‘This little angel’ is gone



Police yesterday charged Jennifer Chanel Edwards
with second-degree murder in the death of her 20-month-old
daughter, Cedra, shown together at her first birthday party.

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Tot dies; mom held

A heartbroken friend of the family
mourns the child and wishes she
could have stepped in to stop the abuse

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

LANI Gillbreath gave her heart to a little girl four months ago and now it's broken.

"I don't worry about where she is now," Gillbreath said, referring to 20-month-old Cedra Edwards, who died Wednesday. "But it's heartbreaking when I think about what she went through and how she suffered.

"She was alone; there was no one there to protect her," Gillbreath added. "And this little angel couldn't protect herself."

Police charged Jennifer Chanel Edwards, the girl's 18-year-old mother, with second-degree murder yesterday. She is being held on $100,000 bail. Her 24-year-old boyfriend, Mika Mika Jr., who is not Cedra's father, was released yesterday by police.

Gillbreath considers Mika her hanai son, or foster son, and it was through him that she met Cedra in August, soon after the state released the girl back into the care of her mother.

"The minute Mika told me he loved Jennifer, I considered her and Cedra as part of my family," said Gillbreath, the resident manager of a Salt Lake condominium where Mika lives and is employed as a security officer. She grew very close to Cedra in the last four months.

One of her favorite memories is of Cedra at Halloween, dressed in a Cinderella costume she had purchased.

'Cedra fell down'

It was around October that she noticed a bruise on Cedra's leg. "I asked Jennifer about it and she said Cedra fell down," Gillbreath said. "Three or four weeks later, they were over at my apartment and Cedra had a (bump) on her head and bruise above her eye.

"I asked right away what happened and (Mika and Edwards) began blaming each other," she said. "I gave both of them a stern lecture and told them the okole was for spanking, not the face. I also told them I would turn them in to (Child Protective Services) if it happened again."

The last time Gillbreath saw Cedra alive was Saturday in the lobby of the condominium.

The girl was with her mother, who was going to Waianae to visit a cousin.

"Cedra cried because she wanted to stay with me," Gillbreath said.

"I would have kept her with me but I was going to buy her Christmas gift, a toy telephone.

"I've wished a thousand times since then that I had taken her with me Saturday," she said.

"I keep thinking, too, that if I had called CPS the first time I saw the (bump), she would still be alive."

Child rushed to hospital

Gillbreath was awakened about 2 a.m. Wednesday by Edwards, who asked her to watch her other child because she had to take Cedra to the hospital.

"About 25 minutes later, Mika called and told me Cedra was not going to make it," Gillbreath said. "I asked what's wrong with her and he said there's bruises.

"He said Jennifer did it but that he was going to take the blame," she added.

"He's always covering up for her and I told him he had a son to think about."

Gillbreath rushed to Kaiser Hospital, where she learned Cedra had died.

"I felt shock when I saw the baby," Gillbreath said, weeping. "She was covered with bruises and her stomach was swollen. I couldn't believe my eyes."

An autopsy determined that Cedra died due to trauma to the stomach which caused an infection because her intestines were broken, police said.

Admits hitting child

"It was a painful, slow death," homicide Detective Anderson Hee said.

Gillbreath confronted the girl's mother and asked her what happened.

"Jennifer finally told me that she hit her for the last couple days," Gillbreath said. "I was completely crushed.

"You know, Cedra was so smart; I could talk to her and teach her things and she understood," Gillbreath said. "I wanted her and I would have taken her in a second."

While at the hospital, Gillbreath met Edwards' parents, who told her why the state had taken Cedra into protective custody.

"Jennifer's mother said she gave up a good job to stay home and try to help her care for Cedra when she was born," Gillbreath said. "When she found out Jennifer was leaving Cedra with 15-year-old kids to go out with her boyfriends, her mother called CPS (Child Protective Services) to report that she was neglecting the baby."

It looked like a better life

In a written statement defending the state's release of the child back to her mother, Gov. Ben Cayetano yesterday confirmed that Family Court ordered Cedra removed from Edwards' care due to neglect.

Cedra was still in foster care in May when Edwards moved in with Mika, Gillbreath said.

"Mika helped her get Cedra back by going with her to counseling and parenting classes," Gillbreath said.

In November, Edwards gave birth to Mika's son, Trevor, and the couple talked of getting married, Gillbreath said.

But dreams of happier days have suddenly turned into a nightmare.

The tragedy of Cedra's story is that it's happening too often, despite state efforts.

As Cayetano pointed out, the Department of Human Services did its job in giving the baby's mother a tremendous amount of assistance.

"According to (Human Services) Director Susan Chandler, the record shows the family participated in many social services programs, including the Catholic Charities Outreach Services program, which started providing services with home visits twice a week to the family beginning Aug. 4," Cayetano said.

Chandler says a home-based worker visited the family, interviewed the mother and saw no signs of abuse three days before Cedra's death.

A public health nurse assigned to the case visited the family at home on Dec. 5 and reported no immediate concerns, Chandler added.

"Moreover, during the year from April through August, the mother received assistance in parenting classes, counseling and several home-based services through Child and Family Service and the Parents and Children Together CPS Visitation program before the court ordered the child be returned to her home," Chandler said.