I don't know what I am shocked by the news: the mother of 16-year-old Markea Blakely-Berry, who starved her daughter to death, or the relatives that recount years of abuse—and yet couldn't do anything to stop this situation.
The mom, 38-year-old Ebony Berry, called the authorities after finding her teenage daughter, who weighed just 40 pounds, and is now facing charges of murder and first-degree child-cruelty by deprivation. The girl, who was born with mental disabilities, was already dead when police arrived at her Atlanta-area home. The saddest thing to me, though, is that relatives say the mom "hated" her own daughter.
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I can't imagine what would cause a mom to hate her daughter so much that she actually lets the girl starve to death. The photos are absolutely heartbreaking and I can't even imagine weighing almost nothing at 16 years old. I mean, when I was 16 I probably had 160 pounds on the girl.
Now that the she's dead, though, family members are revealing the history of abuse that began when the girl was younger. Her father, who did not live with Markea or Ebony, says that he should have stepped in while the family lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when the abuse first began, according to the NY Daily News. Meanwhile, Cheryl Gore, Markea's paternal grandmother, reveals:
Her mother hated her for some reason. We don't know. She punished her daughter. She didn't have to kill my grandbaby like that.
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It's a bizarre tale for sure. Well, cruel is more the word that I would use to describe this tragedy. How did Markea's family not step in sooner? Why did child protective services never do anything despite several investigations? As the father, who seemed pretty shocked at the turn of events, puts it: "I can't even understand it. How could anybody do that to somebody? You wouldn't even do your worst enemy that way."
What do you think about this mom who starved her daughter to death? Do you think child protective services should have done more to prevent the abuse? Share with us in the comments below!
Image via Cobb County Sheriff's Office
