August 8, 2004 - December
15, 2004
Born August 8, 2004 his life would
be short lived. On December 15, 2004 Phoenix Cody Parrish who was only
four months old, would die at the hands of a woman who would then abandon
his body at the morgue. In my imaginings, never has it come up to me that
such a precious gift could be thrown away as though his life didn't matter.
Cody and his sister, Jewell, had been removed from her custody and placed
in the home of their uncle who was planning to adopt them.
The people in the town of Dothan
in Alabama weren't even aware that a child named Pheonix Cody Parrish existed
until they learned of the tragedy of his death at the hands of his own
mother. This small town was shocked and saddened to learn of his death.
 |
When
his crying became too much for her, Pheonix's mother slammed his head against
a bed post. The baby referred to as Cody, suffered broken ribs, broken
wrists and a fracture to his skull.
Yet again, the very people
who were supposed to care for and protect a child, have failed. Cody's
mother, father, uncle and CPS should share equal blame for the death of
this precious baby.
The children of Tierra Gobble
were taken away from her for suspected child abuse, custody was given to
their great uncle, Edgar Parrish on the grounds that he not remove them
from the state of Florida and not allow their parents any contact with
them. Edgar Parrish did move them away from the state of Florida and he
also allowed Cody's parents to move in with him and three weeks later,
Cody was dead.
The case worker assigned to
Cody's case, for whatever reason, failed to report that Cody, his sister
and his mother had all disappeared and he had not been able to contact
or find them. Cary Felton claims he tried for weeks to get in touch with
Tierra Gobble and was not |
Cary also lied when he said he
had been seeing the children at their current home, at least once a month.
Had he been visiting as he said he was, he would have learned that the
parents had also moved in with Edgar Parrish and once gain had access
to the children. This case worker was fired, but, not in time to save the
life of another child.
On the morning of December
15, 2004, a call to 911 was made and it was reported that Cody was not
breathing properly, he could be heard gasping for air in the background.
Just before noon, Cody was taken to Southeast Alabama Medical Center, he
could not be saved. During an autopsy it was revealed that Cody had five
broken ribs, two broken wrists and his skull was badly fractured. Sgt.
Tracey McCord said:
"This 4-month-old baby
was tortured from the time he was born.
It's why I transferred
to the vice unit. You can't help but get
attached when a baby
is involved"
Adding to this tragedy is the
fact that no one showed up to claim the body of this precious little boy.
The people in the town of Dothan were shocked by this and felt as though
this baby had simply been thrown away. The man who defended Cody's mother
at her trial, Tom Brantley said:
"People here are old
fashioned, salt-of-the-earth, Bible-reading, God
fearing people who work
hard to pay the bills, trying to get ahead. We go
to our kids' football
game and dance recitals. Here, we're very startled
and upset by child deaths.
Children die in Dothan, sometimes at the
hands of their parents,
but, rarely are they abandoned at the morgue"
I find this to be an odd statement
to make considering his client obviously has no clue who God is and doesn't
fear him in the least or her child would be alive and she would be loving
him the way she was supposed to. Cody's mother was interviewed and during
that interview, she didn't cry at all. The only person in the household
who seemed to be upset at all about Cody's death, was his uncle, the one
who had allowed the parents to move into his home after promising that
he wouldn't. If he had kept that promise, Cody would still be alive.
Cody was buried by loving,
caring, strangers who donated the clothes that he wore and money for a
casket and a burial plot. Buried in a long sleeve outfit, holding a teddy
bear and laying in a white, child sized coffin. There were about 100 people
who came to say a final goodbye to this little boy. Standing in the rain
in Sunset
| Memorial Park on December
23, 2004, strangers who cared more about Cody than his actual family he,
said their tearful goodbyes to him. Some had brought flowers, some brought
cards and others had brought balloons. All of them showed this little boy
more love than he had ever known in his short lived life. Robert Byrd,
who was the coroner at the funeral home where Cory's service had been held
said that people were overcome with sadness. |
|
"A child came into
this world depending on us for everything and got nothing. Not even the
baby's kin claimed him.
I have five children and I cannot even imagine. It was like the baby
was thrown away. Never
had this happened. This is a conservative area. Life is important."
Reverend Freddie McCain was
the chapin at Byrd Funeral Home. With the service lasting less than 15
minutes, he said people just couldn't walk away when it ended.
"People just stayed.
They wouldn't leave, it was incredible."
Reverend McCain did as much
as he could to help the people who had come to Cody's funeral. When speaking
to them he said that instead of being upset with Cody's mother, they should
pray for her.
"Cody's in Heaven, God
took are of that. God takes care of little children"
The Reverend had been at the
embalming of Cody's body and had to leave the room. Cody had so many bruises
up and down his little body and one of of his arms was twisted so badly
that it wouldn't lay the right way. A knot on his tiny head could not be
fixed.
The defense had tried to say
that as a child, Cody's mother had been abused and that since there were
three people in the house, he wasn't even sure if she had killed Cody.
He said that she took responsibility for his death and that she felt guilty
saying she should have been a better mother. In my opinion, she never should
have been a mother in the first place. It never ceases to amaze me how
people can believe that because they were abused, it's a good enough reason
to abuse their own children or those around them. How could anyone who
suffered though abuse as a child, want to inflict that same abuse on their
own children? It makes no sense to me. There is so much help out there
for people who have been through this, there is no excuse not to use the
resources available to help those who need it.
Seventeen months after the
funeral, Cody's mother was found guilty of capital murder. It took less
than an hour and a half for the jury to make their decision. The District
Attorney, Doug Valeska, said that he could have accepted a plea bargain
of life without parole, he just thought that she needed to be punished
more severely:
"You had a baby who couldn't
defend himself just tortured to death.
It's not a case you
settle."
"It's a 4-month-old who
had a life before him just snuffed out. Our community
just simply does not
tolerate people who abuse children."
Sheriff Lamar Glover
Cody's mother was sentenced
to die and now sits on death row. It sickens me to know that the father
of Cody, Samuel David Hunter, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced
to prison time and his release date has been set for February 25, 2009.
Also disgusting to me is the fact that Cody's Uncle, Edgar Parrish pleaded
guilty to aggravated child abuse and received prison time. He was released
on November 3, 2008. There was no reason for this child to die, these people
contributed to his death and they seem to have gotten away with it.
Cody's sister was sent to live
with a foster family who later adopted her. At the time of his death, Cody's
only possessions were a pacifier, two sippy cups, some diapers and
his clothing. There was a lawsuit filed on behalf of Cody against Hillsborough
Kids who had placed Cody with his Uncle. $800,000. was won in a wrongful
death suit. The money has been placed in an account after being awarded
to Jewell.
Disgustingly, the parents of
Cody have tried to claim that the money should go to them since they have
not yet exhausted all of their appeals. Lawyers from the Equal Justice
Initiative filed motions trying to get the money saying the proceedings
were unlawful. Marc Shapiro tried to suspend the proceedings involving
the money saying that Cody's parents had not been informed that their son's
estate might be entitled to this money. Claiming that the Gobble family
was not aware that they had a right to serve as the administrators of Cody's
estate. However, according to Alabama's "Slayer Statute", the law states
that since Cody's parents were both convicted of crimes that caused his
death, they are not entitled to any of the money. They are not are not
able to profit from his death.
To this day, people still leave
flowers, toys and other things on the grave of Cody. He is now and will
always be remembered by the people who cared enough about his death, to
give this abandoned little boy the care and love he should have been given
in life.
"There's something on
the grave all the time. It is not forgotten."
Robert Byrd
Samuel David Hunter was released
from prison on February 25, 2009.
For information about preventing
child abuse in the state of Alabama, click the links below. If they can't
help you, ask for someone who can. NEVER give up looking for help
for an abused child!
Call this number to report
child abuse ANY WHERE in the United States!
1-800-4-A-Child
1-800-422-4453
  
Share this page with your
family and friends!
.
.
Home
- Site Index -
E-Mail
Picture used with permission
from:
Please visit this beautiful
site!
|