Found Deceased TX - Maliyah 'Tootie' Bass, 2, Houston, 22 Aug 2020 *arrests*

[Tracey4AU]

The casket was opened around 1hr 2min.
She was clearly visible at times and looked appropriate for viewing. There was a large yellow bow or flower on the right side of her head, mostly covering her face until the camera moved. I think that was her father who placed the tiara on her head. I didn’t see her mom or the bf but it was hard to tell who was who. I believe the woman in a black dress with black stockings was the very vocal godmother. She spent the longest time at the casket and was clearly crying. Many people just walked by and took a quick look. Maybe out of curiosity or maybe she wasn’t as unblemished as it looked on the video.

I found it sad that her bio grandmother RJ was the only person who said Maliyah’s name, who told little anecdotes about who maliyah was, how she loved pediasure and Mac & cheese. She spoke of a time maliyah wanted to “do art” so she took a pen and did art all over the walls, then wanted to help her granny clean it off. She was the only one who has given me any sense of who this child was the entire case and you can tell she loves that baby.

Such a sad, sad day.

Bless that granny. In my experience, the love between grandparent and grandchild is such a special and indescribable feeling. I hope to never know this loss.

 

[Bravo]

The flowered head band on little Tootie was so large for her precious little face. Sadly I think it was used to keep something from being visible. It was so incredibly sad. The camera did a wide angle shot of the attendees. I didn't see Tooties Mom. One would think if she attended she would be in the first row. Fly high little one

 

[crush]

Still no change with ME case file.

 

[astansell]

$20k for a funeral? Yikes. Three years ago we buried a family member and used all of the $10k insurance policy. Think we spent an extra $1k for flowers, basic flat marker. I don’t remember any other extra costs, probably quite a markup for those.
I saw a 3 money requests but it appears the bio father’s is now the only active one.

Prayers and strength for the family.

As shown above their is no credible source for that previous poster's claim of 60% of mothers abusing/maltreating their children. As that is not true. What a vile accusation to make. Most mothers are wonderful, self sacrificing and nurturing. The minority are not.

I work in child psychology, I've seen enough to know the ratio and it is not what that person said. As a father also! Most parents are good, none of us are perfect and we struggle, we feel useless, we feel guilty.

That poor child, bless her soul, I hope she never suffered in the last moments. Little angel.

The part about innocent children suffering at the hands of negligent and/or abusive “parents” is something that I’ve really struggled with off and on following these cases. I finally developed a mindset, as naive as it may be, that regardless of the circumstances the hand of God protects them in every way possible in their final situation. Without that mindset, I’d find myself physically ill and so full of rage and anger that I’d honestly wish the same on fate on the the perp. Not very Christian of me, I know.

 

[rosesfromangels]

The part about innocent children suffering at the hands of negligent and/or abusive “parents” is something that I’ve really struggled with off and on following these cases. I finally developed a mindset, as naive as it may be, that regardless of the circumstances the hand of God protects them in every way possible in their final situation. Without that mindset, I’d find myself physically ill and so full of rage and anger that I’d honestly wish the same on fate on the the perp. Not very Christian of me, I know.

I surely do understand where you are coming from, and my religious beliefs have been in opposition with what I have come to believe punishment for these heinous acts should be. I still struggle to reconcile that.

While I understand your need to believe the little one is comforted in the arms of the angels, I do not wish that to be the narrative right now. I want everyone to focus on what this child went through and keep that in the forefront of their minds until after a trial. I want everyone to think about the fact this little girl never got to put on a pink tutu and go to a ballet recital....she never got to make homemade valentines and valentines cookies. She never got to help decorate a tree or sing Christmas carols. She never got to go on her first date, get her first kiss, and fall in love. She never got to go to college and gift the world with her abilities and talent. She never got to walk down the aisle with the one she loves or hold her own baby in her arms.

This is what I'm focusing on right now - what she went through, the loss, and how the Perp must pay.

Justice for this beautiful child.
ANY CRIME THAT RESULTS IN THE DEATH OF A CHILD SHOULD BE AUTOMATIC DEATH PENALTY. Let's call it the Maliyah bill.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[crush]

The part about innocent children suffering at the hands of negligent and/or abusive “parents” is something that I’ve really struggled with off and on following these cases. I finally developed a mindset, as naive as it may be, that regardless of the circumstances the hand of God protects them in every way possible in their final situation. Without that mindset, I’d find myself physically ill and so full of rage and anger that I’d honestly wish the same on fate on the the perp. Not very Christian of me, I know.

It is a struggle. All I can say is that most if not all of us here have had that anguish.
If there's any comfort at all, it's the certainty that the sick feeling actually means you're well; that is to say right and wrong are not corny concepts but something you even feel physically. Restraining from evil means conscience.
It seems there's a lot of amoral scum out there, maybe more than ever or we just get more news coverage.
The psychiatrists in Diane Downs trial used the word fungible
Things --- even human "things" --- only have value for those criminals for what use they serve. A child is like a paper cup : you keep one when you need to use it. When you're done, you crumple it up and throw it in a dumpster or a ditch.
If that makes us sick, we're healthy.
Stay strong.

 

[crush]

I just learned Maliyah's burial site is at Lincoln Memorial Park.

 

[crush]

Good morning. Still no change from ME office.

 

[Lusitana]

Whoever murdered this baby needs to be punished.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Still waiting and hoping for an arrest soon.

 

[Peppery]

I’ve spent a lot of time wondering what the hold up is. Let’s be honest, IMO and I think in the opinion of most posters here, the mother and her boyfriend know a lot more than they’re saying and we don’t believe the story that mom stepped inside for 5 minutes. I believe Maliyah was deceased at least 12 hours or more before mom called 911. And I think mom and bf know who did it and why.

Another option is that we aren’t dealing with brilliant people, these are people of average, typical intelligence like most of us, who probably acted in a fairly typical criminal manner if they are responsible for her death. That means it should be easy for LE to find enough information to make an arrest. Yet we’re almost 2 weeks from the 911 call and nothing from LE since about day 2.

It took way too long to ID MB, yet her father was able to have an open casket funeral for her. I know morticians can work magic, but a body that has been in the water for days is not recognizable. Google it if you think you can handle it. It is extremely disturbing and now way would an open casket be an option.

I don’t really know what I’m rambling about, just that I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as mom/bf did something, places her in the bayou and called 911. There would be an arrest by now. IMO.

 

[crush]

I’ve spent a lot of time wondering what the hold up is. Let’s be honest, IMO and I think in the opinion of most posters here, the mother and her boyfriend know a lot more than they’re saying and we don’t believe the story that mom stepped inside for 5 minutes. I believe Maliyah was deceased at least 12 hours or more before mom called 911. And I think mom and bf know who did it and why.

Another option is that we aren’t dealing with brilliant people, these are people of average, typical intelligence like most of us, who probably acted in a fairly typical criminal manner if they are responsible for her death. That means it should be easy for LE to find enough information to make an arrest. Yet we’re almost 2 weeks from the 911 call and nothing from LE since about day 2.

It took way too long to ID MB, yet her father was able to have an open casket funeral for her. I know morticians can work magic, but a body that has been in the water for days is not recognizable. Google it if you think you can handle it. It is extremely disturbing and now way would an open casket be an option.

I don’t really know what I’m rambling about, just that I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as mom/bf did something, places her in the bayou and called 911. There would be an arrest by now. IMO.

Let me play devils advocate here. I'm not disagreeing, I want to try a different perspective.

Intelligence may be average, yes, but what type of intelligence may factor.
I know plenty with academic knowledge, but nothing else.
Whereas the average man or woman in jail may not have a college degree but they know a ton of things that would never occur to us law-abiding folk.

Having information is one thing, but juries, especially in a death penalty case, want some hard evidence. And it all has to be something the defense can't turn around in a murky timeline (see Casey Anthony case/Maleah Davis case for research).

I'm so glad you brought up the open casket question.
A body that sinks doesn't rise for a couple days. Yet a jogger saw her Sunday morning! This as been skipped over but it's important.
So was she gone for days, or placed Sunday am?
I think LE was everywhere from Sat morning on so how was Maliyah's body visible ... and yet not so decomposed? I expected closed casket and I can't understand. Very artful makeup skills wouldn't be enough.
Was her little body little enough to make artificially cold before she was put in river? If you get me.
Idk. But the timeline of disappearing and being seen in the bayou is wrong somehow.
I want guilty party(ies) arrested soonest!
But if LE has anything they can't explain, it will be twisted around.
At least arrest on something, felony neglect? Obstructing investigation by lying about the "breakfast" time?

 

[Peppery]

Let me play devils advocate here. I'm not disagreeing, I want to try a different perspective.

Intelligence may be average, yes, but what type of intelligence may factor.
I know plenty with academic knowledge, but nothing else.
Whereas the average man or woman in jail may not have a college degree but they know a ton of things that would never occur to us law-abiding folk.

Having information is one thing, but juries, especially in a death penalty case, want some hard evidence. And it all has to be something the defense can't turn around in a murky timeline (see Casey Anthony case/Maleah Davis case for research).

I'm so glad you brought up the open casket question.
A body that sinks doesn't rise for a couple days. Yet a jogger saw her Sunday morning! This as been skipped over but it's important.
So was she gone for days, or placed Sunday am?
I think LE was everywhere from Sat morning on so how was Maliyah's body visible ... and yet not so decomposed? I expected closed casket and I can't understand. Very artful makeup skills wouldn't be enough.
Was her little body little enough to make artificially cold before she was put in river? If you get me.
Idk. But the timeline of disappearing and being seen in the bayou is wrong somehow.
I want guilty party(ies) arrested soonest!
But if LE has anything they can't explain it will be twisted around.
At least arrest on something, felony neglect? Obstructing investigation bu lying about the "breakfast" time?

True, all good points. I still go back to thinking this was an unplanned death, likely during the course of abuse that was normal in MB’s life and it went too far that time. which usually doesn’t leave a lot of time to make a plan or cover tracks. Those type of perps usually are panicking and make a lot of mistakes that are easier for LE to unravel. Moo

 

[crush]

Oh I think this was an unplanned death. I don't think most child deaths are planned (there's exceptions) but until Maliyah was reported missing who was keeping track of when they saw her last? If whoever is responsible didn't have a reason to hurry, a lot of things could happen after death. Whoever killed Caylee Anthony may have put duct tape and stickers on her, it seems we'll never know.
Cough cough Anyway, the Caylee and Maleah Davis cases show you can have a whole lot of info but can't get the proof you need.
I looked at official sources that recover bodies and they say 3 to five days to surface.
If she was on a bank, or a lot of aquatic weeds she might not have sank much. But then she'd have been in the sun a day and a half.
LE hasn't detailed anything at the site.
I don't think they'll put manner of death till the arrest(s) happen.

 

[miss-scarlett23]

The ME has only released the COD of Secoriea Turner, the little girl shot in Atlanta on 4th July.
I understand this is a different state, but could the delay in COD reports be due to a backlog caused by COVID19? If so, it could be months before we know how Maliyah died.

Medical examiner releases cause of death for Secoriea Turner | 11alive.com

 

[crush]

The ME has only released the COD of Secoriea Turner, the little girl shot in Atlanta on 4th July.
I understand this is a different state, but could the delay in COD reports be due to a backlog caused by COVID19? If so, it could be months before we know how Maliyah died.

Medical examiner releases cause of death for Secoriea Turner | 11alive.com

This is really interesting. They have charged someone for the Turner murder, about 11 days after (July 15, if correct?)
You're right, it's a different state. Also, that was a shooting, so manner of death wasn't mysterious.
But we could get arrest before ME report; if the charge(s) are homicide it won't reveal much but homicide plus abuse, etc could tell us more.
Soon please!

 

[Yemelyan]

The ME has only released the COD of Secoriea Turner, the little girl shot in Atlanta on 4th July.
I understand this is a different state, but could the delay in COD reports be due to a backlog caused by COVID19? If so, it could be months before we know how Maliyah died.

Medical examiner releases cause of death for Secoriea Turner | 11alive.com

This is a good point. Because we were watching this case closely the times seemed long to us but what are the normal times for cases that go through the ME in Houston.

 

[astansell]

This is really interesting. They have charged someone for the Turner murder, about 11 days after (July 15, if correct?)
You're right, it's a different state. Also, that was a shooting, so manner of death wasn't mysterious.
But we could get arrest before ME report; if the charge(s) are homicide it won't reveal much but homicide plus abuse, etc could tell us more.
Soon please!

The only recent case that I could come up with to compare with MB’s was the other Maleah. Minus COVID, the autopsy took place in Harris County and the victims were close in age. She was reported missing 5/4, remains were recovered on 5/31 and back in Houston 6/1. Her COD was released 6/28. I hope that helps give you a general idea.

But, Maleah Davis’ remains were on the side of the road for 4 weeks and supposedly at least partially hit by tractors mowing bc they were concealed in black trash bags. So you can look at it one of 2 ways; it took 4 weeks for her COD because they were working so hard to figure out what happened. Or, with the very little evidence that remained after 4 weeks of decomposition and possible damage by a mower, it still took 4 weeks.

 

[rosesfromangels]

COD is taking time because everyone knows it will determine the degree of charges that will be leveled against the Perp(s), as well as the necessary and irrefutable evidence to convict.

Worth the wait.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[oviedo]

Patiently waiting for justice
JMO