Capria Phillips, a Washington D.C. mom of two boys, is demanding answers and accountability from school staff after her children were kidnapped from their campus, by their half-brother’s mother.
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D.C. Mom Demands Answers After Her Two Sons Are Kidnapped From School By Their Half-Brother’s Mother
The incident occurred at Anita J. Turner Elementary School in Southeast D.C. on March 7. Phillips says she received a phone call while at work, in which she was asked by school officials if she knew someone named “Jessica.”
Phillips — the mother of 5-year-old Harlem and 4-year-old Santana — said she admitted to officials that she did not know anyone by the name of “Jessica.”
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Immediately after the odd phone call, the mom of two rushed over to the school to check on her children. Upon her arrival, she later found out that her two boys were released by school staff to a woman named “Jessica,” who claimed to be a parent to the two kids.
Recalling her initial thoughts, Phillips says, “My children were basically given away that day, and the situation was swept under the rug. Those few hours, everything was going through my head. I didn’t know if I’d see my boys again, I didn’t know if they’d come back harmed or not.”
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According to a court affidavit, the woman, who visited the school and picked up Phillips’ two boys, had no relations to the children, but was in fact previously involved with their father.
The affidavit also explains that the woman “used a fictitious name of ‘Jessica Smart’ and stated she was the mother of [the children]. The school failed to check ID and confirm that [she] was the children’s legal guardian.”
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The affidavit also adds that the woman who picked up the two boys, did so “under false pretense,” and later used the children as leverage to get in contact with their father.
And when the father went to pick his two boys up from school that day, he was informed that Harlem and Santana had already been picked up by a woman named “Jessica.” He would soon receive a phone call by the woman, who told him that she had his children and “would give them back, if she could see the son she shares with him.”
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Eventually, local police were able to track down the woman and safely retrieve the two boys and reunite them with their parents. Since the incident, the woman who grabbed the kids from school has been charged with two counts of kidnapping and Phillips has pulled her kids from Turner Elementary.
She explained, “Tradition is broken, trust is broken, my heart is broken. [The boys] want to come back to this school every day and I said no. Because if someone was that careless like that, I don’t give you a second chance.”
Revealing how traumatic the incident has been for her and her family, Phillips adds, “They still do not understand. I have hard questions that I cannot answer. I have post-trauma that I’m going through, anxiety. You don’t know the effects this will have on you as a mother, that works every day. To not know that you might not see your children when you get off of work at five.”
She also demands answers and accountability form the school district. She says, “[There needs to be] more due diligence, more caring, more love. If you love your students enough, you will love to know who you are giving them back away to. It’s our job to give them to you, it’s their job to make sure they’re giving them back to the right people.”
Addressing the situation, the school district released a brief statement, that reads in part, “D.C. Public Schools takes any incidents or allegations regarding student safety and well-being very seriously. The Turner Elementary School administration worked closely with DCPS Police and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to promptly address this matter on March 7.”
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