Cousins Allegedly Beat 14-Y-O Girl Impregnated by Relative to Abort Baby; Burned Stillborn on BBQ Grill to Hide Crime
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A 14-year-old girl who was allegedly impregnated by a relative then beaten by four of her cousins to force the abortion of her 8-month-old pregnancy, the remains of which was burned on a barbecue grill in an attempt to cover the crime, is being praised by police in Dallas, Texas, for coming forward to report the crimes.
"We commend the victim for her bravery for coming forward to report this unbelievable crime," said Deputy Chief Gil Garza of the Dallas Police Department, who commented that the girl's cousins "took matters into their own hands," according to a report from The Dallas Morning News
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The teenager's cousins: Cedric Jones, 27; Sharon Jones, 45; Cecila McDonald, 25; and Lonnell McDonald, 27, were arrested Tuesday on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity and were being held in the Dallas County Jail, with bail set at $150,000 each.
The relative accused of impregnating the teen who is now 16, has been identified as Robert Joseph Cayald, 22. He was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and is being held in the Dallas County Jail until he can pay a bail amount of $25,000. It is unclear how Cayald is related to the teenager.
According to an affidavit highlighted by the Morning News, the hours-long attack on the teenager is alleged to have taken place in 2013. The incident only came to light after another woman who witnessed the beating took the teenager to the police on May 22.
She told police she was a virgin before she was raped by Cayald in August 2012 and "did not tell anyone about the sexual assault because ... she was embarrassed."
Between January and March 2013, police said the teenager's cousins discovered that she was pregnant and "became very nervous and were concerned about … [Child Protective Services] removing children from the residence," according to the affidavit.
Sharon Jones reportedly gave the girl "multiple doses of birth control pills, Plan B [emergency contraception] pills and cinnamon tablets … to abort the baby," said police.
When that effort failed, Cecila McDonald pinned the teenager down while Lonnell McDonald began "repeatedly bouncing up and down" while sitting on her abdomen and kicking her repeatedly.
Cecila McDonald reportedly told the teenager, "You ain't about to get my kids taken away from me."
The attack, which lasted about six hours didn't stop until the teenager began bleeding heavily. The baby was stillborn about two hours later and her family members tried to destroy the remains of the baby on a charcoal grill but were unable to do it effectively.
Sharon Jones allegedly paid Cedric $25 to "take care of the rest of it." The teenager never got medical care but she was given iron pills due to blood loss.
According to Garza, the teenager moved out of her cousins' house to live with a friend, but only after she had recovered from the traumatic beating, and is now being cared for by Child Protective Services.
CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales revealed that while they had no previous history with the family, six other children were also removed from the cousins' home by CPS on Tuesday. They are the girl's 15-year-old brother and 14-year-old sister, and Cecila McDonald's four children: a 9-year-old girl, 7-year-old girl, 6-year-old boy and 3-year-old boy, according to the Morning News.
