Mariha Smith, 5, Missing. Detroit. deceased.

[JsMom]

Thank God! There is one less killer on the streets. She was a beautiful lil' girl. What a shame!

[Lady Cop]

the "missing" aunt/sister. i won't be shocked if her body turns up in a dumpster.

[Lady Cop]

The Detroit News
Detroit — A suspect in the death of 5-year-old Mariha Smith is behind bars — for violating probation, not murder.

Three days after hundreds turned out for her funeral, the boyfriend of one of her aunts, Darnell Cheatham, was jailed for 45 days Monday.

A probation officer described him in court as a "suspect in a homicide," but the 19-year-old was put behind bars for testing positive for marijuana last week while on probation for second-degree home invasion. It was Cheatham's second violation since he was sentenced in April.

Relatives said Cheatham is the boyfriend of Mariha's aunt, Quanita Smith.

Both failed lie detector tests in the days following the girl's death on the west side, and family members said they haven't seen the couple in more than a week.

Cheatham's attorney argued that prosecutors are holding him because they do not have evidence to charge him in the Mariha case. YET!

[Lady Cop]

still no murder charge or sign of sister that i can find.

[HairOfTheDog]

Detroit PD released Darnell Cheatham from jail (for probation violation) yesterday. He is not charged in Mariha's death. No mention anywhere about his girlfriend, Mariha's aunt Quanita. No mention as to whether Darnell is the man caught on video buying gas in a beer can just before the fire. Doesn't really look like him, imo, but who knows with grainy video. The article states that a "person of interest" was released, so I guess Darnell is still considered a POI (it doesn't state whether anyone else connected to the case is or isn't).

This whole story about the house party, the intruder window entrance over the couch, mom passed out cold with multiple children in her care (including a 6 month old), Mariha's daddy being told he's her daddy the day before her funeral, Quanita disappearing... All of it is just nuts. What happened to this angel and why?

I hope Detroit PD is all over this investigation and has good leads. Such a horrendous death for such a beautiful little girl.

Reference:
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/29281441/detail.html

[HairOfTheDog]

Mariha's family will hold a candlelight vigil 3 p.m. Oct. 7, giving the family time to post fliers around the neighborhood, Smith said.

The group will march from the house where she was found to the house from which she went missing on the 3800 block of Burlingame.

"It's time for me to get out and look for my baby's killer," Smith said.

Snipped From The Detroit News:
http://detnews.com/article/20110928/METR...z1ZmR6gzUj
=======================================

What's going on with this case? When Darnell Cheatham was arrested for parole violation the day of Mariha's funeral, family members were quoted saying that they knew it was him in the gas station video, that his girlfriend and Mariha's aunt Quanita should fry in hell too (she hasn't been reported seen since before the funeral)... Now, it sounds like Mariha's mom doubts that Darnell is the killer. I wonder if LE is holding back info from her and if she and/or other family members are under investigation. Or, maybe she now has reason to believe that Darnell is not involved. I hope this one gets solved.

[HairOfTheDog]

MURDER ARREST MADE - FINALLY!!!

So glad to read this news.

22 year-old Darnell Cheatham was arrested Friday.



He's the POS suspected of abducting and then killing his girlfriend's niece back in July of 2011.

He allegedly took 5 year-old Mariha to an abandoned house, raped her, crushed her skull, went to a nearby station and bought gas (where he was captured on grainy surveillance cam), and then torched Mariha and the mattress.

This all went down after a house party that Mariha's mom and her aunt threw; there were other kids present in the home and the moms were trashed and passed out. That's when Cheatham took Mariha, allegedly.

Whether Cheatham's girlfriend and Mariha's aunt, Quanita Smith, was involved or was an accessory after the fact is something I've always questioned. She's sketchy and suspicious to me.

Cheatham is charged with first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, arson, torture, child abuse, and dismemberment and mutilation of a body. The mandatory sentence if convicted is life without parole.

I hope justice prevails; such a gruesome death for anybody, much less a sweet little 5 year old.

RIP, Mariha

[crash]

What the fuck is wrong with people? gah!

[HairOfTheDog]

What the fuck is wrong with people? gah!

Don't think I'll ever fully comprehend how some adults can inflict such pain and cruelty on children (or other adults, really).

If Cheatham is guilty (I think he is), can't imagine any thing in this world that could rehabilitate him. Drugs don't explain what he did. Mental illness doesn't explain it. Anger and lust can't explain it. There's nothing in this world that could have made 5 year-old Mariha appear to be a threat to him or a deserving target for rape, torture and death. Nothing but evil, I guess.

I have reservations about the death penalty in some types of cases. Not this type. I understand Mariha's grandmother's sentiment:

"He may be locked up but he's still breathing. See, that's the problem - he's still breathing. He should suffer just like my granddaughter suffered," Diane Henry tells Fox 2's Taryn Asher.

Michigan doesn't have the death penalty though, so LWOP is the maximum punishment Mrs. Henry can hope to see.

Cheatham's preliminary hearing will be held on Nov. 1^st.

[HairOfTheDog]

FINALLY...3 YEARS LATER, THE MURDER TRIAL GETS UNDERWAY


RIP Mariha Smith

Jury selection begins today in the murder trial of Mariha Smith. Mariha was raped, kidnapped, strangled, and set on fire in Detroit in June 2011.

There was a hard-core party at the home that Mariha lived in with her mom Konesha, her aunt Quanita, and her siblings. The adults were apparently passed out when Mariha was abducted.


Darnell Cheatham -- suspect, charged with first-degree murder, torture, child abuse, arson and mutilation of a body

Aunt Quanita's boyfriend, Darnell Cheatham - 23, has always been a prime suspect. He maintains his innocence. IMO, he's full of shit and a complete waste of human flesh.

Aunt Quanita's been sketch and suspicious all along too. After failing a polygraph test early on, she went completely off the public radar and there was a lot of speculation surrounding her whereabouts and involvement.


Quanita Smith -- witness (and possible defense alternate suspect?)

Now more is coming out about Quanita. According to a court transcript from the preliminary examination, Quanita Smith testified she woke up during the night and saw Mariha in bed on top of Cheatham, but didn’t do anything, because, she said, she was drunk. He was moving when the girl was on top of him, she said.

Quanita Smith testified she didn’t tell police about it when she first talked to them because she didn’t “want to believe that he had anything to do with it.”

It looks to me like Darnell Cheatham's defense is gonna be to point the finger at his then girlfriend, Aunt Quanita. Cheatham’s attorney said a witness gave a statement that said a woman was holding hands with a little girl near the home where Mariha was found, a few hours before she was discovered.

Cheatham's defense attorney said that witness picked his client’s girlfriend from a photographic lineup, identifying her as the person who was in that area; he plans to call that witness to the stand during the trial.

If found guilty, Cheatham faces mandatory life in prison. (I don't believe Quanita has been charged with anything.)

http://www.freep.com/article/20140714/NE...rder-trial

[HairOfTheDog]

MARIHA'S AUNT TESTIFIES FOR THE PROSECUTION

Quanita Smith testified during ex-boyfriend Darnell Cheatham’s murder trial that she had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana on July 23, later went to bed with Cheatham and the two had sex at her home on Burlingame.

“I woke up, seen Mariha on top of Darnell,” she said. “And Darnell was moving Mariha.”

The girl was on top of his penis, she said. She couldn’t recall if he was clothed, but she said Mariha wasn’t making any noise.

Smith said she didn’t do anything because she was too drunk, and she went back to sleep.

She gave statements to police after the girl disappeared but didn’t tell authorities the details of seeing Mariha and Cheatham in bed for about two years because she said she was scared.

“What were you scared of?” Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Carin Goldfarb asked. “Darnell Cheatham,” she replied

Smith feared being physically assaulted, like she said she had been before by Cheatham, or killed, she testified.

During opening statements, (defense attorney Kareem) Johnson said he plans to talk about how “reasonable or ridiculous” it is that Mariha wasn’t crying or screaming when she was allegedly on top of his client. (HOTD: it's very reasonable -- little kids often say nothing when threatened by an adult and told to keep quiet, no matter how painful.)

Full story: http://www.freep.com/article/20140717/NE...l-cheatham

[HairOfTheDog]

MISTRIAL -- JURY DEADLOCKS

This makes me sad for Mariha Smith. The jury was unable to agree on a verdict and a mistrial was declared last week. A new trial will begin in November.

A bond hearing for the accused, Darnell Cheatham, will be held on August 19^th. I hope he is denied bond or it's set too high for him to be released.

I believe that Darnell Cheatham is the person who raped, strangled, and set Mariha on fire. But, I suspect the prosecution's star witness -- Cheatham's then-girlfriend and Mariha's aunt, Quanita Smith -- was so sketchy herself that some jurors figured she could have killed Mariha.

Disappointed.