“I’ve been asked, ‘Why me?’ I have no connections to this case,” Carter said. “This just was put on my heart I believe by the Lord, and I know I will do this. She is a child in my community and the neighborhood where I live. I didn’t know her but I am here to advocate for a change on her behalf.”
A message seeking comment from Greene County Children Services wasn’t returned Tuesday.
Xenia Police and Fire responded to the home in the 1500 block of Texas Drive on June 8 after a 911 caller said Aaliyah wasn’t breathing. The girl died, despite efforts by her mother and first responders to revive her.
Records say that Xenia Community Schools staff contacted both the local police department and children services about the girl months before her death. Coroner records say the girl died in a filthy residence with partly consumed food and trash in all rooms and evidence of insect infestation.
Xenia Police previously told the Dayton Daily News that the case was under investigation and they would not answer questions until after it’s complete. A request for an update on that investigation wasn’t returned Tuesday.
Body camera obtained by the Dayton Daily News through a public records request shows Xenia Police officers conducting a welfare check on Aaliyah on Jan 12. The welfare check was done at the request of the Tecumseh Elementary School principal, dispatch records show.
The principal said Aaliyah had been engaged in the school’s remote learning platform but the teacher hadn’t been able to see her. She said the teacher wanted to see the student the day before, but the curtains were drawn and the doors were locked.
“But it has been since September since (her teacher’s) seen her ... it’s been several months,” the principal says. “And in between the time we have also filed reports to children services.”
In the body camera video, officers talk to Aaliyah’s mother who stands in the doorway throughout the conversation with police. The mother says the girl is there and is fine, and that Aaliyah hasn’t done her work online because she stays up late and is usually sleeping.
An officer encourages the mother to contact the school and leaves the house. A request for more information from Xenia police about the protocol for welfare checks also wasn’t returned Tuesday.
The girl’s mother couldn’t be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Carter, who organized the protest, said more could have been done to protect Aaliyah. She hopes to meet with the board of commissioners, lawmakers and others to help reform the system.
“The change I hope to see is an investigation, exposure and a reform of the whole children services system,” she said. “Something’s not working, whether it starts with salaries, employees or where it starts, I don’t know.”
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