Last of 4 charged in case of Beavercreek girl beaten bloody with belt pleads guilty

A Greene County jury in August 2023 convicted the girl’s mother, Tchanavian Janelle Cantrell, 37, and John Wesley Cantrell II, 38, of multiple counts of endangering children after a four-day trial. Both were sentenced to eight to 12 years in prison. John Cantrell is incarcerated at the Marion Correctional Institution and Tchanavian Cantrell is in the Dayton Correctional Institution, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction website.

Tammara Ann Moreland, aka Tammara Cantrell, was sentenced in February to 1½ years in prison after she pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempted endangering children. She is incarcerated in the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville.

The four adults and more than a dozen children lived together as a family unit in Beavercreek. One of the women was married to John Cantrell, and at least one other woman had her last name legally changed, according to the prosecutor’s office.

In mid-October 2021, the 12-year-old girl in the case did not finish her chores. To discipline her, the four adults struck her with a metal-studded belt, causing bleeding and wounds on her lower back. One of the adults then immediately sprayed isopropyl alcohol onto the open wounds, “which inflicted immense pain upon the victim,” prosecutors said.

The child, who was home-schooled, on Oct. 19, 2021, snuck out and went to Coy Middle School in Beavercreek. When Tchanavian Cantrell came to pick her up, her daughter ran into a nearby wooded area, where the child disclosed the abuse to law enforcement.

After observing the girl’s injuries and conducting an investigation, Beavercreek police arrested all four adults on Oct. 21, 2021, and charged them with endangering children.

As part of the investigation, the child told a caseworker she received “whoopings” anytime something went wrong and that the defendants used a black belt, metal belt and brown belt. During an interview at Michael’s House Child Advocacy Center, the girl said she received about 200 “licks” because she didn’t do chores correctly, according to court documents.

Greene County Children Services removed at least 13 children from the house, and prosecutors said two more children were born since charges were filed in the case.

Marquette Cantrell, who is not in custody, is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 13.