The mother's children were taken away from her and sent to her step-sister because she was battling with addiction. Little did she know that her children were being abused without her.
Trigger Warning: This story contains instances of child abuse that may be disturbing to readers.
There's nothing more devastating than losing a loved one. But imagine the plight of a mother who gets to see her daughter for the first time in four years, in a coffin. Alysha Anderton lost her daughter Jaylin Schwarz on August 29, 2020, according to CBS7.
Per the publication, police investigation showed that the 8-year-old girl was forced to jump on a trampoline for hours together, under the 110-degree hot sun, without even being allowed to take a break or given water to drink, and she allegedly died as a result of dehydration.
You see, Alysha's daughters, Jaylin and Jayde, had been staying with her step-sister Ashley and her husband Daniel. The mother, though loving and caring, was unable to get over her addiction within the time frame given by Child Protective Services, and thus ended up losing her rights over her daughters. At first, she approved of her kids living with her step-sister, and per News West 9, Alysha was allowed to keep contact with Jaylin and was even given visitation rights.
But that was the start of a nightmare for Alysha and her children. "The discipline that these two little girls went through with the guardians involved head-shaving, it involved prolonged, for a lack of a better term, I'll call it torture," said Joshua Lowell Carpenter, the attorney representing Alysha. He added that Daniel and Ashley treated the children horribly. "They're making them do exercise and things along those lines without being able to eat or drink," said Carpenter.
To make matters worse, the mother was soon forbidden from meeting her beloved babies. "Alysha still had visitation rights and the guardians were denying that visitation, and we had filed an enforcement prior that had been court-ordered and were in the process of getting a court hearing and going back to court to return Alysha's visitation," said Carpenter.
The mother, who assumed her kids were doing okay, was shocked when she got a call from the family, telling her that Jaylin was no more. “What upsets me the most is that I never got to see her alive again,” said Alysha "When they took them, I never got to say goodbye. So I’ve never had closure for the past four years."
Though the autopsy result claimed she died of dehydration, the heartbroken mother cannot believe that was the only reason behind her daughter's death. “I was surprised that it wasn’t more than dehydration. Because the little girl that I saw in the casket did not look like an 8-year-old girl. She was so, so tiny. She was so tiny. She was so tiny," said the mother.
As a mother, Alysha just can't seem to get over the fact that the last time she saw her daughter was when she was in a casket, lifeless. "And then, oh, I still remember it like it was yesterday. The first time I saw her in almost four years she was lying in a casket and that’s not fair. That’s not fair to me. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t totally break down," said the mother.
What's worse is that she feels guilty about her daughter's death and believes she could have prevented the death of her daughter if she had the chance to see her. “The most important thing I needed to tell them was that I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry that I didn’t bring you back home like I promised you that I would. And that was so important to me,” Alysha said.
“That was the most important thing that I could say to her was that I’m sorry for everything that I have put you through. It’s not fair to her or to her sister – but I hope she knows my heart now and she knows that I was trying very, very hard to get to them and I could have saved her," she continued.
The mother still has a lot of concerns over her daughter's death, but for now, Alysha finds comfort in visiting her daughter's grave daily. “If that’s all I get now, I’ll take it. I’ll take it and I will treasure it for the rest of my life. If that’s all I’m given when it comes to her if that’s all I’m given I will take it any day ……. And I will make it beautiful just as she was in life," said the mother.
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Cover Image Source: GoFundMe | Justice For Jaylin and Jayde
