Judge Gives Sickening Sentence to Family That Killed Underage Girl's Unborn Baby
Pregnancy is supposed to be a time of joy and excitement, where baby clothes and nursery sets are picked out in expectation of a little one. However, in an imperfect world, not all cases are this way and can even be devastating — especially when the pregnancy is a result of rape.
That was the case with a young victim — who remains unnamed — when she was raped at the age of 13 by her brother Robert Cayald, who is now 24.
It all began when the girl and two siblings moved to Dallas to live with their aunt, Sharon Jones, after their grandmother died. Yet, instead of moving in with their aunt, the children were sent to the house of her daughter Cecilia McDonald, 28, and Lonnell McDonald.
It just so happened that Cayald had also been living with the McDonalds a year before the girls moved in, according to U.K. Daily Mail. Jones convinced the girls to lie to Texas Child Protective Services about the switch, as they weren’t supposed to have contact with their brother at all.
It was in this home that the sexual assault of the young girl took place, during August 2012. Eight months after the assault, the family found out the girl was pregnant.
However, the girl was embarrassed and didn’t report the attack, and it wasn’t until she learned that her brother had assaulted McDonald’s own three young children that she confronted her relatives on the matter. Fearing CPS would take their children away, the parents never went to the police.
The relatives quickly came up with a plan to cause a miscarriage, forcing Plan B pills down the girl’s throat and feeding her cinnamon tablets in the hopes of inducing early labor. When that didn’t work, the plan became more sinister.
Reports show that the relatives took turns holding the victim down and stomping on her abdomen. They cursed and beat the poor girl for hours.
“They held her down,” said prosecutor Rachel Burris last week during a hearing. “They forced her to lay there while people stomped her. It was savage.”
“(Expletive), you ain’t about to get my kids taken away from me,” Cecilia McDonald screamed at the girl during the attack.
Afterward, the girl was left in a bathtub where she was given iron pills to combat the bleeding. She gave birth to a stillborn but was never able to see the baby as they quickly took it from her view.
The girl’s 12-year-old sister was the only one caring for her afterward as the victim drifted in and out of consciousness. She was granted immunity for her testimony.
After the baby was born, Cecilia put the infant’s body into a bucket. She, Lonnell and Sharon Jones took it outside and tried to burn the remains of the stillborn on a grill.
When that part of the plan didn’t work, Jones allegedly paid her son $25 to dispose of the body. The remains have never been found.
“To this day, we don’t know what happened to that baby,” Burris admitted to jurors during Lonnell McDonald’s trial.
Yet, even with all the abuse in such an imperfect world, a silver lining — no matter how thin — can still be seen in the justice that is now being leveled at these criminals.
Sharon Jones and Cecilia McDonald were sentenced to seven years in prison, with Jones’ other son Cedric Jones Jr being sentenced to five years. All three pleaded guilty to felony family violence aggravated assault.
Lonnell also received a full 10 years in 2016 after being convicted of aggravated assault during the violent attack against the victim, who is now 19 and piecing her life back together. As far as the victim’s brother is concerned, his case is still pending as he has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial.
“Most people would treat strangers better,” Burris added. “yet these people did it to someone they promised to love.”
We hope and pray that the teenager who endured this violence will be able to find peace, comfort, and healing.
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