The death of 8-year-old Jaylin Schwarz from Odessa, Texas, which took place in August 2020, brought tears and heartbreak at everyone who heard her sad life story.
Jaylin and her younger sister Jayde were taken away from their biological mother Alysha Anderton four years ago because she was an addict who failed to overcome her addiction within the stipulated time fixed by child protective services. After that, the girls were placed under the care of Alysha’s stepsister Ashley Schwarz and her husband Daniel Schwarz.
Sadly, things went even worse from that moment on and Jaylin was a subject of constant child neglect and abuse which eventually led to her death.
According to police records, sweet Jaylin died of dehydration after she was forced to jump on a trampoline for an excessive period of time without water as a punishment.
After the investigation, the cruel guardians were charged with capital murder and were taken into custody by the Odessa Police Department. It was reported that the girl was forbidden from having breakfast and was not given any water on the day she died “because she was not jumping.” The temperature was over 110 degrees. The autopsy results confirmed that she died of dehydration.
Recently, almost a year after Jaylin’s passing, her biological mother opened up about losing her daughter. Fox 17 reported that heartbroken Alysha said: “I was surprised it wasn’t more than just dehydration because the little girl that I saw in the casket did not look like an 8-year-old girl. She was so, so tiny. She was so tiny.”
She continued: “The most important thing I needed to tell them was that I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry that I didn’t bring you back home like I promised you that I would.”
According to CBS 7, Alysha said: “What upsets me the most is that I never got to see her alive again. When they took them, I never got to say goodbye. So I’ve never had closure for the past four years.
“I hope she knows my heart now and she knows that I was trying very, very hard to get to them and I could have saved her.”
The only thing that gives this mother comfort is that her little girl’s grave is nearby and she can visit it every single day. “If that’s all I get now, I’ll take it. I’ll take it and I will treasure it for the rest of my life,” Alysha said. “If that’s all I’m given when it comes to her if that’s all I’m given I will take it any day… And I will make it beautiful just as she was in life.”
Currently, she’s doing all in her power to regain custody of her other daughter who is under the care of the Schwarzs’ babysitter for the time being.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with the legal battles.
