TEGHAN ALYSSA SKIBA - 4 yo (2010) - Smithfield (SE of Raleigh) NC

Smithfield NC ---- A 4-year-old girl remained in critical condition Saturday, a day after
she was hospitalized for injuries suffered in what Johnston County
authorities described as torture.The girl's mother is now at her
side at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, said Tammy Amaon, a spokeswoman
for the Johnston County Sheriff's Office.The girl's mother had
left her with Jonathan Douglas Richardson, 21, of Old Sanders Road in
Smithfield, while she underwent military training.Johnston County
Sheriff Steve Bizzell says that Richardson abused the girl over
multiple days. She was sexually assaulted, suffered severe head trauma
and had bite marks, cuts and bruises on her body.

Richardson

"(This is) one of the worst cases of torture of a child that we have ever investigated –
cuts, lacerations, signs of sexual assault, bite marks, head trauma,"
Bizzell said. "I have detectives out here, professional law enforcement
officers, who are saddened by this. It is just unreal. We can not
imagine someone who would do this to such a young child."Authorities
said that Richardson took the girl to Johnston Memorial Hospital in
Smithfield around noon Friday, claiming she had fallen off a bed in the
barn apartment where he lived. Hospital workers reported the case.Bizzell
said the barn was behind the house where Richardson's grandparents
live. It had no running water or bathroom. Richardson and the girl slept
on an air mattress, the sheriff said.Dr. Michael Teague, a
forensic psychologist and criminal profiler, says in abuse situations
like this, the suspect is trying to take anger out on the victim.“They
take it out on the weakest person. It’s a very cowardly act to be
abusing somebody that small,” Teague said.Richardson was charged
with felony child abuse and placed in the Johnston County jail under a
$1 million bond.In 2008, Richardson was found guilty of assault
on a female, according to court records. He was ordered to enter an
abuser treatment program and attend a domestic violence program in Johnston County.

A Johnston County man now charged in the death of a 4-year-old girl
claims he became upset with the girl and "lost it," according to
warrants released Tuesday morning.

A judge ordered Jonathan Richardson, 21, held without bond. Richardson is now charged with first
degree murder after Teghan Alyssa Skiba, 4, died at UNC Hospitals late Monday.

The girl was brought to the hospital Friday after authorities said she was apparently
tortured, suffering bite marks, cuts and severe head trauma.

She and her mother, Helen Reyes, had
recently moved in with Richardson on his grandparents' property in
Smithfield. Authorities said they lived in a barn on the property with
no running water. Reyes left Skiba in Richardson's care earlier this
month when she left for military training.

New search warrants
reveal authorities searched the barn, Richardson's vehicle and a room in
the grandparents' residence where Richardson also stayed. Authorities
seized dozens of items including guns, knives, duct tape and drug paraphernalia.
In the search warrants, authorities said Richardson told them he
became upset when the girl wet the bed and that he "lost it," whipping
the girl with a drop cord. The warrants also state that Richardson told
authorities he was bipolar and "little things set him off."

Richardson is due back in court August 5.

Search warrants released Tuesday shed new light on the death of a
4-year-old girl in Johnston County.
Teghan Alyssa Skiba died at UNC Hospitals Monday night.
Deputies say 21-year-old Jonathan Douglas Richardson took the girl
to the Johnston Medical Center on Friday claiming she fell out of bed.
But doctors called authorities when they discovered human bite marks,
bruises, cuts, severe head trauma and evidence of extreme sexual abuse.
Richardson was supposed to be caring for the child while his
girlfriend attended military training with the Army National Guard in
New Mexico According to search warrants, Richardson shared
the same air mattress with the girl in an outbuilding behind
Richardson's grandparent's house on the outskirts of Smithfield near
Brogden. There was no running water and no bathroom.

Click here to read the search warrants (.pdf)

The search warrants state Richardson told detectives he "lost it" when the little
girl urinated and defecated in their shared bed. He said he
whipped her with an electrical cord. He also stated he was
bipolar and 'little things set him off." Detectives searched
took dental impressions and DNA evidence from Richardson and searched
his pickup truck, a room in his grandparent's house, and the outbuilding
where he was staying with the child. Among the items they
collected were drug paraphernalia and a "green leafy substance" along
with a shotgun, rifle, knives, clothing and multiple other items.
Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell indicated that the
abuse likely happened over several days and called it one of the worst
cases of abuse his investigators have ever seen. "The
reality is probably 10 times worse than anyone could possibly imagine,"
he said Monday. The warrants state Skiba's mother Helen
Reyes left for New Mexico July 6. Bizzell said he feels the
girl's mother has some responsibility for what happened because she knew
the conditions she was leaving her child in. Richardson is
charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bond in
Johnston County Jail. In the meantime, authorities say
further investigation into Skiba's death is ongoing by the JCSO,
Johnston County District Attorney's Office, and the N.C. Chief Medical
Examiner's Office and more charges could be filed.

Sheriff Steve Bizzell indicated that the
abuse likely happened over
several days and called it one of the worst
cases of abuse his
investigators have ever seen. "The
reality is probably 10
times worse than anyone could possibly imagine,"
he said Monday.
The warrants state Skiba's mother Helen
Reyes left for New Mexico
July 6. Bizzell said he feels the
girl's mother has some
responsibility for what happened because she knew
the conditions she
was leaving her child in.

I'm so frustrated reading every day about the horrors a child endured because of the choices of the so called mothers. I hope in this case she is charged with child neglect and I wish she could be charged with a lot more. Words can't describe how I feel when I read about what this animal did to this poor child. I'd leave the mother tied to a chair for 48 hours with her daughters autopsy photo's on the wall in front of her and her eyes taped open.

How could a mother leave their child with someone like this.? To serve her country? Well she sure didnt serve her daughter first did she? She needs to be charged also..I cant believe that she had no one else to leave this child with....another family member, a friend, or WTH join the service when you have a little girl to take care of. where's this child's father?.....this sickens me to death....Kiwi, Im with you I cant stand reading the abuse these children are going thru....

The man charged with beating and torturing a little girl showed no
emotion when he went before a judge Tuesday on first degree murder
charges.Teghan Skiba, 4, died at UNC hospital Monday night. In
addition to felony child abuse, Jonathan Richardson, 21, can now face
the death penalty for a first degree murder charge. Richardson initially
told authorities the girl fell off the bed but search warrants reveal a
different story.“Things like this aren't supposed to happen to
children,” said Sheriff Steve Bizzell, of Johnston County. “Jonathan
Richardson lived in a barn behind his grandparents residence and the
mother of this child knew the living conditions there before she left
the child there to go to New Mexico for training.” The warrants
also show Richardson told authorities he was "bipolar and little things
set him off." Among the items seized by authorities include:
• ammunition
• a condom wrapper
• a 12-gauge shotgun
• two belts
• duct tape.
“We also seized the truck that Jonathan Richardson used to transport the child
from the barn over to Johnston Medical Center,” said Bizzell.The investigation continues and
authorities said they're looking at anyone that may have played a role
in the death of a helpless four year old girl. Richardson has been
appointed an attorney and will remain in the Johnston County jail
without bond. Richardson has another court appearance on August 5.There
is still no confirmation on Teghan's mother, Helen Reyes, but
authorities believe she is staying with her mother in Raleigh.

Jonathan Douglas Richardson, accused of murder in the death of
4-year-old Teghan Allyssa Skiba, told investigators that bipolar
disorder causes him to be short-tempered and that he "lost it,"
according to search warrants.According to the warrants,
Richardson, 21, told detectives that "little things set him off" and
that when Teghan urinated and defecated in the bed they shared, he
whipped her with an extension cord.Teghan
died Monday evening at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, where she had been
transferred over the weekend with severe head injuries and bruises,
cuts and human bite marks all over her body. Medical workers at the
hospital told investigators the child also had injuries indicating she
had been sexually assaulted.
Richardson took her to a hospital in Smithfield on Friday and told
medical workers that she had fallen out of bed, according to police.
After seeing her injuries, the medical staff called law enforcement
officials.Richardson was charged that
same day with felony child abuse with serious bodily injury. Johnston
County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said it was the worst case of child abuse
his officers had ever seen.After
Teghan died Monday, deputies filed first-degree murder charges against
Richardson. He is being held at the Johnston County jail without bail.At
a court appearance on the murder charge Tuesday morning, Richardson was
granted a court-appointed attorney. A judge set his next appearance for
Aug. 5.According to the search warrants released Tuesday,
Johnston County sheriff's deputies seized a shotgun, a knife, an
extension cord, a guitar string, a rifle, a camera and pieces of duct
tape from the outbuilding where Richardson and the girl were living,
behind his grandparents' home. They also found a "green leafy substance"
and drug paraphernalia, according to the warrant.Richardson had
been living in the building with the child and her mother, Helen Reyes,
who was his girlfriend. Reyes left July 6 for Army Reserves training in
New Mexico. Investigators said the building had no plumbing and little
furniture except for a mattress.Bizzell said Reyes returned to
North Carolina to be with her daughter over the weekend. Reyes could not
be reached Tuesday.Teghan's father, Jerry Skiba, is in the Wake
County jail, charged with felony drug trafficking.The Wake County
Department of Social Services also has launched an investigation. Reyes
lived in Raleigh before moving in with Richardson.DSS spokesman Wil Glenn said the department would not
have a report for some time.
The
grandparents
Richardson's grandparents, Wade and Helen
Creech, have lived in the Brogden community for decades. Their home on
two-lane Old Sanders Road is well kept with cheerful garden ornaments
and plantings. The building where Richardson had been staying is one of
several tidy outbuildings on the property, which sits between soybean
fields about 6 miles southeast of Smithfield.Dennis Pollock has
known the couple for the nearly 20 years he has been pastor of Tee's
Chapel Free Will Baptist Church on Brogden Road. The Creeches attend a
different church, he said, but he sees them often at a community store
where people stop for breakfast biscuits and to catch up with neighbors."The
only thing I can say is, I have a 4-year-old granddaughter, and if my
daughter told me today that she was going to leave her in the Creeches'
care, I'd be tickled to death," Pollock said."I hear people talk,
saying, 'They should have known what was going on in their back yard.' I
understand that. But we know people that, their teenagers down the hall
were doing terrible things on the computer, and they didn't know about
it."I know that the Creeches did not know that that child was
being abused or they would have done something about it."Pollock said the Creeches were trying to help their
grandson by giving him a place to live. He had stayed in their home in
the past, Pollock said.Richardson's
criminal record includes a conviction for simple assault and injury to
personal property that, according to court records, is from an incident
in 2007 when he broke the windshield of a girlfriend's car during an
argument.He was also convicted in Wayne County in 2008 of
driving while impaired, state records show.
Reyes
spoke of fear
Bizzell said that in interviews with
investigators, Reyes said that she was sometimes afraid of Richardson."You
would think that if she was afraid of him, and if she knew the
conditions that she had resided in with him, that she would have used
some common sense before leaving that child with him in those
conditions."Neighbors said Tuesday that they didn't know
Richardson or the girl, but they spoke highly of the Creeches."They're
wonderful people that have been victims in all this," said Vicky Smith,
who lives next door.Tommy Harris, another neighbor, said he knew
Richardson was living in the cabin out back but didn't think much of
it. "That wasn't my concern," Harris said."This investigation is
in no ways over," Bizzell said. "Anybody who was directly or possibly
indirectly involved that meets the level of a crime ... we're certainly
going to be pursuing them."Somebody's got to stand in for the
little girl."

I understand the Creech's may be great people, BUT did they not realize there was a 4yo girl staying in a barn with NO running water with a 21 yo male?????? I mean the living conditions are not meant for adults much less a 4yo...THey are at fault just as much as the mom for this and the mom should also be charged for murder!!! The grandparents knew this was not right, not saying they knew what was actually going on in the barn, but they knew there was a little girl out there. They could have called social services or at least checked on the little one. Seems the mom was possibly living in Raleigh where her mom lives before moving in with this PSYCHO!!...hello stupid, take the child to your mother or someone you surely have know a lot longer than 6 months. As far as the PSYCHO...he deserves the worse kinda torture imaginable....Public hanging with torture first would be a good bet.....Give him a taste of what that little girl went through. I am sure there are enough parents in this country that would love to have a whack at him and her so called mom. What kind of mother can do something like that to her child? Yep she served her country but she did not serve her daughter and it is a shame someone like that is in our military.....that child did not deserve or ask for any of this...Mom should pay also!!! she should have to look at her daughters autopsy picture everyday for the rest of her life!!! And she should be made to have a hysterectomy for such poor judgement so nothing like this will happen again!! And the PSYCHO does not deserve to live, he is a COWARD and hopefully our tax money will not give him a free place to live WITH running water and a bathroom!!!! Grandparents, parents should at least check on small children when they are living in a barn with no running water or bath facilities...Come on people get involved!!!!

bruno wrote:I understand the Creech's may be great people, BUT did they not realize there was a 4yo girl staying in a barn with NO running water with a 21 yo male?????? I mean the living conditions are not meant for adults much less a 4yo...THey are at fault just as much as the mom for this and the mom should also be charged for murder!!! The grandparents knew this was not right, not saying they knew what was actually going on in the barn, but they knew there was a little girl out there. They could have called social services or at least checked on the little one. Seems the mom was possibly living in Raleigh where her mom lives before moving in with this PSYCHO!!...hello stupid, take the child to your mother or someone you surely have know a lot longer than 6 months. As far as the PSYCHO...he deserves the worse kinda torture imaginable....Public hanging with torture first would be a good bet.....Give him a taste of what that little girl went through. I am sure there are enough parents in this country that would love to have a whack at him and her so called mom. What kind of mother can do something like that to her child? Yep she served her country but she did not serve her daughter and it is a shame someone like that is in our military.....that child did not deserve or ask for any of this...Mom should pay also!!! she should have to look at her daughters autopsy picture everyday for the rest of her life!!! And she should be made to have a hysterectomy for such poor judgement so nothing like this will happen again!! And the PSYCHO does not deserve to live, he is a COWARD and hopefully our tax money will not give him a free place to live WITH running water and a bathroom!!!! Grandparents, parents should at least check on small children when they are living in a barn with no running water or bath facilities...Come on people get involved!!!!

Agree with you wholeheartedly bruno. I'm a big fan of making mothers be "fixed" if they have a child killed at the hands of a boyfriend or such, unfortunately-it is their "right" to have more children. You have to get the bleeding heart liberals to shut the Fk up before any of this can be changed. Yes, the mother should be charged in this case also, she was not looking out for the best interest of her child, even when she was there she was being a "not-mom" and this little girl paid the price for the mother's ignorance.
These grandparents are real winners also. You can't tell me they didn't know this little girl was there and, they did nothing about it. Your right, they should have been calling the authorities--to me they are just as guilty.
God help & bless the children.

This is just heart breaking. The horrible things that child endured before her untimely death is something no child should ever suffer. I agree, the mother should also hold responsibly for her childs death. She was afraid of him, yet she left her child there alone with him. And yes, were there no other family members that could have taken this child in.

There were other family members!! That is what infuriates me about this case. Teghan and her mom were staying with Grandma who lives in my neighborhood. I am actually a few houses away and have seen them around and used to hear Teghan playing and stuff in the back yard. The mom made a choice to move herself and her child from a fairly decent home to living conditions that I wouldn't even leave my dogs in. When I heard that the Teghan was left with that monster when she might/could have been returned to Grandma well, I've been sick over this whole thing. It's not like there were no options. I understand that the Grandmother tried to get Teghan but haven't anything to back it up; I just read it on a blog somewhere.
Now I believe that the mother is back living with her mother and it takes all I've got to not go over there and scream!!! Am waiting for the day when mom is taken away in handcuffs. She should never be able to have children again. Oh, and the biological dad? In prison for drug trafficking.
How does stuff like this happen? I hear about it, I've read about it... but never has it hit so close to home. Nobody is exempt from the evil that walks this earth.
Thanks for letting me vent.

Vent all you want, HippieChick....and Bruno....welcome to the forum...we are here to be a voice for these poor children who didn't stand a chance.

Welcome Bruno and Hippiechick. I so agree with everything you've said.

Wake County social workers have determined that Helen Reyes abused
her 4-year-old daughter Teghan, who died this month from injuries
suffered after she was left in the care of Reyes' boyfriend.Warren
Ludwig, director of Wake County Child Protective Services, released
details of the agency's investigation Wednesday, more than a week after
Teghan Skiba died.



Ludwig noted that Reyes did not necessarily
physically harm her daughter but that under the law, a parent can abuse a
child by creating "substantial risk for physical injury."Ludwig
said social workers determined Reyes had failed to protect her daughter
when she did not entrust her to an appropriate caretaker before leaving
for Army Reserve training in New Mexico on July 6. Investigators say she
left her daughter with her boyfriend, Jonathan Douglas Richardson, in a
barn behind his grandparents' home. Richardson has been charged with murdering Teghan.
Richardson took Teghan to Johnston Memorial Hospital in Smithfield on
July 16, claiming she had fallen out of bed. Hospital workers
immediately called the sheriff's department because of the severity of
Teghan's injuries, including cuts, bites, bruises and severe blows to
the head.After talking with Reyes the next day, Wake social
workers called a Wake County judge on a Saturday to ask that he sign
over temporary custody of Teghan, according to Ludwig's report. As
Teghan languished at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill over the next two days
before she died, social workers allowed Reyes to visit her child only
under their supervision.Because Teghan has died and Reyes had no other
children in her care, social workers' case against Reyes is finished.Richardson
is charged with first-degree murder. Sheriff's investigators said
Richardson suffered from a bipolar disorder and that he told them he
"lost it" and beat Teghan with an extension cord, according to a search
warrant.Johnston County officials have continued to investigate
Teghan's death and have said additional charges are possible. Under
state law, a parent or caregiver who neglects can be charged with felony
child abuse.Wake County Child Protective Services had no prior
complaints about Teghan's welfare. It began investigating after Teghan
was rushed to the hospital, when Johnston County Social Services
determined Teghan and her mother had been living in Raleigh with Reyes'
mother. Reyes and Teghan had gone to live with Richardson in the barn
four weeks before Reyes left for military training, according to Ludwig.Reserve
soldiers who care for another family member are required to adopt a
family care plan when they deploy or report to training. It's not clear
whether Reyes had a plan, what it said or whether she followed it.

JOHNSTON COUNTY, NC (WTVD) -- Officials have charged the mother of a slain 4-year-old with negligent child abuse causing serious bodily harm.
Helen Reyes boyfriend - 21-year-old Jonathan Douglas Richardson - was charged last week with first-degree murder in the death of Teghan Alyssa Skiba.

Now, the Johnston County Sheriff's Office and prosecutors say Reyes knew the girl was being abused.
"She knew he had beaten the little four year old girl in her presence before," Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell told ABC11.

According to new search warrants, Skiba was a victim of "forced consumption of alcohol". The warrants state that she suffered severe physical beatings and assault by biting between July 5 and July 16. The warrant says Reyes had "firsthand knowledge" of this kind of abuse before July 5.

"This is the worst case of torture of a child and child abuse and neglect that we've ever seen," said Bizzell.
Deputies say Richardson took the girl to the Johnston Medical Center July 16 claiming she fell out of bed. But doctors called authorities when they discovered human bite marks, bruises, cuts, severe head trauma and evidence of extreme sexual abuse.
Richardson was supposed to be caring for the child while Reyes attended military training with the Army National Guard in New Mexico.

According to search warrants, Richardson shared the same air mattress with the girl in an outbuilding behind Richardson's grandparent's house on the outskirts of Smithfield near Brogden. There was no running water and no bathroom.
Search warrants state Richardson told detectives he "lost it" when the little girl urinated and defecated in their shared bed.
He said he whipped her with an electrical cord.
He also stated he was bipolar and 'little things set him off."
Reyes was set to have her first court appearance Friday. Bond was set at $50,000. Richardson is being held without bond in Johnston County Jail.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7581917

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There is a link to the warrant in this news article.
(sigh...) I'm glad that this happened quickly. I had a sick, sick feeling that Reyes was going to go free. Now, learning that the abuse started before Reyes left Teghan, makes me sicker than before.