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The Columbus, Ohio, foster home of Ma'Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl who was fatally shot by a police officer on April 20, placed more than a dozen 911 calls since 2017.
Most of the emergency calls made from the home were from foster mother Angela Moore, according to documents and calls obtained by the Associated Press. Moore called about problems such as foster girls having left without permission or not returning home after leaving.
"I don't want to be here no more," said Bryant's younger sister, 15, to 911 in a call made from the foster home on March 28 after the two siblings had a fight with each other. She said she had been in the home for over a year. Her sister had been there since February.
Officer Nicholas Reardon, who is white, shot Bryant four times when responding to an altercation where Bryant pushed a young woman to the ground and swung a knife at another young woman.
When Bryant's sister called 911 in March, she said she wanted to be removed from the foster home and placed into a new one.
"The Victim then became irate and stated that if she does not get to leave, then she was going to kill someone in the home," a police report stated, detailing the call. The report noted that she was later evaluated at a hospital.
Police filed at least 13 reports from calls made from Moore's foster home since 2017, according to records obtained by the AP.
Prior to Bryant's death, Moore called 911 about a 13-year-old girl who had left the foster home on April 7.
In December, Moore called police to report that a 10-year-old boy was "turning" on her because he was knocking items down from a Christmas tree. She said she needed the boy removed, as his screams were heard in the background.
In 2017, an 18-year-old girl told 911 dispatchers that she would commit suicide because Moore would not let her leave the home. Moore, in her defense, said that the girl's biological mother arrived at the foster home to take her.
"The whole world has placed Ma'Khia on trial based on this one incident where they see her swinging a knife," Bryant family attorney Michelle Martin said this week, according to the AP. "But why aren't we looking further and figuring out who were those girls? How did they get there? How did this develop so quickly?"
Martin wondered what trauma was not addressed within the foster home and has called for an investigation into the foster care system, which she said Bryant had been a part of for too long.
Bryant was under the care of the Franklin County Children Services, w hich called her death a "tragic loss" in a statement two days after Bryant was shot.
"During this particularly difficult time, we continue to provide support to Ma'Khia's family and offer services that we hope will help with the trauma of this loss," the statement by Children Services said. "We have the opportunity and obligation to make change. We are committed to ensuring that our programming and services most appropriately address the needs and concerns of those we serve."
"Ma'Khia Bryant's death was a tragic loss. We extend our sincere condolences to her family and her loved ones," Alison Rodgers, a spokeswoman for Franklin County Children Services, told Newsweek. "We mourn the loss of one of the children of this community. Our involvement with and support of the Bryant family will continue throughout this challenging time."
Rodgers added that Children Services is committed to a thorough review of Bryant's case and that the agency is continuing its process of review and evaluation.
Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine previously ordered a review of Ohio's foster care system, which found evidence last month of racial inequality, the AP reported.
Dot Erickson-Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Family Care Association, told Newsweek, "Ohio has a multilayered problem in working with youth who come into care. The law- and rule-based system, spread between 88 public custody agencies and about 100 private foster care service agencies, creates barriers for the parents, the kinship/relative and foster families working to reunite youth who have been caught up in the child welfare system."
She added, "When a foster home is living with teenagers who have both the normal teenage angst combined with the trauma of being removed from their extended family, the tension and struggles lead to an increase and amplification of conflict."
A funeral was held for Bryant Friday afternoon at the First Church of God in Columbus. Her biological mother, Paula Bryant, previously told a local news station following her daughter's death that she had hoped to bring both her daughters home soon.
Bryant's mother said she saw her daughter on the Thursday before her death.
"We hugged each other. She said, 'Mommy, I made honor roll.' She said, 'Mommy, I'm looking forward to coming home,'" Paula Bryant said.
