Katelyn
Michelle Frazier
January 1997 - December
27, 2000
On December 27, 2000, Pennee
Frazier called the police to come to her home claiming that her daughter
had fallen and could not get up. The police were in shock over what they
would find in the Frazier home.
The home was a disgusting
mess. Garbage and dirty dishes were every where. There was food ground
into the floor and lying in the middle of it all was Katelyn. Katelyn had
brothers and sisters who were not in much better shape, though, thankfully
none of them were as bad as she was. Katelyn was only three years old.
Two months after Katelyn's
birth she and her sibling were placed in separate foster homes which were
close to each other. Lesley Dodson and her husband Rich Wray took in Katelyn
and were very excited when told of the possibility that they would be able
to adopt her.
Katelyn quickly began to thrive
in her new home and was calling Lesley mommy by the age of 15 months. Lesley
and Rich were so certain that they were going to be able to adopt Katelyn
that they took her to meet their families.
Unfortunately, Domestic Relations
Court Judge Nolan B. Dawkins decided that the Department Of Social Services
had not proven to him that Katelyn and her sister Jessica were in any danger
so they needed to be in a foster program with the goal to re-unite them
with their mother
Katelyn's father, Donald Frazier
had been convicted of one count of sodomy on another child and was ordered
never to be left alone with her. After one visit with him, in October of
1999, Lesley noticed her bottom was red and took her to the hospital where
it was determined to be a diaper rash.
In November a teacher noticed
bruises on her bottom and called Social Services who again determined that
the report was not serious. Social Services was concerned enough to send
a letter to officials opposing returning the girls to the Fraizer's, the
letter was ignored and the girls were returned to the Fraizer's on February
14, 2000.
Lesley filed petitions and
Rich's grandfather made calls to everyone he could think of and eventually
the children were removed from the home again. Unfortunately, though her
sister went to the same foster home, Katelyn was not returned to the home
and the parents she had grown to know and love.
During this time, Pennee had
given birth to a third child and was expecting a fourth. She was now living
in subsidized housing and the father of her fourth child, Asher Levin,
was living there with her. In December of 2000, the police would be called
and Katelyn would be dying.
Katelyn was taken to the hospital
and found to have bruises all over her body. She was considered to be brain
dead and was being kept alive by machine. Lesley and Rich went to visit
her but were not prepared for what they would face. The hospital
refused to allow
them to see Katelyn or even
to give them any information about her condition. Lesley then paid a visit
to Social Services and said:
"You failed me and you
failed Katelyn, you're not going to fail her again."
Just eight weeks after losing
a custody battle over Katelyn, Lesley was
going to say goodbye to her.
The staff at the Children's Hospital did
all they could to prepare
her for what she was about to see. Katelyn
was laying on a gurney with
a sheet tucked around her waist. Though
her chest was moving up and
down, she wasn't breathing, a machine
was doing the work to keep
her alive so that her organs could be
donated. Lesley pressed her
cheek against Katelyn's check and whispered to her:
"You play with all the
Barneys' and all the Elmos and all the Poohs. You just play. Because for
the first time, you can be a child, and no one will hurt you."
On December 29, 2000, Katelyn
died from blunt head trauma. In August of 2001, Pennee plead guilty to
charges of failing to protect Katelyn from abuse, she admitted to allowing
and watching Asher beat her children on a regular basis and not even trying
to stop him. Pennee was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Asher Levin was
convicted of felony murder, along with two felony convictions of child
abuse and neglect and will serve ONLY 18 years in prison.
For information about preventing
child abuse in the state of Virginia, 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!
Department
Of Social Services
Stop
It Now
Call this number to report
child abuse ANY WHERE in the United States!
1-800-4-A-Child
1-800-422-4453
  
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