Mojave Desert News April 19, 2007
Jamesha Terry
Services for Jamesha Terry, 14, of California City, will be held Saturday, April 21, in Inglewood. Jamesha was an 8th grade student at California City Middle School. She is survived by her family, parents Alexander Billie and Melodie Davis, brothers Denzel and James, and sister Mariah, along with many other loving family members.
The funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. at Imperial Church of Christ, 11316 S. San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, followed by internment at Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 E. Florence Ave., Inglewood.
Donations to the family can be sent to Alta One Federal Credit Union in California City, attention Jamesha Terry Memorial Fund, account number 171944. Donations are also accepted at any Wells Fargo Bank, attention The Jamesha Terry Memorial Fund, account number 6402480194.
Body found in field possibly missing girl's
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Tuesday, April 3, 2007.
By VERONICA ROCHA and JAMES RUFUS KOREN
Valley Press Staff Writers
CALIFORNIA CITY - Police are trying to determine if a body found in a field Sunday evening is that of Jamesha Terry, a 14-year-old California City girl who has been missing since March 19.
Children playing in the 21000 block of Neuralia Road near California City Boulevard about 6 p.m. Sunday found the badly decomposed body of a black female who appeared to be in her mid- to late teens, police said. The body was covered with a carpet.
"So far, this victim is considered a Jane Doe," said Sgt. Eric Hurtado of the California City Police Department. "At this point, it has not yet been determined if there's a connection between the body located (Sunday) night and the girl reported missing on the 19th."
Police notified Jamesha Terry's family about the discovery and they were trying to obtain her dental records to help Kern County Coroner officials with identification, Hurtado said.
"I don't know if it's my daughter," Melodie Davis, Jamesha's mother, said Monday.
"The body was so badly decomposed ... I don't know what to say."
Jamesha's family is hoping that the body is not that of Jamesha.
"They are really upset," Hurtado said. "They are hoping there is no connection between the body found and her missing."
Jamesha, a California City Middle School student, was last seen about 3:45 p.m. March 19 getting off a school bus at a bus stop near the California City Market in the Aspen Mall shopping center - about a quarter mile from the field where the body was found.
Jamesha's family said she usually got off the bus about a half mile farther east at the Fastrip market on California City Boulevard, and her family didn't know why she used a different stop.
The FBI has offered assistance to California City police in investigating Jamesha's disappearance, Special Agent Karen Ernst said.
Police do not know the cause of death; an autopsy is scheduled for today, Hurtado said.
Hurtado added it was difficult to determine whether there were any physical injures on the body due to the state of decomposition.
Investigators were combing the scene Monday for clues about the victim's death.
The Kern County District Attorney's crime laboratory is assisting with processing the crime scene, officials said.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Mojave Desert New Apr 5, 2007
dentification pending on body found in CalCity
FBI working with CCPD
BY DEBBY BADILLO
CALIFORNIA CITY — As the DesertNews went to press Wednesday, authorities were investigating the discovery of a young female body found Sunday in an empty lot, and they are not prepared to say yet whether the body is that of Jamesha Terry, 14, missing since March 19.
According to city police Lt. Steve Colerick, the badly decomposed body, found around 6 p.m. by a group of children playing in a field along the 21000 block of Neuralia Road near the VFW building, can't be identified except as a female. The body was not wearing clothes that were consistent with the description for the missing Jamesha, Colerick said.
The Kern County coroner collected the body about 4 a.m. Monday morning, and an autopsy was performed Tuesday.
As of Tuesday afternoon the coroner had nothing more to report on what it termed a "suspicious death" until toxicology and other tests are performed, and the report identified the remains as "a young female of unknown race."
The coroner is also waiting for Jamesha's dental records for comparison.
At home Monday, Jamesha's mother, Melodie Davis, held out hope that her daughter was not the one to have met this uncertain fate.
"I'm depressed," Davis said, with her husband, Alexander Billie nearby, offering his encouragement and support. "I'm just praying it's not my daughter."
Jamesha Terry
Jamesha, 14, is described as a black female, 5 feet 4 inches tall, and weighing 119 pounds. She has black hair and black eyes, and was born Nov. 12, 1992. She's a student at California City Middle School, and attends after school tutoring on Mondays and Wednesdays. She was last seen by the school bus driver on Monday, March 19, when she got off the bus at 82nd Street and Bay Avenue, behind the Aspen Mall at about 3:40 p.m. This was not her normal bus stop, which on tutoring days was the Fastrip gas station, less than one mile east of the shopping center.
The field where the body was found April 1 is about one fourth of a mile from the bus stop, and is an easy walk from the mall. Police have cordoned off several hundred yards around the vacant land, marked by creosote and other scrub, with a dry wash running through it. Orange cones are placed in an area roughly describing a perimeter around a large creosote bush on the side of the lot that is just north of the parking lot of the VFW.
Police spent Monday interviewing several persons of interest, and at one location, the Desert Edge Apartments on California City Boulevard, they had staked out an apartment for one such person who was not available. This person is a male, related to the family, Lt. Colerick said.
The investigation is aided by FBI agents from the agency's Bakersfield office. Colerick said this is the fourth case the FBI has worked with city police. The first was a child pornography case, the second was a bank robbery, and third is a case he's not at liberty to discuss.
"It's been just very refreshing and professional that we're getting this ongoing interagency cooperation with the FBI," Lt. Colerick said.
"They're just great guys out of Bakersfield."
Body identified as that of California City teen
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Saturday, April 7, 2007.
By VERONICA ROCHA
Valley Press Staff Writer
CALIFORNIA CITY - Authorities have confirmed that a body found Sunday in a field was that of Jamesha Terry, a 14-year-old California City girl missing since March 19.
Coroner's officials said Friday they used Jamesha's dental records for identification but said the cause of death has not been determined pending toxicology reports and microscopic evaluation. The final report could take weeks, officials said.
"The world missed out on the most beautiful soul from the inside and out," said Melodie Davis, Jamesha's mother. "I am just glad I got to share 14 years with her. That's my baby."
California City and school officials said Jamesha's disappearance and death affected the community of 12,500 people.
"It's a terrible end to a terrible three weeks for her family, friends and staff members," said Larry Adams, principal of California City Middle School, which Jamesha attended.
Jamesha, who her mother said was very spirited and wanted to attend Georgia State University and be a model, last was seen about 3:45 p.m. March 19 getting off a school bus at a bus stop near the California City Market in the Aspen Mall shopping center - about a quarter-mile from the field where the body was found.
Jamesha's family said she usually got off the bus about a half-mile farther east at the Fastrip market on California City Boulevard, and her family didn't know why she used a different stop that day.
Her family reported her missing that evening, and fliers were posted throughout the city after she disappeared.
Children playing Sunday evening in the 21000 block of Neuralia Road near California City Boulevard found the badly decomposed body, which was covered with a carpet.
California City Middle School staffers, Adams said, were preparing to "deal with the aftermath" of Jamesha's death. Adams said the school will provide support to Jamesha's family.
The middle school's students will be out for spring break next week, said Larry Phelps, superintendent of the Mojave Unified School District. If needed, he said, crisis support, including school psychologists, would be available after the students return to school April 16.
"We all had high hopes she would be found alive," Phelps said.
Jamesha's death is great loss for the small community, California City Mayor David Evans said.
"When you live in a small town like this, we all worried about her," he said. "Speaking for the town, we are extremely saddened. Our heart goes out to the family and our thoughts and prayers are with them."
The investigation into Jamesha's death is continuing, police said, though it has not yet officially been declared a homicide.
"We need the cause of death from the coroner's before we can rule it as a homicide," California City police Lt. Steve Colerick said .
"You never stop investigating any crime," he said. "We have to pay attention to detail."
Anyone with details about Jamesha's death can call the California City Police Department at (760) 373-8606.
[email protected]
Mojave Desert New Apr 12 2007
Candlelight vigil Thursday for Jamesha Terry
Funeral services April 21
BY DEBBY BADILLO
CALIFORNIA CITY — A candlelight vigil will be held tonight, April 12, to honor the memory of Jamesha Terry, the 14-year-old girl whose disappearance and death is still under investigation.
Sponsored by a youth outreach center, the vigil will be an opportunity for her friends to talk about Jamesha, an 8th grade student at the California City Middle School, said her mother, Melodie Davis.
"This will give children a way to express how they feel." Davis said Tuesday. "She was a very special girl to everybody." Her daughter's best friend, Makira Court, has written two poems for Jamesha, Davis said, and she and other young people will be given time to remember their classmate. Besides the city's young teens, Jamesha is also remembered by adults in town, Davis said.
"I'm glad that they did get a chance to know her," Davis said, about the many people, some of them strangers to her, who tell her how much Jamesha meant to them. "Maybe this is the Lord's way of telling us that it's important to appreciate one another. ... A way to bring us together as a community."
The vigil will start at 7 p.m. at Fastrip gas station on California City Boulevard. Mourners and friends will carry purple candles, in homage to her favorite color, and walk in a procession to the empty field at Neuralia Road and California City Boulevard where Jamesha's body was found on April 1. There, a remembrance ceremony will be held with prayers, songs of praise, and shared memories. Refreshments will be served at the VFW.
A funeral service for Jamesha will be held Saturday, April 21, in Inglewood, where she will be laid to rest.
Mojave Desert News Apr 12, 2007
Mother mourns loss of daughter
FBI aiding CalCity police
QUOTE: "How could you take such a beautiful soul?"— Melodie Davis
BY DEBBY BADILLO
CALIFORNIA CITY — The mystery of the whereabouts of a young teenage girl missing since March 19 was solved last week when the Kern County coroner identified the body of a young female discovered April 1 as that of Jamesha Terry, a 14-year-old middle school student described by her family as a "sweet, gentle" girl.
According to information released Friday, April 6, by the coroner's office and the California City Police Department, the identification was made using dental records provided by the Bakersfield field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The cause of death has not been determined, but the coroner has identified the case as a suspicious death. Test results that could determine the cause and time of death could take up to 30 days.
The FBI will continue to help the department investigate the case, city police Sgt. Eric Hurtado said late Friday. Jamesha's body was found by children in an open field Sunday evening, just before 6 p.m., near a bush. While some accounts say the body was covered with a carpet, Sgt. Hurtado said the department is not commenting further on the details of the discovery until later in the investigation.
Rumors stir safety concerns
During the two weeks that the girl was missing rumors flew through this city of about 11,000 as if blown by a hard desert wind. Residents worried about the safety of this small town, and no one knew wanted to believe that someone in their midst could be responsible for the loss of one of the city's daughters.
"You do feel that the world is a different place," after something like this happens, Jamesha's aunt, Kisha Davis said. "It's scary."
Residents should follow basic common sense rules as they go about their business, Sgt. Hurtado said. "Be aware of your surroundings and report anything suspicious." Also, "parents should talk to their children," and get to know their daily routine, he said.
And that is exactly what Jamesha's parents had done. They knew something was wrong that Monday afternoon when she failed to come home from school at the usual time, her mother, Melodie Davis, said. Davis knew to the minute what time her daughter walked through the door after school, whether is was a regular school day or one of the days when she had after school tutoring at California City Middle School.
Strain evident
The strain of the past weeks was evident Friday as she emerged from her home to face reporters. After answering questions for a few minutes she confided to one reporter that she wasn't feeling up to the ordeal, and wished she could have put off talking to the media for a day.
Surrounded by family and friends, Davis and her husband, Alexander Billie, and their children, Denzel, James, and Mariah, tried to make sense of what had happened.
"I don't know who did this, but I have an idea," the weary mother said, making an apparent reference to one of the persons of interest related to the family who was questioned by authorities. But at the same time, "I couldn't imagine" who would want to hurt her, she said.
To the person responsible for her daughter's death, Davis said she would ask, "How could you take such a beautiful soul?"
Davis spent hours each day trying to figure out what had happened to her daughter, wondering if she was safe, wanting her back in her arms.
"It's like putting a puzzle together," she said to describe how she questioned her daughter's friends and tried to follow leads on her own.
The response from the community has been "beautiful, caring and supporting," she said, with friends and strangers calling every day to offer what help they could.
"My God, I would give my life for hers," Davis said. Her message to other mothers was "appreciate the (child) in your life," to cherish and appreciate every moment.
"I have no regrets," Davis said, "because we had a beautiful Sunday."
CABI
Name: Jamesha Batrice Terry
Birth Date: 12 Nov 1992
Gender: Female
Mother's Maiden Name: Davis
Birth County: Los Angeles
Social Security Death Index
about Jamesha B. Terry
Name: Jamesha B. Terry
SSN:
Last Residence: 93505 California City, Kern, California, United States of America
Born: 12 Nov 1992
Died: 1 Apr 2007
State (Year) SSN issued:
California (1993 )
Jamesha Terry
Services for Jamesha Terry, 14, of California City, will be held Saturday, April 21, in Inglewood. Jamesha was an 8th grade student at California City Middle School. She is survived by her family, parents Alexander Billie and Melodie Davis, brothers Denzel and James, and sister Mariah, along with many other loving family members.
The funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. at Imperial Church of Christ, 11316 S. San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, followed by internment at Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 E. Florence Ave., Inglewood.
Donations to the family can be sent to Alta One Federal Credit Union in California City, attention Jamesha Terry Memorial Fund, account number 171944. Donations are also accepted at any Wells Fargo Bank, attention The Jamesha Terry Memorial Fund, account number 6402480194.
Body found in field possibly missing girl's
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Tuesday, April 3, 2007.
By VERONICA ROCHA and JAMES RUFUS KOREN
Valley Press Staff Writers
CALIFORNIA CITY - Police are trying to determine if a body found in a field Sunday evening is that of Jamesha Terry, a 14-year-old California City girl who has been missing since March 19.
Children playing in the 21000 block of Neuralia Road near California City Boulevard about 6 p.m. Sunday found the badly decomposed body of a black female who appeared to be in her mid- to late teens, police said. The body was covered with a carpet.
"So far, this victim is considered a Jane Doe," said Sgt. Eric Hurtado of the California City Police Department. "At this point, it has not yet been determined if there's a connection between the body located (Sunday) night and the girl reported missing on the 19th."
Police notified Jamesha Terry's family about the discovery and they were trying to obtain her dental records to help Kern County Coroner officials with identification, Hurtado said.
"I don't know if it's my daughter," Melodie Davis, Jamesha's mother, said Monday.
"The body was so badly decomposed ... I don't know what to say."
Jamesha's family is hoping that the body is not that of Jamesha.
"They are really upset," Hurtado said. "They are hoping there is no connection between the body found and her missing."
Jamesha, a California City Middle School student, was last seen about 3:45 p.m. March 19 getting off a school bus at a bus stop near the California City Market in the Aspen Mall shopping center - about a quarter mile from the field where the body was found.
Jamesha's family said she usually got off the bus about a half mile farther east at the Fastrip market on California City Boulevard, and her family didn't know why she used a different stop.
The FBI has offered assistance to California City police in investigating Jamesha's disappearance, Special Agent Karen Ernst said.
Police do not know the cause of death; an autopsy is scheduled for today, Hurtado said.
Hurtado added it was difficult to determine whether there were any physical injures on the body due to the state of decomposition.
Investigators were combing the scene Monday for clues about the victim's death.
The Kern County District Attorney's crime laboratory is assisting with processing the crime scene, officials said.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Mojave Desert New Apr 5, 2007
dentification pending on body found in CalCity
FBI working with CCPD
BY DEBBY BADILLO
CALIFORNIA CITY — As the DesertNews went to press Wednesday, authorities were investigating the discovery of a young female body found Sunday in an empty lot, and they are not prepared to say yet whether the body is that of Jamesha Terry, 14, missing since March 19.
According to city police Lt. Steve Colerick, the badly decomposed body, found around 6 p.m. by a group of children playing in a field along the 21000 block of Neuralia Road near the VFW building, can't be identified except as a female. The body was not wearing clothes that were consistent with the description for the missing Jamesha, Colerick said.
The Kern County coroner collected the body about 4 a.m. Monday morning, and an autopsy was performed Tuesday.
As of Tuesday afternoon the coroner had nothing more to report on what it termed a "suspicious death" until toxicology and other tests are performed, and the report identified the remains as "a young female of unknown race."
The coroner is also waiting for Jamesha's dental records for comparison.
At home Monday, Jamesha's mother, Melodie Davis, held out hope that her daughter was not the one to have met this uncertain fate.
"I'm depressed," Davis said, with her husband, Alexander Billie nearby, offering his encouragement and support. "I'm just praying it's not my daughter."
Jamesha Terry
Jamesha, 14, is described as a black female, 5 feet 4 inches tall, and weighing 119 pounds. She has black hair and black eyes, and was born Nov. 12, 1992. She's a student at California City Middle School, and attends after school tutoring on Mondays and Wednesdays. She was last seen by the school bus driver on Monday, March 19, when she got off the bus at 82nd Street and Bay Avenue, behind the Aspen Mall at about 3:40 p.m. This was not her normal bus stop, which on tutoring days was the Fastrip gas station, less than one mile east of the shopping center.
The field where the body was found April 1 is about one fourth of a mile from the bus stop, and is an easy walk from the mall. Police have cordoned off several hundred yards around the vacant land, marked by creosote and other scrub, with a dry wash running through it. Orange cones are placed in an area roughly describing a perimeter around a large creosote bush on the side of the lot that is just north of the parking lot of the VFW.
Police spent Monday interviewing several persons of interest, and at one location, the Desert Edge Apartments on California City Boulevard, they had staked out an apartment for one such person who was not available. This person is a male, related to the family, Lt. Colerick said.
The investigation is aided by FBI agents from the agency's Bakersfield office. Colerick said this is the fourth case the FBI has worked with city police. The first was a child pornography case, the second was a bank robbery, and third is a case he's not at liberty to discuss.
"It's been just very refreshing and professional that we're getting this ongoing interagency cooperation with the FBI," Lt. Colerick said.
"They're just great guys out of Bakersfield."
Body identified as that of California City teen
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Saturday, April 7, 2007.
By VERONICA ROCHA
Valley Press Staff Writer
CALIFORNIA CITY - Authorities have confirmed that a body found Sunday in a field was that of Jamesha Terry, a 14-year-old California City girl missing since March 19.
Coroner's officials said Friday they used Jamesha's dental records for identification but said the cause of death has not been determined pending toxicology reports and microscopic evaluation. The final report could take weeks, officials said.
"The world missed out on the most beautiful soul from the inside and out," said Melodie Davis, Jamesha's mother. "I am just glad I got to share 14 years with her. That's my baby."
California City and school officials said Jamesha's disappearance and death affected the community of 12,500 people.
"It's a terrible end to a terrible three weeks for her family, friends and staff members," said Larry Adams, principal of California City Middle School, which Jamesha attended.
Jamesha, who her mother said was very spirited and wanted to attend Georgia State University and be a model, last was seen about 3:45 p.m. March 19 getting off a school bus at a bus stop near the California City Market in the Aspen Mall shopping center - about a quarter-mile from the field where the body was found.
Jamesha's family said she usually got off the bus about a half-mile farther east at the Fastrip market on California City Boulevard, and her family didn't know why she used a different stop that day.
Her family reported her missing that evening, and fliers were posted throughout the city after she disappeared.
Children playing Sunday evening in the 21000 block of Neuralia Road near California City Boulevard found the badly decomposed body, which was covered with a carpet.
California City Middle School staffers, Adams said, were preparing to "deal with the aftermath" of Jamesha's death. Adams said the school will provide support to Jamesha's family.
The middle school's students will be out for spring break next week, said Larry Phelps, superintendent of the Mojave Unified School District. If needed, he said, crisis support, including school psychologists, would be available after the students return to school April 16.
"We all had high hopes she would be found alive," Phelps said.
Jamesha's death is great loss for the small community, California City Mayor David Evans said.
"When you live in a small town like this, we all worried about her," he said. "Speaking for the town, we are extremely saddened. Our heart goes out to the family and our thoughts and prayers are with them."
The investigation into Jamesha's death is continuing, police said, though it has not yet officially been declared a homicide.
"We need the cause of death from the coroner's before we can rule it as a homicide," California City police Lt. Steve Colerick said .
"You never stop investigating any crime," he said. "We have to pay attention to detail."
Anyone with details about Jamesha's death can call the California City Police Department at (760) 373-8606.
[email protected]
Mojave Desert New Apr 12 2007
Candlelight vigil Thursday for Jamesha Terry
Funeral services April 21
BY DEBBY BADILLO
CALIFORNIA CITY — A candlelight vigil will be held tonight, April 12, to honor the memory of Jamesha Terry, the 14-year-old girl whose disappearance and death is still under investigation.
Sponsored by a youth outreach center, the vigil will be an opportunity for her friends to talk about Jamesha, an 8th grade student at the California City Middle School, said her mother, Melodie Davis.
"This will give children a way to express how they feel." Davis said Tuesday. "She was a very special girl to everybody." Her daughter's best friend, Makira Court, has written two poems for Jamesha, Davis said, and she and other young people will be given time to remember their classmate. Besides the city's young teens, Jamesha is also remembered by adults in town, Davis said.
"I'm glad that they did get a chance to know her," Davis said, about the many people, some of them strangers to her, who tell her how much Jamesha meant to them. "Maybe this is the Lord's way of telling us that it's important to appreciate one another. ... A way to bring us together as a community."
The vigil will start at 7 p.m. at Fastrip gas station on California City Boulevard. Mourners and friends will carry purple candles, in homage to her favorite color, and walk in a procession to the empty field at Neuralia Road and California City Boulevard where Jamesha's body was found on April 1. There, a remembrance ceremony will be held with prayers, songs of praise, and shared memories. Refreshments will be served at the VFW.
A funeral service for Jamesha will be held Saturday, April 21, in Inglewood, where she will be laid to rest.
Mojave Desert News Apr 12, 2007
Mother mourns loss of daughter
FBI aiding CalCity police
QUOTE: "How could you take such a beautiful soul?"— Melodie Davis
BY DEBBY BADILLO
CALIFORNIA CITY — The mystery of the whereabouts of a young teenage girl missing since March 19 was solved last week when the Kern County coroner identified the body of a young female discovered April 1 as that of Jamesha Terry, a 14-year-old middle school student described by her family as a "sweet, gentle" girl.
According to information released Friday, April 6, by the coroner's office and the California City Police Department, the identification was made using dental records provided by the Bakersfield field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The cause of death has not been determined, but the coroner has identified the case as a suspicious death. Test results that could determine the cause and time of death could take up to 30 days.
The FBI will continue to help the department investigate the case, city police Sgt. Eric Hurtado said late Friday. Jamesha's body was found by children in an open field Sunday evening, just before 6 p.m., near a bush. While some accounts say the body was covered with a carpet, Sgt. Hurtado said the department is not commenting further on the details of the discovery until later in the investigation.
Rumors stir safety concerns
During the two weeks that the girl was missing rumors flew through this city of about 11,000 as if blown by a hard desert wind. Residents worried about the safety of this small town, and no one knew wanted to believe that someone in their midst could be responsible for the loss of one of the city's daughters.
"You do feel that the world is a different place," after something like this happens, Jamesha's aunt, Kisha Davis said. "It's scary."
Residents should follow basic common sense rules as they go about their business, Sgt. Hurtado said. "Be aware of your surroundings and report anything suspicious." Also, "parents should talk to their children," and get to know their daily routine, he said.
And that is exactly what Jamesha's parents had done. They knew something was wrong that Monday afternoon when she failed to come home from school at the usual time, her mother, Melodie Davis, said. Davis knew to the minute what time her daughter walked through the door after school, whether is was a regular school day or one of the days when she had after school tutoring at California City Middle School.
Strain evident
The strain of the past weeks was evident Friday as she emerged from her home to face reporters. After answering questions for a few minutes she confided to one reporter that she wasn't feeling up to the ordeal, and wished she could have put off talking to the media for a day.
Surrounded by family and friends, Davis and her husband, Alexander Billie, and their children, Denzel, James, and Mariah, tried to make sense of what had happened.
"I don't know who did this, but I have an idea," the weary mother said, making an apparent reference to one of the persons of interest related to the family who was questioned by authorities. But at the same time, "I couldn't imagine" who would want to hurt her, she said.
To the person responsible for her daughter's death, Davis said she would ask, "How could you take such a beautiful soul?"
Davis spent hours each day trying to figure out what had happened to her daughter, wondering if she was safe, wanting her back in her arms.
"It's like putting a puzzle together," she said to describe how she questioned her daughter's friends and tried to follow leads on her own.
The response from the community has been "beautiful, caring and supporting," she said, with friends and strangers calling every day to offer what help they could.
"My God, I would give my life for hers," Davis said. Her message to other mothers was "appreciate the (child) in your life," to cherish and appreciate every moment.
"I have no regrets," Davis said, "because we had a beautiful Sunday."
CABI
Name: Jamesha Batrice Terry
Birth Date: 12 Nov 1992
Gender: Female
Mother's Maiden Name: Davis
Birth County: Los Angeles
Social Security Death Index
about Jamesha B. Terry
Name: Jamesha B. Terry
SSN:
Last Residence: 93505 California City, Kern, California, United States of America
Born: 12 Nov 1992
Died: 1 Apr 2007
State (Year) SSN issued:
California (1993 )
Mojave Desert News April 19, 2007
Jamesha Terry
Services for Jamesha Terry, 14, of California City, will be held Saturday, April 21, in Inglewood. Jamesha was an 8th grade student at California City Middle School. She is survived by her family, parents Alexander Billie and Melodie Davis, brothers Denzel and James, and sister Mariah, along with many other loving family members.
The funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. at Imperial Church of Christ, 11316 S. San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, followed by internment at Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 E. Florence Ave., Inglewood.
Donations to the family can be sent to Alta One Federal Credit Union in California City, attention Jamesha Terry Memorial Fund, account number 171944. Donations are also accepted at any Wells Fargo Bank, attention The Jamesha Terry Memorial Fund, account number 6402480194.
Body found in field possibly missing girl's
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Tuesday, April 3, 2007.
By VERONICA ROCHA and JAMES RUFUS KOREN
Valley Press Staff Writers
CALIFORNIA CITY - Police are trying to determine if a body found in a field Sunday evening is that of Jamesha Terry, a 14-year-old California City girl who has been missing since March 19.
Children playing in the 21000 block of Neuralia Road near California City Boulevard about 6 p.m. Sunday found the badly decomposed body of a black female who appeared to be in her mid- to late teens, police said. The body was covered with a carpet.
"So far, this victim is considered a Jane Doe," said Sgt. Eric Hurtado of the California City Police Department. "At this point, it has not yet been determined if there's a connection between the body located (Sunday) night and the girl reported missing on the 19th."
Police notified Jamesha Terry's family about the discovery and they were trying to obtain her dental records to help Kern County Coroner officials with identification, Hurtado said.
"I don't know if it's my daughter," Melodie Davis, Jamesha's mother, said Monday.
"The body was so badly decomposed ... I don't know what to say."
Jamesha's family is hoping that the body is not that of Jamesha.
"They are really upset," Hurtado said. "They are hoping there is no connection between the body found and her missing."
Jamesha, a California City Middle School student, was last seen about 3:45 p.m. March 19 getting off a school bus at a bus stop near the California City Market in the Aspen Mall shopping center - about a quarter mile from the field where the body was found.
Jamesha's family said she usually got off the bus about a half mile farther east at the Fastrip market on California City Boulevard, and her family didn't know why she used a different stop.
The FBI has offered assistance to California City police in investigating Jamesha's disappearance, Special Agent Karen Ernst said.
Police do not know the cause of death; an autopsy is scheduled for today, Hurtado said.
Hurtado added it was difficult to determine whether there were any physical injures on the body due to the state of decomposition.
Investigators were combing the scene Monday for clues about the victim's death.
The Kern County District Attorney's crime laboratory is assisting with processing the crime scene, officials said.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Mojave Desert New Apr 5, 2007
dentification pending on body found in CalCity
FBI working with CCPD
BY DEBBY BADILLO
CALIFORNIA CITY — As the DesertNews went to press Wednesday, authorities were investigating the discovery of a young female body found Sunday in an empty lot, and they are not prepared to say yet whether the body is that of Jamesha Terry, 14, missing since March 19.
According to city police Lt. Steve Colerick, the badly decomposed body, found around 6 p.m. by a group of children playing in a field along the 21000 block of Neuralia Road near the VFW building, can't be identified except as a female. The body was not wearing clothes that were consistent with the description for the missing Jamesha, Colerick said.
The Kern County coroner collected the body about 4 a.m. Monday morning, and an autopsy was performed Tuesday.
As of Tuesday afternoon the coroner had nothing more to report on what it termed a "suspicious death" until toxicology and other tests are performed, and the report identified the remains as "a young female of unknown race."
The coroner is also waiting for Jamesha's dental records for comparison.
At home Monday, Jamesha's mother, Melodie Davis, held out hope that her daughter was not the one to have met this uncertain fate.
"I'm depressed," Davis said, with her husband, Alexander Billie nearby, offering his encouragement and support. "I'm just praying it's not my daughter."
Jamesha Terry
Jamesha, 14, is described as a black female, 5 feet 4 inches tall, and weighing 119 pounds. She has black hair and black eyes, and was born Nov. 12, 1992. She's a student at California City Middle School, and attends after school tutoring on Mondays and Wednesdays. She was last seen by the school bus driver on Monday, March 19, when she got off the bus at 82nd Street and Bay Avenue, behind the Aspen Mall at about 3:40 p.m. This was not her normal bus stop, which on tutoring days was the Fastrip gas station, less than one mile east of the shopping center.
The field where the body was found April 1 is about one fourth of a mile from the bus stop, and is an easy walk from the mall. Police have cordoned off several hundred yards around the vacant land, marked by creosote and other scrub, with a dry wash running through it. Orange cones are placed in an area roughly describing a perimeter around a large creosote bush on the side of the lot that is just north of the parking lot of the VFW.
Police spent Monday interviewing several persons of interest, and at one location, the Desert Edge Apartments on California City Boulevard, they had staked out an apartment for one such person who was not available. This person is a male, related to the family, Lt. Colerick said.
The investigation is aided by FBI agents from the agency's Bakersfield office. Colerick said this is the fourth case the FBI has worked with city police. The first was a child pornography case, the second was a bank robbery, and third is a case he's not at liberty to discuss.
"It's been just very refreshing and professional that we're getting this ongoing interagency cooperation with the FBI," Lt. Colerick said.
"They're just great guys out of Bakersfield."
Body identified as that of California City teen
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Saturday, April 7, 2007.
By VERONICA ROCHA
Valley Press Staff Writer
CALIFORNIA CITY - Authorities have confirmed that a body found Sunday in a field was that of Jamesha Terry, a 14-year-old California City girl missing since March 19.
Coroner's officials said Friday they used Jamesha's dental records for identification but said the cause of death has not been determined pending toxicology reports and microscopic evaluation. The final report could take weeks, officials said.
"The world missed out on the most beautiful soul from the inside and out," said Melodie Davis, Jamesha's mother. "I am just glad I got to share 14 years with her. That's my baby."
California City and school officials said Jamesha's disappearance and death affected the community of 12,500 people.
"It's a terrible end to a terrible three weeks for her family, friends and staff members," said Larry Adams, principal of California City Middle School, which Jamesha attended.
Jamesha, who her mother said was very spirited and wanted to attend Georgia State University and be a model, last was seen about 3:45 p.m. March 19 getting off a school bus at a bus stop near the California City Market in the Aspen Mall shopping center - about a quarter-mile from the field where the body was found.
Jamesha's family said she usually got off the bus about a half-mile farther east at the Fastrip market on California City Boulevard, and her family didn't know why she used a different stop that day.
Her family reported her missing that evening, and fliers were posted throughout the city after she disappeared.
Children playing Sunday evening in the 21000 block of Neuralia Road near California City Boulevard found the badly decomposed body, which was covered with a carpet.
California City Middle School staffers, Adams said, were preparing to "deal with the aftermath" of Jamesha's death. Adams said the school will provide support to Jamesha's family.
The middle school's students will be out for spring break next week, said Larry Phelps, superintendent of the Mojave Unified School District. If needed, he said, crisis support, including school psychologists, would be available after the students return to school April 16.
"We all had high hopes she would be found alive," Phelps said.
Jamesha's death is great loss for the small community, California City Mayor David Evans said.
"When you live in a small town like this, we all worried about her," he said. "Speaking for the town, we are extremely saddened. Our heart goes out to the family and our thoughts and prayers are with them."
The investigation into Jamesha's death is continuing, police said, though it has not yet officially been declared a homicide.
"We need the cause of death from the coroner's before we can rule it as a homicide," California City police Lt. Steve Colerick said .
"You never stop investigating any crime," he said. "We have to pay attention to detail."
Anyone with details about Jamesha's death can call the California City Police Department at (760) 373-8606.
[email protected]
Mojave Desert New Apr 12 2007
Candlelight vigil Thursday for Jamesha Terry
Funeral services April 21
BY DEBBY BADILLO
CALIFORNIA CITY — A candlelight vigil will be held tonight, April 12, to honor the memory of Jamesha Terry, the 14-year-old girl whose disappearance and death is still under investigation.
Sponsored by a youth outreach center, the vigil will be an opportunity for her friends to talk about Jamesha, an 8th grade student at the California City Middle School, said her mother, Melodie Davis.
"This will give children a way to express how they feel." Davis said Tuesday. "She was a very special girl to everybody." Her daughter's best friend, Makira Court, has written two poems for Jamesha, Davis said, and she and other young people will be given time to remember their classmate. Besides the city's young teens, Jamesha is also remembered by adults in town, Davis said.
"I'm glad that they did get a chance to know her," Davis said, about the many people, some of them strangers to her, who tell her how much Jamesha meant to them. "Maybe this is the Lord's way of telling us that it's important to appreciate one another. ... A way to bring us together as a community."
The vigil will start at 7 p.m. at Fastrip gas station on California City Boulevard. Mourners and friends will carry purple candles, in homage to her favorite color, and walk in a procession to the empty field at Neuralia Road and California City Boulevard where Jamesha's body was found on April 1. There, a remembrance ceremony will be held with prayers, songs of praise, and shared memories. Refreshments will be served at the VFW.
A funeral service for Jamesha will be held Saturday, April 21, in Inglewood, where she will be laid to rest.
Mojave Desert News Apr 12, 2007
Mother mourns loss of daughter
FBI aiding CalCity police
QUOTE: "How could you take such a beautiful soul?"— Melodie Davis
BY DEBBY BADILLO
CALIFORNIA CITY — The mystery of the whereabouts of a young teenage girl missing since March 19 was solved last week when the Kern County coroner identified the body of a young female discovered April 1 as that of Jamesha Terry, a 14-year-old middle school student described by her family as a "sweet, gentle" girl.
According to information released Friday, April 6, by the coroner's office and the California City Police Department, the identification was made using dental records provided by the Bakersfield field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The cause of death has not been determined, but the coroner has identified the case as a suspicious death. Test results that could determine the cause and time of death could take up to 30 days.
The FBI will continue to help the department investigate the case, city police Sgt. Eric Hurtado said late Friday. Jamesha's body was found by children in an open field Sunday evening, just before 6 p.m., near a bush. While some accounts say the body was covered with a carpet, Sgt. Hurtado said the department is not commenting further on the details of the discovery until later in the investigation.
Rumors stir safety concerns
During the two weeks that the girl was missing rumors flew through this city of about 11,000 as if blown by a hard desert wind. Residents worried about the safety of this small town, and no one knew wanted to believe that someone in their midst could be responsible for the loss of one of the city's daughters.
"You do feel that the world is a different place," after something like this happens, Jamesha's aunt, Kisha Davis said. "It's scary."
Residents should follow basic common sense rules as they go about their business, Sgt. Hurtado said. "Be aware of your surroundings and report anything suspicious." Also, "parents should talk to their children," and get to know their daily routine, he said.
And that is exactly what Jamesha's parents had done. They knew something was wrong that Monday afternoon when she failed to come home from school at the usual time, her mother, Melodie Davis, said. Davis knew to the minute what time her daughter walked through the door after school, whether is was a regular school day or one of the days when she had after school tutoring at California City Middle School.
Strain evident
The strain of the past weeks was evident Friday as she emerged from her home to face reporters. After answering questions for a few minutes she confided to one reporter that she wasn't feeling up to the ordeal, and wished she could have put off talking to the media for a day.
Surrounded by family and friends, Davis and her husband, Alexander Billie, and their children, Denzel, James, and Mariah, tried to make sense of what had happened.
"I don't know who did this, but I have an idea," the weary mother said, making an apparent reference to one of the persons of interest related to the family who was questioned by authorities. But at the same time, "I couldn't imagine" who would want to hurt her, she said.
To the person responsible for her daughter's death, Davis said she would ask, "How could you take such a beautiful soul?"
Davis spent hours each day trying to figure out what had happened to her daughter, wondering if she was safe, wanting her back in her arms.
"It's like putting a puzzle together," she said to describe how she questioned her daughter's friends and tried to follow leads on her own.
The response from the community has been "beautiful, caring and supporting," she said, with friends and strangers calling every day to offer what help they could.
"My God, I would give my life for hers," Davis said. Her message to other mothers was "appreciate the (child) in your life," to cherish and appreciate every moment.
"I have no regrets," Davis said, "because we had a beautiful Sunday."
CABI
Name: Jamesha Batrice Terry
Birth Date: 12 Nov 1992
Gender: Female
Mother's Maiden Name: Davis
Birth County: Los Angeles
Social Security Death Index
about Jamesha B. Terry
Name: Jamesha B. Terry
SSN:
Last Residence: 93505 California City, Kern, California, United States of America
Born: 12 Nov 1992
Died: 1 Apr 2007
State (Year) SSN issued:
California (1993 )
Jamesha Terry
Services for Jamesha Terry, 14, of California City, will be held Saturday, April 21, in Inglewood. Jamesha was an 8th grade student at California City Middle School. She is survived by her family, parents Alexander Billie and Melodie Davis, brothers Denzel and James, and sister Mariah, along with many other loving family members.
The funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. at Imperial Church of Christ, 11316 S. San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, followed by internment at Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 E. Florence Ave., Inglewood.
Donations to the family can be sent to Alta One Federal Credit Union in California City, attention Jamesha Terry Memorial Fund, account number 171944. Donations are also accepted at any Wells Fargo Bank, attention The Jamesha Terry Memorial Fund, account number 6402480194.
Body found in field possibly missing girl's
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Tuesday, April 3, 2007.
By VERONICA ROCHA and JAMES RUFUS KOREN
Valley Press Staff Writers
CALIFORNIA CITY - Police are trying to determine if a body found in a field Sunday evening is that of Jamesha Terry, a 14-year-old California City girl who has been missing since March 19.
Children playing in the 21000 block of Neuralia Road near California City Boulevard about 6 p.m. Sunday found the badly decomposed body of a black female who appeared to be in her mid- to late teens, police said. The body was covered with a carpet.
"So far, this victim is considered a Jane Doe," said Sgt. Eric Hurtado of the California City Police Department. "At this point, it has not yet been determined if there's a connection between the body located (Sunday) night and the girl reported missing on the 19th."
Police notified Jamesha Terry's family about the discovery and they were trying to obtain her dental records to help Kern County Coroner officials with identification, Hurtado said.
"I don't know if it's my daughter," Melodie Davis, Jamesha's mother, said Monday.
"The body was so badly decomposed ... I don't know what to say."
Jamesha's family is hoping that the body is not that of Jamesha.
"They are really upset," Hurtado said. "They are hoping there is no connection between the body found and her missing."
Jamesha, a California City Middle School student, was last seen about 3:45 p.m. March 19 getting off a school bus at a bus stop near the California City Market in the Aspen Mall shopping center - about a quarter mile from the field where the body was found.
Jamesha's family said she usually got off the bus about a half mile farther east at the Fastrip market on California City Boulevard, and her family didn't know why she used a different stop.
The FBI has offered assistance to California City police in investigating Jamesha's disappearance, Special Agent Karen Ernst said.
Police do not know the cause of death; an autopsy is scheduled for today, Hurtado said.
Hurtado added it was difficult to determine whether there were any physical injures on the body due to the state of decomposition.
Investigators were combing the scene Monday for clues about the victim's death.
The Kern County District Attorney's crime laboratory is assisting with processing the crime scene, officials said.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Mojave Desert New Apr 5, 2007
dentification pending on body found in CalCity
FBI working with CCPD
BY DEBBY BADILLO
CALIFORNIA CITY — As the DesertNews went to press Wednesday, authorities were investigating the discovery of a young female body found Sunday in an empty lot, and they are not prepared to say yet whether the body is that of Jamesha Terry, 14, missing since March 19.
According to city police Lt. Steve Colerick, the badly decomposed body, found around 6 p.m. by a group of children playing in a field along the 21000 block of Neuralia Road near the VFW building, can't be identified except as a female. The body was not wearing clothes that were consistent with the description for the missing Jamesha, Colerick said.
The Kern County coroner collected the body about 4 a.m. Monday morning, and an autopsy was performed Tuesday.
As of Tuesday afternoon the coroner had nothing more to report on what it termed a "suspicious death" until toxicology and other tests are performed, and the report identified the remains as "a young female of unknown race."
The coroner is also waiting for Jamesha's dental records for comparison.
At home Monday, Jamesha's mother, Melodie Davis, held out hope that her daughter was not the one to have met this uncertain fate.
"I'm depressed," Davis said, with her husband, Alexander Billie nearby, offering his encouragement and support. "I'm just praying it's not my daughter."
Jamesha Terry
Jamesha, 14, is described as a black female, 5 feet 4 inches tall, and weighing 119 pounds. She has black hair and black eyes, and was born Nov. 12, 1992. She's a student at California City Middle School, and attends after school tutoring on Mondays and Wednesdays. She was last seen by the school bus driver on Monday, March 19, when she got off the bus at 82nd Street and Bay Avenue, behind the Aspen Mall at about 3:40 p.m. This was not her normal bus stop, which on tutoring days was the Fastrip gas station, less than one mile east of the shopping center.
The field where the body was found April 1 is about one fourth of a mile from the bus stop, and is an easy walk from the mall. Police have cordoned off several hundred yards around the vacant land, marked by creosote and other scrub, with a dry wash running through it. Orange cones are placed in an area roughly describing a perimeter around a large creosote bush on the side of the lot that is just north of the parking lot of the VFW.
Police spent Monday interviewing several persons of interest, and at one location, the Desert Edge Apartments on California City Boulevard, they had staked out an apartment for one such person who was not available. This person is a male, related to the family, Lt. Colerick said.
The investigation is aided by FBI agents from the agency's Bakersfield office. Colerick said this is the fourth case the FBI has worked with city police. The first was a child pornography case, the second was a bank robbery, and third is a case he's not at liberty to discuss.
"It's been just very refreshing and professional that we're getting this ongoing interagency cooperation with the FBI," Lt. Colerick said.
"They're just great guys out of Bakersfield."
Body identified as that of California City teen
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Saturday, April 7, 2007.
By VERONICA ROCHA
Valley Press Staff Writer
CALIFORNIA CITY - Authorities have confirmed that a body found Sunday in a field was that of Jamesha Terry, a 14-year-old California City girl missing since March 19.
Coroner's officials said Friday they used Jamesha's dental records for identification but said the cause of death has not been determined pending toxicology reports and microscopic evaluation. The final report could take weeks, officials said.
"The world missed out on the most beautiful soul from the inside and out," said Melodie Davis, Jamesha's mother. "I am just glad I got to share 14 years with her. That's my baby."
California City and school officials said Jamesha's disappearance and death affected the community of 12,500 people.
"It's a terrible end to a terrible three weeks for her family, friends and staff members," said Larry Adams, principal of California City Middle School, which Jamesha attended.
Jamesha, who her mother said was very spirited and wanted to attend Georgia State University and be a model, last was seen about 3:45 p.m. March 19 getting off a school bus at a bus stop near the California City Market in the Aspen Mall shopping center - about a quarter-mile from the field where the body was found.
Jamesha's family said she usually got off the bus about a half-mile farther east at the Fastrip market on California City Boulevard, and her family didn't know why she used a different stop that day.
Her family reported her missing that evening, and fliers were posted throughout the city after she disappeared.
Children playing Sunday evening in the 21000 block of Neuralia Road near California City Boulevard found the badly decomposed body, which was covered with a carpet.
California City Middle School staffers, Adams said, were preparing to "deal with the aftermath" of Jamesha's death. Adams said the school will provide support to Jamesha's family.
The middle school's students will be out for spring break next week, said Larry Phelps, superintendent of the Mojave Unified School District. If needed, he said, crisis support, including school psychologists, would be available after the students return to school April 16.
"We all had high hopes she would be found alive," Phelps said.
Jamesha's death is great loss for the small community, California City Mayor David Evans said.
"When you live in a small town like this, we all worried about her," he said. "Speaking for the town, we are extremely saddened. Our heart goes out to the family and our thoughts and prayers are with them."
The investigation into Jamesha's death is continuing, police said, though it has not yet officially been declared a homicide.
"We need the cause of death from the coroner's before we can rule it as a homicide," California City police Lt. Steve Colerick said .
"You never stop investigating any crime," he said. "We have to pay attention to detail."
Anyone with details about Jamesha's death can call the California City Police Department at (760) 373-8606.
[email protected]
Mojave Desert New Apr 12 2007
Candlelight vigil Thursday for Jamesha Terry
Funeral services April 21
BY DEBBY BADILLO
CALIFORNIA CITY — A candlelight vigil will be held tonight, April 12, to honor the memory of Jamesha Terry, the 14-year-old girl whose disappearance and death is still under investigation.
Sponsored by a youth outreach center, the vigil will be an opportunity for her friends to talk about Jamesha, an 8th grade student at the California City Middle School, said her mother, Melodie Davis.
"This will give children a way to express how they feel." Davis said Tuesday. "She was a very special girl to everybody." Her daughter's best friend, Makira Court, has written two poems for Jamesha, Davis said, and she and other young people will be given time to remember their classmate. Besides the city's young teens, Jamesha is also remembered by adults in town, Davis said.
"I'm glad that they did get a chance to know her," Davis said, about the many people, some of them strangers to her, who tell her how much Jamesha meant to them. "Maybe this is the Lord's way of telling us that it's important to appreciate one another. ... A way to bring us together as a community."
The vigil will start at 7 p.m. at Fastrip gas station on California City Boulevard. Mourners and friends will carry purple candles, in homage to her favorite color, and walk in a procession to the empty field at Neuralia Road and California City Boulevard where Jamesha's body was found on April 1. There, a remembrance ceremony will be held with prayers, songs of praise, and shared memories. Refreshments will be served at the VFW.
A funeral service for Jamesha will be held Saturday, April 21, in Inglewood, where she will be laid to rest.
Mojave Desert News Apr 12, 2007
Mother mourns loss of daughter
FBI aiding CalCity police
QUOTE: "How could you take such a beautiful soul?"— Melodie Davis
BY DEBBY BADILLO
CALIFORNIA CITY — The mystery of the whereabouts of a young teenage girl missing since March 19 was solved last week when the Kern County coroner identified the body of a young female discovered April 1 as that of Jamesha Terry, a 14-year-old middle school student described by her family as a "sweet, gentle" girl.
According to information released Friday, April 6, by the coroner's office and the California City Police Department, the identification was made using dental records provided by the Bakersfield field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The cause of death has not been determined, but the coroner has identified the case as a suspicious death. Test results that could determine the cause and time of death could take up to 30 days.
The FBI will continue to help the department investigate the case, city police Sgt. Eric Hurtado said late Friday. Jamesha's body was found by children in an open field Sunday evening, just before 6 p.m., near a bush. While some accounts say the body was covered with a carpet, Sgt. Hurtado said the department is not commenting further on the details of the discovery until later in the investigation.
Rumors stir safety concerns
During the two weeks that the girl was missing rumors flew through this city of about 11,000 as if blown by a hard desert wind. Residents worried about the safety of this small town, and no one knew wanted to believe that someone in their midst could be responsible for the loss of one of the city's daughters.
"You do feel that the world is a different place," after something like this happens, Jamesha's aunt, Kisha Davis said. "It's scary."
Residents should follow basic common sense rules as they go about their business, Sgt. Hurtado said. "Be aware of your surroundings and report anything suspicious." Also, "parents should talk to their children," and get to know their daily routine, he said.
And that is exactly what Jamesha's parents had done. They knew something was wrong that Monday afternoon when she failed to come home from school at the usual time, her mother, Melodie Davis, said. Davis knew to the minute what time her daughter walked through the door after school, whether is was a regular school day or one of the days when she had after school tutoring at California City Middle School.
Strain evident
The strain of the past weeks was evident Friday as she emerged from her home to face reporters. After answering questions for a few minutes she confided to one reporter that she wasn't feeling up to the ordeal, and wished she could have put off talking to the media for a day.
Surrounded by family and friends, Davis and her husband, Alexander Billie, and their children, Denzel, James, and Mariah, tried to make sense of what had happened.
"I don't know who did this, but I have an idea," the weary mother said, making an apparent reference to one of the persons of interest related to the family who was questioned by authorities. But at the same time, "I couldn't imagine" who would want to hurt her, she said.
To the person responsible for her daughter's death, Davis said she would ask, "How could you take such a beautiful soul?"
Davis spent hours each day trying to figure out what had happened to her daughter, wondering if she was safe, wanting her back in her arms.
"It's like putting a puzzle together," she said to describe how she questioned her daughter's friends and tried to follow leads on her own.
The response from the community has been "beautiful, caring and supporting," she said, with friends and strangers calling every day to offer what help they could.
"My God, I would give my life for hers," Davis said. Her message to other mothers was "appreciate the (child) in your life," to cherish and appreciate every moment.
"I have no regrets," Davis said, "because we had a beautiful Sunday."
CABI
Name: Jamesha Batrice Terry
Birth Date: 12 Nov 1992
Gender: Female
Mother's Maiden Name: Davis
Birth County: Los Angeles
Social Security Death Index
about Jamesha B. Terry
Name: Jamesha B. Terry
SSN:
Last Residence: 93505 California City, Kern, California, United States of America
Born: 12 Nov 1992
Died: 1 Apr 2007
State (Year) SSN issued:
California (1993 )
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