Mom and Boyfriend Sentenced After 2-Year-Old Freezes to Death in Her Own Bed

March 12, 2019

• The Case of Ta’Naja Barnes, 2
• Suspects Anthony Myers , Twanka Davis

Decatur, GA ‒ A Macon County judge sentenced Anthony Myers to 30 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 2-year-old Ta’Naja Barnes, bringing the criminal case surrounding the toddler’s death to a close more than a year after she was found frozen to death inside her Decatur home.

Myers, the live-in boyfriend of Ta’Naja’s mother, Twanka Davis, was convicted following a July 2020 trial. Prosecutors said the toddler was subjected to severe neglect and ultimately left alone in an unheated bedroom where she froze to death. Myers rejected a plea agreement that would have sentenced him to 20 years in prison and instead chose to take the case to trial.

The judge sentenced Myers to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, to be served at 100 percent, followed by three years of mandatory supervised release. He received credit for time served from Feb. 22, 2019, through Oct. 13, 2020.

Twanka Davis previously pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in September 2019 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison as part of a plea agreement. She is serving her sentence at Logan Correctional Center, and like Myers, must serve 100 percent of her sentence. Davis arrived to her sentencing visibly pregnant.

The case began on the morning of Feb. 11, 2019, when emergency responders were called to a home in the 1800 block of East North Street in Decatur after receiving reports of an unresponsive child.

First responders found Ta’Naja wrapped in a urine-soaked blanket. Authorities said she was filthy, smelled strongly of urine, and her hands, feet, face and head were covered in dirt. Her body temperature was so low it would not register on medical equipment. She was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

An autopsy determined the toddler suffered from physical neglect, malnourishment, dehydration and cold exposure. She weighed just 21 pounds at the time of her death.

Investigators described horrifying living conditions inside the home shared by Davis, Myers, Ta’Naja and the couple’s 1-year-old son.

According to court records, officers documented “the overwhelming smell of urine, feces and rotten food/garbage.” The home’s interior temperature measured approximately 45 degrees despite the thermostat being set to 75 degrees on auto. While officers remained inside the residence, the temperature rose to 58 degrees.

Police reported signs of rodent and insect infestations throughout the house. The plumbing beneath the kitchen sink had been disconnected, and the home’s water supply had been shut off from inside the residence. The bathroom toilet was filled to the brim with waste, while a box containing liquid and debris sat inside the bathtub.

Ta’Naja’s bedroom contained only a toddler bed without sheets or blankets, empty bottles, debris apparently chewed by rodents and feces.

Investigators said Davis told them she routinely turned the heat off at night and had done so the Saturday and Sunday before her daughter’s death. She also stated she had taken Ta’Naja a dinner of red beans and rice the previous evening but the child refused to eat. Davis told investigators she provided food for her daughter but did not control whether the child ate it.

The home’s furnace had recently been replaced and was operational, Davis told police, but she said she did not always use it. Authorities also learned that a space heater previously located in Ta’Naja’s room had been removed after another heater broke.

The couple’s 1-year-old son, Myers’ biological child, was allowed to sleep with them in their bedroom. He was later removed from the home by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

Investigators noted that Davis “accepted no responsibility for the death of her child.”

The investigation also revealed that DCFS had previously removed Ta’Naja from Davis’ custody during an abuse investigation in 2018. While in foster care, medical records showed the child weighed 25.8 pounds during a July doctor’s visit. She was returned to Davis’ custody in August 2018.

Ta’Naja’s death led to a law named in her honor that requires DCFS to complete home safety checks before and after a child is returned to their parents and to provide aftercare to the child and their family for at least six months after their return home.

Nearly a year after the law’s passage, a state auditor found that DCFS has yet to implement it.

“I’m really not surprised,” said State Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, who sponsored Ta’Naja’s Law. “This is what we feared all along was happening, but this audit just confirms it.”

Despite the audit findings, DCFS officials said they have and are continuing to take aggressive measures to improve services and care to keep children safe.

Court records further showed an administrative judge had ordered Davis and Myers to correct numerous housing code violations in December 2018. On Jan. 28, 2019, the City of Decatur petitioned the court to compel the couple to appear after describing their “willful and contumacious refusal to comply with the Administrative Judgement.”

Myers was arrested on preliminary charges of first-degree murder, felony endangering the life and health of a child and misdemeanor endangering the life and health of a child. The misdemeanor charge involved his biological son.

During Myers’ trial, prosecutors relied heavily on environmental evidence, including the home’s frigid temperature, photographs documenting the condition of the residence and evidence showing Ta’Naja had lost approximately 18 percent of her body weight in the two months after being returned to her mother’s care.

Prosecutors argued the toddler had been left alone in her bedroom “to freeze to death.” They also presented evidence that Myers’ biological son was well cared for and even overweight, contrasting sharply with Ta’Naja’s condition. Prosecutors further alleged Myers manipulated DCFS in order to regain custody of his own son and “get back” at Ta’Naja’s father, Dartavius Barnes, with whom they said he had a contentious relationship.

According to the prosecution, Myers’ conviction marked the first time in Illinois history that a jury found a defendant guilty of first-degree murder based solely on environmental evidence.

Before sentencing, Myers addressed the court.

“We can all agree this is a tragic situation,” Myers said. “Ta’Naja really did love me… if I was a monster to her, she wouldn’t love me.”

He told the court he had done his best to help care for the child.

“I’m still going to have to live with this situation for the rest of my life.”

He also pleaded for leniency.

“I really do wish that you would give me mercy… I’m not a violent person.”

Defense attorney Scott Rueter argued Myers should receive a sentence comparable to Davis’ 20-year prison term and later filed a motion for a new trial, claiming certain records had not been properly introduced during trial. The judge denied the motion.

In imposing sentence, the judge noted Myers had only a limited criminal history consisting of a misdemeanor criminal trespass conviction but also found he had failed to accept responsibility for Ta’Naja’s death.

The prosecution had requested a 75-year prison sentence.

During sentencing, prosecutors read a victim impact statement written by Ta’Naja’s biological father, Dartavius Barnes.

“I don’t get to spend her birthdays with her anymore, holidays, I’ll never be able to teach her anything ever again,” Barnes wrote. “That was taken from me.”

In another portion of the letter, Barnes described the lasting impact of losing his daughter.

“There’s an emptiness in my heart. It will never go away. I will never see that beautiful smile again or hear her calling me dada.”

He also questioned why Davis and Myers had not allowed him to raise his daughter.

“I tried so hard to be a father, but Anthony wouldn’t let me… The anger he had for me, he took that out on her, and that breaks my heart over and over again. She was just a baby. She didn’t deserve that kind of life. She was so sweet and lovable. Because of their actions, my baby girl suffered, and she lost her life.”

Ta’Naja’s former foster mother, Iiesha Dean, attended every court hearing in the case.

“20 years, 30 years, 40 years, 50 years… none of that is gonna bring Ta’Naja back here,” Dean said after sentencing. “That’s not gonna bring her life back.”

Dean said she briefly stopped fostering children after Ta’Naja’s death before eventually returning to it.

“If they were gonna treat her like that, they should have left her in the system,” Dean said. “I would have been glad to have kept her.”

First Assistant State’s Attorney Nichole Kroncke described the prosecution as unlike any case she had handled.

“It is the most horrible case I’ve ever tried in 23 years of prosecuting,” Kroncke said.

Macon County State’s Attorney Jay Scott also reflected on the case.

“The circumstances under which Ta’Naja died were just horrific, and it was a lot of work to put together, but thankfully, we got the right result in the end,” Scott said.

Kroncke expressed hope the case would lead to reforms in how child abuse and neglect investigations are handled.

“I really hope change happens because of this, that the system will work better with children who are abused and neglected, and we won’t see victims like this in the future,” Kroncke said.

She added, “I think it hopefully will help DCFS and some of their agencies treat cases differently in the future, to realize people who are involved with the system can manipulate caseworkers make them think that they’re providing a good home for their children and make them think it’s all a front.”

Following sentencing, Myers indicated he intended to challenge both his conviction and sentence.

“I believe it is Mr. Myers‘ intent to appeal,” Rueter said.

“Every big trial you have gets appealed,” Scott said. “That’s how the game is played.”

Scott said prosecutors believed the case had been fairly tried and did not anticipate the conviction being overturned.