Update on Shylea Myza Thomas's Murder Case

You might remember poor little Shylea, the quadropolegic girl found dead in a garbage bin..

Well, I seemed to have missed news articles updating the case, but feel better knowing they have an arrest in the case- her adoptive mother/biological aunt.

Here are a few articles to catch us all up on, I know a few of you were interested in the case by viewing the last post's comments..

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Mom Charged With Quadriplegic Kid's Murder
(CBS/AP) The mother of a 9-year-old quadriplegic girl whose body was found stuffed in a storage bin was charged Friday with her murder.

Lorrie Thomas was expected to be arraigned later Friday in a Flint courtroom on charges including second-degree murder, child abuse, tampering with evidence and welfare fraud.

Thomas, 39, has been in custody since Wednesday, when investigators found Shylea Myza Thomas's body in a locked storage unit near Flint, which is 65 miles northwest of Detroit. The body was in a black trash bag and stuffed into a plastic bin with mothballs to cover up the smell.

Authorities have not said what caused Shylea's death, but Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said that she suffered from "severe, ongoing malnutrition and neglect" before her death.

Leyton said at a news conference that Shylea weighed 33 pounds, about half her weight of 61 pounds in August 2007, and had untreated bed sores and bones sticking through skin.

Thomas was Shylea's adoptive mother. The woman's cousin Josette Thomas, 39, said Lorrie Thomas "is not a bad person. Something happened. She panicked and made a mistake."

Shylea had been taken out of school in January, and relatives told state officials they had not seen her in six weeks.

Seven other children ranging in age from 3 months to 15 years were removed from Lorrie Thomas' Flint home and are now in foster care.

The case unfolded this week when relatives of the girl told the state Department of Human Services about possible neglect and said they hadn't seen the child in six weeks.

A case worker, Aaron Clum, visited the home Monday and was unable to confirm Shylea's whereabouts, according to a court document filed in the family division of the Genesee County Circuit Court. According to Clum, Thomas told him the family was moving to Virginia and the girl was on her way with a friend.

On Tuesday, the department asked Flint police to investigate. Thomas again insisted Shylea was bound for Virginia, Clum wrote, but that could not be confirmed.

Shylea's body was found early Wednesday morning hidden in a unit at Stor & Lock in Vienna Township.

Shylea had been paralyzed since nearly suffocating in her crib when she was 3 months old, Leyton said. She lived with several relatives in a Flint home that the prosecutor described as "absolutely filthy."

Leyton said he didn't know the whereabouts of Shylea's biological mother.

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Mom Doesn't Blame Sister In Girl's Death
FLINT, Mich. -- The birth mother of a 9-year-old quadriplegic Flint girl who starved to death is defending the adoptive mom charged in the case.

Rachel Thomas said she wants to hug Lorrie Thomas, who is in the Genesee County jail, charged with second-degree murder. The women are sisters.

Lorrie Thomas is accused of stashing the body of Shylae Thomas in a Flint-area storage unit.

Shylea Myza Thomas weighed 33 pounds at her death -- about half her weight of 61 pounds in August 2007, prosecutors said at a news conference. The girl had untreated bed sores and bones sticking through skin.

"She was denied food," Prosecutor David Leyton. "We place that solely on the shoulders of the defendant."

Lorrie Thomas adopted her niece in 2003 after Rachel Thomas lost parental rights.

In an interview published Friday by The Flint Journal, Rachel Thomas said she believes Shylae died of natural causes. She said Lorrie Thomas loved the girl too much to throw her out "like garbage."

Leyton said Rachel Thomas' opinion doesn't mean much after she lost rights to five children.

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Prosecutor: Dead Mich. girl severely underweight
FLINT, Mich. (AP) -A prosecutor says a 9-year-old quadriplegic Michigan girl whose body was found in a storage unit suffered from "severe, ongoing malnutrition and neglect" before her death.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton on Friday charged the girl's adoptive mother with six counts, including second-degree murder, child abuse, tampering with evidence and welfare fraud.

Leyton said at a news conference that Shylea Myza Thomas weighed 33 pounds, about half her weight of 61 pounds in August 2007. Leyton says she had untreated bed sores and bones sticking through skin.

Thirty-nine-year-old Lorrie Thomas of Flint has been in custody since Wednesday, when investigators found the girl's body stuffed in a plastic bin in a locked storage unit near Flint.

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Prosecutor could decide Friday on criminal charges in death of 9-year-old quadriplegic found dead in storage unit
FLINT, Michigan -- When a social worker asked where 9-year-old Shylae Thomas was Monday, her adoptive mother claimed she was on her way to Virginia with a friend.

In fact, the small quadriplegic was lying dead in a storage unit six miles away -- wrapped in a garbage bag and stuffed in a large plastic bin filled with mothballs, her feet hanging over the side.

Investigators believe Shylae had been dead for six weeks before police found her body Wednesday morning at a Vienna Township storage facility.

Her adoptive mother and aunt, Lorrie M. Thomas, 39, is in jail and could face felony murder and abuse charges as early as Thursday afternoon.

An autopsy was done Wednesday but the results have not been released.

The state Department of Human Services began to suspect something might be wrong Monday after a worker went to Thomas' house on E. Pierson Road near I-475 to check out a tip that Shylae and another child there were being neglected.

Among the allegations were the children were often dirty and that Shylae was left in her bed for long periods, according to a court hearing Wednesday.

The DHS worker found seven children at the house but no Shylae.

When asked where she was, Thomas allegedly told the worker the family was moving to Virginia and she had sent Shylae ahead with a friend.

Her wheelchair, however, was still at the house.

The worker returned later that day to see if Thomas had found a phone number for the friend, but said Thomas' oldest daughter said her mother wasn't home and closed the door.

Thomas gave DHS a phone number for the friend on Tuesday but calls to the number came back with a message to check the number and dial again.

After DHS could not verify she had recently been attending classes in the area, DHS went back to the house and called police.

Thomas initially told police Tuesday the same story about Shylea heading to Virginia.
But the investigation eventually led police to information that Shylea had been dead for weeks and her body was being kept in a storage unit at the Stor & Lock storage facility on N. Saginaw Road in Vienna Township.

Police found Shylae's body there about 4 a.m. Wednesday.

A longtime friend of Thomas said she had been taking care of his 11-year-old daughter for years and that she kept good care of the children at her home.

"She's been nothing but a good mother," said Michael Moore.

Shylae's mother -- Lorrie Thomas' sister -- is also the mother of Moore's daughter, he said.

Thomas adopted Shylae years ago after the girl's mother went to prison, said Moore.
"(The biological mother) is really taking it bad," said Moore.

"Even though she didn't have them with her, she loved her kids."

Moore said he sees his daughter regularly but said she never talked about Shaylae going missing.

He said he didn't realize anything was wrong until his daughter called him upset on Tuesday.

"She was in tears... then the phone hung up," he said.

Moore's daughter and the other children were placed in emergency foster care Tuesday and a Genesee County Family court referee on Wednesday ordered that they stay there until a May 19 hearing.

Moore attended Wednesday's hearing on the children along with three other men who claim to have fathered children with Lorrie Thomas.

Family members told investigators that Shylae was paralyzed when she was 3 weeks after she was found in a coma in her crib.


Sabrina Williams, who has lived across the street from Shylae Thomas for two years, talks about the girl's death and the discovery of her body in a Vienna Township storage facility.Neighbors of the E. Pierson Road home where the family lived said didn't know the family and said they had never seen a little girl in a wheelchair there.

The beige house with green trim, which sits between a rundown house and a vacant lot, had several bikes on the front porch and two bowling balls on the lawn.

"I never saw more than two or three kids outside," said neighbor Sabrina Williams who lives across the street. "It's just sad."

Thomas apparently owed $1,150 in unpaid rent to her landlord, according to court records.

Keisha Smith, who lives behind Thomas' home, said police were parked on nearby streets Tuesday and she saw them looking in bushes.

"I just saw kids playing out there sometimes," Smith said. "I never knew.... that's crazy."

The Genesee Intermediate School District said Shylae was a student at the Marion D. Crouse school but officials said privacy laws barred them from disclosing any further information about her.

First Ward Councilman Delrico Loyd expressed shock and sadness at the death in one of his ward's neighborhoods, saying it points out the need for more community involvement.

"It hurts my heart that anyone would do that to a young girl, and to know what she must've went through," said Loyd. "When no one saw the young lady for days, it should've raised some flags all around. That's why it's important to get to know your neighbors, so if anything is going on in a home hopefully someone will notice and get involved."

Loyd said he plans to say a prayer for the girl and her family during his town hall meeting on Tuesday at the Hasselbring Community Center.