Remembering Jeremiah

Fallen Through the Cracks of a Failing System
By Barbara Sample & Ponda Gee
Child Protective Services failed to protect Jeremiah Williams.
Jeremiah Williams has been portrayed as a child of the far eastside apartments, an IPS student, and an unfortunate victim of a random shooting. The truth behind this child’s murder has yet to be told. He wasn’t just a victim in a random shooting; he was one of the many misplaced children that child protective services failed to protect.
The inane philosophy that a child is better off with their biological parent; is what ultimately caused the death of 8 year old Jeremiah Williams. CPS’s policy that “reunification is to be preferred over all other options,” has put many children in harm’s way often leading to death by the abusive parent or live boyfriend.
In the case of Jeremiah Williams, he was not a child of the far eastside. He was not raised in the poverty stricken, violent ghettos of Indianapolis, IN. His biological mother chose a better life for him, she realized early in his life that her boyfriend didn’t like Jeremiah, and by her own admission for this reason she gave Jeremiah away. She placed him with a family, his family, who would shower him with love and lavish adoration.
Jeremiah Williams knew, Pastor Arthur and Barbara Sample as his parents. He called them uncle and aunt, understood the biological relationship that he had to them, but they were mother, and father to him. He’d been in their care since infancy. It was this couple who taught him to walk, and potty trained him. They witnessed his mastery of the English language, and taught him to reverence an Almighty God. His biological mother was a willing bystander in Jeremiah life. She did not interfere with the rearing of Jeremiah, and was content to call or visit with him maybe 2 or 3 times a year. His biological mother loved him enough to choose a better life for him. Jeremiah lived in a private subdivision, on a lake surrounded by nature. He attended school in Washington Township and was attending Charter School when he wasabruptly taken back by his mother. He was an excellent fisherman, for in his back yard was a dock, and docked there was his 21 foot fishing boat, that’d he’d been fishing on since the age of two. He traveled extensively with his aunt and uncle. He vacationed several times a year, to Disney, Florida beaches, fishing in North Carolina, and on the Gulf of Mexico. He was a child of privilege. Pastor Sample was once asked, “Don’t you think you spoil him a little?” The Pastor’s reply was, “A little? This child came into the world with every disadvantage imaginable. His father was murdered months before his birth, and his biological mother’s boyfriend (Germany) has been trying to kill him since he was three months old. He was given to us as a means by which to save his life. I don’t know how long we will have him, but as long as we do he will not want for anything. We will fill him with as much love as one child can hold until it spills out into the lives he touches and I will not spare him one desire, because he deserves it.” This quote was made when Jeremiah was just 4 years old. Who knew then, that the Pastors insight would manifest into the tragedy that befalls us today.
This tragedy began to unfold on the cold afternoon of February 6, 2009. Jeremiah’s biological mother decided she wanted him back. She called and simply stated, “I am coming to get Jeremiah,” and with that declaration, Jeremiah was removed from the safety of his life to the far eastside; a project infested with violence, and degradation.
Why did the biological mother decide to take Jeremiah back after 8 years of only contacting him 2 or 3 times a year? Why did she decide to once again give her abusive boyfriend (Germany) access to her son? Was it because she believed he had changed? According to police records there was a warrant out for his arrest, due to domestic violence against her. Police had been called out to that very home where the murder of Jeremiah took place 4 times within a thirty day period. It wasn’t that she thought he would be safe. She needed Jeremiah as means by which to live, for it was in Jeremiah’s name that she received benefits. The biological mother has a total of 4 children, 2 lived outside of her home and 2 (Germany’s children) lived in her home. Germany resided with her and his two children; therefore she was not able to receive benefits for those two children. The benefits that she received were for the two children who did not reside with her. Germany and the biological mother were under investigation because of a battery charge against Germany’s for allegedly kicking his own son. And this investigation alerted CPS to the knowledge that Jeremiah was not living in the home. The biological mother was advised to have the Jeremiah returned home.
The case worker for Jeremiah’s mother was contacted by Pastor Arthur and Barbara Sample in hopes that the agency would protect the child, and force the biological mother to leave him in his safe haven. Documentation of the child’s life was presented to her case worker located inside the Genesis Plaza on Keystone Avenue as proof that he in fact had been living and provided for in a nurturing environment for all of his life. The case worker informed the Sample’s that she would contact CPS. Unfortunately, the case workers decided that Jeremiah was better off living with his biological mother. They did not consider the fact that he was an 8 year old boy who knew of her but did not know her. They did not take into consideration the atmosphere that he was being place in nor the environment he was snatched from. There was no consideration for Jeremiah’s unalienable rights. It is obvious today that CPS has defaulted on the promise granted by the Constitution of the United States of America, to protect Jeremiah’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If Jeremiah had been with his Aunt and Uncle, that Wednesday night July 22, 2009, the night he was fatally shot, he would have been in church worshiping.
There has been no true accountability, for the people responsible for placing Jeremiah in harm’s way. CPS needs a reformation. Who is at fault for not seeing this child as an individual? His case was different, and it should have been handled appropriately, not as a paper trail, but with the concern that one would give to his own flesh and blood. The truth is Jeremiah’s safety or well being was never considered in the decisions that CPS made for him, and this is what we must change for all children, for this lack of consideration cost us Jeremiah’s life.
By Barbara Sample & Ponda Gee
Child Protective Services failed to protect Jeremiah Williams.
Jeremiah Williams has been portrayed as a child of the far eastside apartments, an IPS student, and an unfortunate victim of a random shooting. The truth behind this child’s murder has yet to be told. He wasn’t just a victim in a random shooting; he was one of the many misplaced children that child protective services failed to protect.
The inane philosophy that a child is better off with their biological parent; is what ultimately caused the death of 8 year old Jeremiah Williams. CPS’s policy that “reunification is to be preferred over all other options,” has put many children in harm’s way often leading to death by the abusive parent or live boyfriend.
In the case of Jeremiah Williams, he was not a child of the far eastside. He was not raised in the poverty stricken, violent ghettos of Indianapolis, IN. His biological mother chose a better life for him, she realized early in his life that her boyfriend didn’t like Jeremiah, and by her own admission for this reason she gave Jeremiah away. She placed him with a family, his family, who would shower him with love and lavish adoration.
Jeremiah Williams knew, Pastor Arthur and Barbara Sample as his parents. He called them uncle and aunt, understood the biological relationship that he had to them, but they were mother, and father to him. He’d been in their care since infancy. It was this couple who taught him to walk, and potty trained him. They witnessed his mastery of the English language, and taught him to reverence an Almighty God. His biological mother was a willing bystander in Jeremiah life. She did not interfere with the rearing of Jeremiah, and was content to call or visit with him maybe 2 or 3 times a year. His biological mother loved him enough to choose a better life for him. Jeremiah lived in a private subdivision, on a lake surrounded by nature. He attended school in Washington Township and was attending Charter School when he wasabruptly taken back by his mother. He was an excellent fisherman, for in his back yard was a dock, and docked there was his 21 foot fishing boat, that’d he’d been fishing on since the age of two. He traveled extensively with his aunt and uncle. He vacationed several times a year, to Disney, Florida beaches, fishing in North Carolina, and on the Gulf of Mexico. He was a child of privilege. Pastor Sample was once asked, “Don’t you think you spoil him a little?” The Pastor’s reply was, “A little? This child came into the world with every disadvantage imaginable. His father was murdered months before his birth, and his biological mother’s boyfriend (Germany) has been trying to kill him since he was three months old. He was given to us as a means by which to save his life. I don’t know how long we will have him, but as long as we do he will not want for anything. We will fill him with as much love as one child can hold until it spills out into the lives he touches and I will not spare him one desire, because he deserves it.” This quote was made when Jeremiah was just 4 years old. Who knew then, that the Pastors insight would manifest into the tragedy that befalls us today.
This tragedy began to unfold on the cold afternoon of February 6, 2009. Jeremiah’s biological mother decided she wanted him back. She called and simply stated, “I am coming to get Jeremiah,” and with that declaration, Jeremiah was removed from the safety of his life to the far eastside; a project infested with violence, and degradation.
Why did the biological mother decide to take Jeremiah back after 8 years of only contacting him 2 or 3 times a year? Why did she decide to once again give her abusive boyfriend (Germany) access to her son? Was it because she believed he had changed? According to police records there was a warrant out for his arrest, due to domestic violence against her. Police had been called out to that very home where the murder of Jeremiah took place 4 times within a thirty day period. It wasn’t that she thought he would be safe. She needed Jeremiah as means by which to live, for it was in Jeremiah’s name that she received benefits. The biological mother has a total of 4 children, 2 lived outside of her home and 2 (Germany’s children) lived in her home. Germany resided with her and his two children; therefore she was not able to receive benefits for those two children. The benefits that she received were for the two children who did not reside with her. Germany and the biological mother were under investigation because of a battery charge against Germany’s for allegedly kicking his own son. And this investigation alerted CPS to the knowledge that Jeremiah was not living in the home. The biological mother was advised to have the Jeremiah returned home.
The case worker for Jeremiah’s mother was contacted by Pastor Arthur and Barbara Sample in hopes that the agency would protect the child, and force the biological mother to leave him in his safe haven. Documentation of the child’s life was presented to her case worker located inside the Genesis Plaza on Keystone Avenue as proof that he in fact had been living and provided for in a nurturing environment for all of his life. The case worker informed the Sample’s that she would contact CPS. Unfortunately, the case workers decided that Jeremiah was better off living with his biological mother. They did not consider the fact that he was an 8 year old boy who knew of her but did not know her. They did not take into consideration the atmosphere that he was being place in nor the environment he was snatched from. There was no consideration for Jeremiah’s unalienable rights. It is obvious today that CPS has defaulted on the promise granted by the Constitution of the United States of America, to protect Jeremiah’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If Jeremiah had been with his Aunt and Uncle, that Wednesday night July 22, 2009, the night he was fatally shot, he would have been in church worshiping.
There has been no true accountability, for the people responsible for placing Jeremiah in harm’s way. CPS needs a reformation. Who is at fault for not seeing this child as an individual? His case was different, and it should have been handled appropriately, not as a paper trail, but with the concern that one would give to his own flesh and blood. The truth is Jeremiah’s safety or well being was never considered in the decisions that CPS made for him, and this is what we must change for all children, for this lack of consideration cost us Jeremiah’s life.