more to intervene in Arizona?"

CBS 5 asked officials with CPS why Shockley and her siblings weren't removed from Hunter's home.

A CPS official said they could not comment on the case.

Robert Bell, with Childhelp Children's Center of Arizona, sees child abuse cases every day.

He said that the big challenge facing CPS investigators is that there are not always clear signs of abuse.

"If a child has been abused by a caretaker and the caretaker is present during an investigation, when CPS or law enforcement goes out to a home, that child is going to be much less likely to be honest with any type of disclosures about child abuse," said Bell.

According to court records, it took Hunter's older children more than a month of being away from their mother, before they felt comfortable talking about what happened to Shockley.

"A lot of people let Jhessye down," Tillman said.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

So according to the above article she had no legal right to keeping the children her mother gave them to her illegally and no one did anything about it.

As details of the alleged abuse by Jerice Hunter of her five year old daughter Jhessye Shockley emerged Tuesday, there was an outpouring of emotion in the family's Glendale neighborhood.
On one hand, neighbors and volunteers who'd donated time and in some cases, even money, to the search for Jhessye said they felt angry and betrayed by Hunter.

But some of her family members seemed to stand by Hunter. Her father Jesse Johnson ridiculed the allegations against her and blamed Glendale Police and CPS for wanting to get the case wrapped up.
Hunter's mother Shirley Johnson said she thought the accusations were "very suspect."
The allegations stem from accounts by Hunter's other children who were removed from her custody after Jhessye was reported missing on October 11th.

"It makes me sick to my stomach," said Barbara Williams, a neighbor who befriended Hunter after Jhessye disappeared and helped extensively in the search.
Williams had this message for Hunter: "You betrayed us, you slapped us in our face and made us feel like fools, out here helping you."

Hunter's father vowed to fight the accusations and said the family was bringing in private attorneys from Los Angeles.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A bail bondsman says his company will not help Jerice Hunter get out of jail even if she comes up with the money for a bond -- and he wants other people in the bail bonds business to follow his lead.

Bond for Jerice Hunter is $100,000. Her daughter Jhessye is missing and feared dead by Glendale police -- but Hunter is jailed only on a child abuse charge.

A church is vowing to come up with the $10,000 needed for a bond.

Andrew Wirtjes from Regulator Bail Bonds feels she should stay in jail. Wirtjes went on Facebook urging other bondsmen not to bail her out.

He said: “A mother is accused of killing her baby girl and her bond is a measly one hundred thousand dollars the sad part is we know she has the money and the property and some idiot is going to write this bond.”

He told FOX 10 what he meant by his post.

“I am trying to say this is a stab at the judicial system. If you are accusing someone of that heinous a crime and you want us bail bondmen to process that bond... I am just frustrated how in the world the charges do not match the bond.”

Wirtjes says friends of Jerice Hunter approached his company and said they had the money to post bond. But he has declined their offer.

“Do I personally think the bond amount is too low? If… I had done something like that, the bond in any other state would be a little bit higher, make that a lot bit higher!”

One thing the bail bondsman said his industry wants is more uniformity. If you are charged with a certain crime, everybody knows up front what the bail amount will be.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

artgal16 wrote:So according to the above article she had no legal right to keeping the children her mother gave them to her illegally and no one did anything about it.

I wonder how she will live with her self?

Jerice Hunter has been released
Jerice Hunter, the mother of missing 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley -- who is suspected in the girl's disappearance -- has been released from jail.

Hunter, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says, was released about 10:40 a.m today.

Jerry Cobb, spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, tells New Times Hunter was released because no charges against her were formally filed within 48 hours of her arrest last week. Because charges weren't filed within 48 hours, authorities could not legally hold Hunter.

Cobb says that doesn't mean charges won't be filed in the future -- he says the MCAO is awaiting results from an additional investigation into Hunter by the Glendale Police Department before making any charging decisions. He says his office is working closely with Glendale cops, who suspect Shockley is likely dead and plan to search for her remains in a city landfill in coming weeks.

Hunter was arrested last week and booked into jail on child abuse charges "directly related" to Shockley's October 11 disappearance.

According to court records obtained by New Times, two of Jhessye's siblings, who are now in foster care, told their foster parents about some of the abuse Shockley received at the hands of her mother, who spent four years in a California prison for child abuse -- and scolded us last month for asking whether she hurt her daughter .

Jhessye's 13-year-old sister told her foster parents that several weeks before Shockley was reported missing, Hunter came home and found her watching TV with a boy from the neighborhood. The girl told her foster parents -- and later police -- that Hunter called Jhessye a "ho" and dragged her into a bedroom where the sister could hear Jhessye screaming and crying.

Following the apparent beating, Hunter kept Shockley in a closet. Her sister told police she had to bring the 5-year-old water when Hunter was out so she wouldn't become dehydrated. She would let the her out when Hunter was gone, but quickly put Jhessye back when Hunter got home to keep her from getting in trouble.

The sister also told investigators that she saw bruises and cuts on Shockley's face and body while she was kept in the closet, and that her eyes were black and only slightly open.

The 13-year-old also told police that Shockley's hair had been pulled out and that she didn't look alive. She describes her as looking like a "zombie" and that the closet she was kept in smelled like "dead people" and was like a "grave."

All of the alleged abuse happened weeks before Hunter called police on October 11. The last time anyone saw Jhessye alive was September 22, which was the last time records show her attending school. Her sisters say they never saw Jhessye the day her mother reported her missing, when Hunter told police the older siblings were watching the girl as she ran errands.

On October 9, Hunter bought a bottle of bleach at a Walgreens. She then cleaned the entire apartment and scrubbed her shoes that were in the closet with Jhessye with bleach, the sister told police.

Court records also show that Hunter was suspected of child abuse in April, and a report was filed. It's unclear whether Child Protective Services was alerted about the reported abuse.

Hunter has made sobbing attempts to declare her innocence since the day she reported her daughter missing more than two weeks after she was last seen alive. She's blamed everyone from the media to the Glendale Police Department for not locating her daughter. When we spoke to her, Hunter went ballistic when we suggested that she hurt her daughter.

"I really think they should take the focus off of me and quit asking people -- wasting time -- if I did something to my daughter," Hunter told us last month. "They should quit holding my babies hostage and trying to get them to say something [about what happened to Jahessye]. [Authorities are] telling me 'your kids aren't saying anything.' It's been 13 days. What do they expect my babies to say that they haven't already said? [CPS] don't wanna hear 'we love our mama, we wanna go home we want our mommy' -- they don't wanna hear that. They won't let me see them because they don't want them running into my arms. They don't wanna hear them scream 'mommy.'"

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Have faith they really arrest here again. OMG I can't believe they let that woman out. They are going to search a landfill for remains.

This has to end. It is happening far to often.

They will arrest her and I believe it will come down to her children testifying against her as well as many of her relatives. In the Diane Downs case her daughter and son testified against her who survived the shooting.

I appreciate the update artgal. Thank you. I was shocked when I saw the article you posted.

Yes I was shocked as well. No one wanted to give her bail but in the end she didnt need it.

I hope not. I would lose all hope for "the system" if that happened.

The shorter sentences when child violence is involved is part of the problem -the "system places less value on the life of a child. Living children dont seem to get much attention do they - they are all so worried about the womb but the minute the child is born - no one wants to pay for anything for children and it makes me sick. Its almost like they want to punish women for having gotten pregnant and the system is left with more and more children going into foster care or dying.
One candidate was even against birth control - can you imagine? Im truly sick of men having any opinion
on womens' reproductive rights.

artgal16 wrote:The shorter sentences when child violence is involved is part of the problem -the "system places less value on the life of a child. Living children dont seem to get much attention do they - they are all so worried about the womb but the minute the child is born - no one wants to pay for anything for children and it makes me sick. Its almost like they want to punish women for having gotten pregnant and the system is left with more and more children going into foster care or dying.
One candidate was even against birth control - can you imagine? Im truly sick of men having any opinion
on womens' reproductive rights.

I agree with every single word you just said Artgal!!!! I'm so sick of these sentences or lack of depending on the case and I wonder how people responsible with not only the death/murder sleep at night but also the people responsible for their light sentences or their NO sentencing! !!!