Source: GoFundMe/Kimberly Elwoods and Catherine Miles / GoFundMe/Kimberly Elwoods and Catherine Miles
Online donations being sought to help the family of a five-year-old girl whose grandparents are facing murder charges for allegedly beating her death over a soiled bed have lagged as the funeral came and went.
Jada Moore was “murdered” by her grandfather earlier this month, Moore’s mother said in a GoFundMe account that was seeking contributions to help with a funeral that took place on Wednesday. The online crowdfunding effort has thus far failed to reach its goal.
Calling it an “unimaginable loss,” Kimberly Elwoods wrote that Jada “was murdered by my biological father.”
Elwoods said Jada was killed after she “entrusted” her father and his wife to watch the little girl in Chicago for months while getting settled in Atlanta and starting a new job. Elwoods said her plan was to move Jada to Atlanta once things were settled so she could start the school year there in the fall.
But before that could happen, Jada was found naked and dead on a sofa on July 15 after her grandfather, Klent Elwoods, called 911 to report that he “was beating my granddaughter and now she is out of it.” Elwoods, 62, and his wife, Lisa Jones, 57, both admitted to beating Jada and have since been charged with first-degree murder.
Jada’s funeral was held on Wednesday, but the GoFundMe to raise money to pay for the homegoing has fallen short of its goal of $10,000. Jada’s mother said in the GoFundMe that she had been “struggling” to pay to bring her daughter “back home to Georgia.” Funeral homes estimate such costs range from $2,000 to $6,000.”
As of Friday morning, the online fundraiser had garnered a little more than $6,500 in donations.
Jada’s death came amid efforts to defund the type of social work done by people whose job it is to protect children from such abuse.
Dr. Stacey Patton, Ph.D., a journalism professor at Howard University who penned a book addressing the intersection of corporal punishment and race, recently wrote in an op-ed for NewsOne that “Defunding child protective services would only exacerbate the already alarming rates of abuse and deaths among Black children like Jada Moore.”
“While some advocate for defunding child welfare to address systemic racial issues, it is crucial to recognize that a complete dismantling of these services would leave vulnerable children like Jada at even greater risk,” wrote Patton, an award-winning journalist and author of Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Children Won’t Save Black America. “Instead, the focus should be on reforming child protective services to ensure equity, effectiveness, and a family-centered approach that emphasizes support and rehabilitation rather than punishment.”
Kimberly Elwood’s GoFundMe is still accepting donations. You can make a contribution by clicking here.
SEE ALSO:
Corporal Punishment: It’s Time To Admit That Beating Kids Isn’t The Solution To Crime
Republican Defends Voting No On Bill Banning Corporal Punishment On Disabled Students
