The father of a 9-year-old girl who died in June after being mauled by his girlfriend's rottweiler was arrested by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office on a Lake County warrant in connection with her death.
Lo Juan Sessions faces a charge of aggravated manslaughter of child in the death of his daughter, Jamaria Sessions. His girlfriend, 34-year-old Tyshael Martin, was arrested Aug. 28 on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and child neglect. She is being held with no bond at the Lake County Jail.
A horrific discovery
According to an affidavit provided to the Daily Commercial, Martin told deputies she woke up at her Montverde home on June 17 for a family vacation to California, and found Jamaria cold and unresponsive when she went to wake her and other children in the house.
Detectives later gained access to video footage from the home's security system, where they found a disturbing video of Martin reportedly commanding her dog to attack Jamaria, and kicking the child while she was on the ground.
According to the arrest affidavit, Lake EMS requested the Lake County Sheriff’s Office respond after noting rigor mortis in Jamaria’s jaw. Inside Lake said that, according to Florida State University, if a body feels cold and stiff, death had likely occurred between eight and 36 hours before the discovery of the body.
A life interrupted
Jamaria Faith Sessions was born on Jan. 15, 2015.
Tadrina "Tata" Dort, who has been described by her relatives on Facebook as the children's mother, died from complications due to Leukemia in 2022.
Jamaria attended Grassy Lake Elementary School and Legends Academy. She liked to sing, wear different colors in her hair and make videos with her little sister. Her family called her "Mari."
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Other Facebook posts reveal that Dort's mother, Althea Chenault, presumably the children's maternal grandmother, took care of Jamaria while their father was in prison.
Lake County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer John Herrell said that a school resource deputy requested one of the sheriff's patrol deputies to conduct a well-being check on the children in December because of the unusual number of days they had missed school.
That deputy responded to the home and made contact with Sessions, who attributed their absences from school to the passing of their mother.
"We actually have an open administrative investigation on one of our employees due to concerns about how that call was handled," Herrell explained. "I’ll be able to provide details on that situation once the administrative investigation is complete. Until then, those details are confidential per state statute."
Lo Juan Sessions was living with his mother in Ocoee. No information has been revealed yet as to why Jamaria and her sister were not living with their father, or who will have custody of the younger sibling. Social media posts by relatives said Jamaria lived with her grandmother.
Sessions served five years of prison time for trafficking in a controlled substance (MDMA) and two counts of felony child neglect.
"These charges were the result of Lojuan Sessions fleeing from law enforcement with Tyshael Martin and three children inside the vehicle he was driving, ultimately crashing and causing injury to and resulting in them being life-flighted to Arnold Palmer Hospital," the arrest affidavit said, adding that Sessions and Martin have a known history of exposing their children to illegal narcotics.
A series of unusual events
According to the arrest affidavit, DCF was contacted and responded to the scene when evidence of abuse had been noted during the preliminary investigation.
Sessions had left his children with Martin after a hostile argument a couple of weeks before Jamaria's death.
According to his testimony, transcribed on the affidavit, Martin shot Sessions with bug spray while he was sleeping after the couple's fight.
At that point, he left to live with his mother in Ocoee, leaving the children with Martin.
Trips were planned while Sessions was away. Martin took the children on a Caribbean cruise funded by her sister and after their return, Martin planned to take the kids to visit her sister in California, but once at the airport, they missed their flight after Jamaria, with an injured ankle caused by tripping over a dog food can, couldn't walk in the airport and required a wheelchair.
According to the children's responses to a DCF interview, relayed in the affidavit, Jamaria required a wheelchair, and on their return home from Orlando, Martin attempted to straighten Jamaria's hair with boiling water.
The DCF interviews included that the children were punished with what was called "wall sits" and running in place with their arms up while Martin struck them above and below the waist. Jamaria's siblings were reported in the affidavit as recounting that the 9-year-old had two options where should sleep: a crib mattress or sofa, and she had no possessions other than clothes.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Father of 9-year-old girl mauled by dog in Lake County charged with aggravated manslaughter
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