Street Gang Life

A teenage girl who was allegedly starved to death by her mother ran away to Walmart and spent the night cowered beneath the shopping carts, new evidence has revealed. Tragic Markea Blakely-Berry, 16, fled her home in Georgia and the next day employees found her wandering through the aisles. The teenager was so hungry that on trips to shops with her mother she would even open cans of food as they walked through stores, it is claimed. In a harrowing diary entry, the starving girl says she would rather live at the Walmart store than at home with her mother. Markea was found dead on June 15 weighing just 40lbs amid claims from relatives that she was routinely ‘punished’ by her mother Ebony Berry. Berry, 38, faces charges of murder and first-degree child cruelty after Markea, who was mentally disabled, was found dead at home. Child protection documents have now revealed the harrowing plight of the teenager, and how her mother thwarted the authorities’ efforts to intervene. The teenager told police who collected her from the Walmart that she had run away from home because she did not want to be a burden on her mother. But the girl was under strict orders from her controlling mother not to speak with outsiders. Berry locked Markea in her bedroom at night with ‘pee pads’ to prevent her from leaving and to stop other visitors from seeing her, the files allege. There were multiple investigations over almost a decade by child protection workers in Michigan and Georgia. But the case was closed two months after the Walmart incident in 2010, when the teenager was only 14 leaving the teenager’s condition to become worse. Officials were in touch with the mother after Markea had ran away to the supermarket and concerns about undernourishment were raised. But Berry is then said to have prevented her daughter from receiving medical treatment. Within two years the youngster was dead. DFCS Director Ron Scroggy said that the death ‘should never have happened’ and that the case ‘should have remained open’. He said that the caseworker who had been involved with Markea left the agency a year ago. No matter how intimidating a person is, the caseworker’s ultimate responsibility is to make sure the child is safe,’ Mr Scroggy said. The case files claim that Berry was aggressive towards officials and had previously fled from Michigan after complaining about them ‘prying’. The mother was deliberately obstructive by refusing to answer the door or pick up the phone, it is claimed. Shockingly, she even blamed the problems on her daughter, telling caseworkers that it was down to her premature birth and mental disabilities. Berry told them that her daughter was ‘unruly’. Markea was prevented from asking for help from the authorities because her mother gave orders for the children not to speak with ‘outsiders’, the files allege. Former state Child Advocate Melissa Carter branded the state’s handling of Markea’s case ‘shocking’. Mrs Carter said that from ‘a humane standpoint’ there should have been some follow up when there are concerns that a child is not being fed. Alice McQuade of the advocacy group Better Courts for Kid said it was a ‘horrendous case’. ‘ ‘It’s just so hard, the idea of her slowly starving to death,’ she added. After Berry’s arrest, Markea’s family noticed that she had links via Facebook to a group which encourages hunger, according to WOOD. Ms Goree described how Markea had sent her a haunting drawing of Thanksgiving dinner  with a table heaped with food, but completely empty plates. Markea’s father Mark Blakely said he was shocked at the apparent abuse. ‘I can’t even understand it,’ he said. ‘How could anybody do that to somebody? You wouldn’t even do your worst enemy that way.’