WA WA - Shantina Smiley, 29, & Azriel Carver, 8 (fnd deceased), Olympia, Mar 2010 - #2

[marlalouise]

I've been lurking for days and I finally have to state my thoughts....

I think, given her history, she wanted out. Why did it take a year to get her son back when she passed out & CPS (or CS) investigated? How long was he removed from her care?

Anyway, she seemed familiar to the area. It seems like the stops she made were off-the-beaten path...it's not like she took an exit, stopped at a near-by store and went on her way. How did she know where these stores were? From driving around or did she know the area?

I know the autopsy has been complete, but the toxicology report hasn't come back, has it?

My theory is she was overwhelmed. She wanted out. She drove around for hours when she could have easily gotten on the interstate. She buys wine because she needs to relax and get up the courage for what she wants to do. I'll be surprised if Azriel does not have benzos (anti-anxiety meds) in his system. He was probably complaining that he was hungry by nine o'clock without anything to eat but a candy bar/gum and a soda, so the stop for the corn dog. For some reason they leave (maybe she told him they had to hurry to meet RS - drugs are more effective on an empty stomach and she did let him buy a drink, so maybe that's how she did it). She drives around some more. She gets "lost" again and knocks on a stranger's door for directions and uses the phone. Azriel complains about STILL being hungry, so he is given a pizza. She drives around some more until he falls asleep, then she drives to the beach. If he is asleep due to drugs in his system, she could have easily drowned him and he wouldn't struggle, which would make the drowning "seem" accidental. After she does, she has a moment of clarity when she realizes what she did and regrets it, pounds on the garage looking for help, but knows it was wrong, so she leaves, possibly OD'ing...or maybe she took her purse, bag and some cash and left?

Which makes me think...maybe someone else is involved and picked her up?

I know...a far-fetched story...but why else would she drive around for hours unless she was really drunk (which someone would have noticed something) or she wanted Azriel to be sleeping?

A long brain-storm here....

~~~MarLou~~~

 

[sorrell skye]

Hey Billy (is it okay if I call you Billy, or do you prefer "B"?).

As Texas Kermie says, "It ain't easy being green."

BTW - WELCOME to WS!

 

[90Nine]

This is a complete tragedy.

A tragedy that Shantina was an alcoholic.
A tragedy that Azriel had a hard life in his eight years.
A tragedy that Shantina could not conquer her demons
that day.
A tragedy that Azriel cannot dance in front of security cameras anymore.
A tragedy that Shantina chose to reconnect with her stepfather that day.
A tragedy that Azriel paid a price for.

I cannot blame Shantina for this tragedy.
I know that's not the popular opinion here on WS.
Alcoholism is a disease.
It is not an excuse for poor choices or
reckless behavior, but it is a real
diagnosed disease.

IMO: My thought is she started drinking again quite awhile ago.
She drank before she set out on that trip.
She drank during the trip.
Did she willingly put Azriel in harm's way?
I guess so in the literal sense.

There is no excuse for what happened.
But there is a reason.
And it is all a tragedy.

My question is: why did she not leave Az there to go with RS instead....That would have been ideal, but probably not have allowed her to look like everything was normal while she did her thing. I don't know....

 

[Knox]

Thank you Dreamweaver, you said that so well.

 

[Beyond Belief]

Hmm this bottle of wine which I am hung up on. I read two reports one says corked and almost full, another says capped and half full.

Thats not really alot of wine if it was your standard size. And she bought it at 8. Folks didn't think she was drunk at 10.
I don't think this woman was drunk during the night, I mean after they got stuck.
Still pondering..............

 

[90Nine]

[/B]

bbm

The one in this pic below:

Off Zangle Road NE in North Olympia is a narrow gravel road leading to the beach where the van Shantina Smiley had been driving was found. The entrance to that gravel road is marked by a red arrow. (Photo courtesy of reader Robert Dashiell)

http://www.kitsapsun.com/photos/gal...tina-smiley-disappearance/8910/#ixzz0ifuwqQXy

Looking at this photograph we see that the lights are on in the front of the house. It looks pretty well lit. If she had just come from knocking on the door at another home and was even more lost, seems like she would have no issue with stopping at this home.

So, if her friend was correct in saying that she was probably drinking all day and then just drank a whole bottle of wine (half of the big bottle in just a couple of hours), she must have been ready to pass out and super likely she couldn't fathom driving another hour plus and deal with everyone at the house.

So I think she was driving looking for a quiet place to sleep for the night and headed for the beach away from everything. I don't know how she knew about that road, even a police officer said he had a hard time finding it in the light. It was so dark (except for the lighting from the house), but she would have had to really be looking that way to see the road. It seems like someone lost and in the dark would have been looking forward and not out into the woods. I don't know, but it does seem like she knew it was there.

Maybe she scoped it out before she left. It is half way to Castle Rock. That wouldn't account for her asking for directions to the freeway though.

 

[PaulR]

That's what doesn't make sense to me - regardless of which route she took, I can't understand how lost she got in Olympia. If you stick to the main roads, you can't get lost. I've driven it several times going to or coming from the peninsula - even in bad weather (pouring rain, fog). Even late at night all by my lonesome.

If she was drunk (or on her anti-anxiety meds, or both), and in an unfamiliar town... I think she could get lost. You had the benefit of being sober.

If she was afraid of getting caught drinking and driving... why continue driving another four hours? It's not that far to Castle Rock. Yeah, there would have been an issue with her showing up toasted, but there would have been an issue with her not showing up at all which is my problem with the "she drove around to get Az to fall asleep, then planned to spend the night somewhere."

 

[PaulR]

Hmm this bottle of wine which I am hung up on. I read two reports one says corked and almost full, another says capped and half full.

Capped and corked mean the same thing. In this case, the bottle had a cap, not a true cork, but the word "corked" can still be used to describe a bottle that was sealed.

 

[dnrslucky1]

I know a guy who can start drinking early in the morning and drink all day. You would never know he had been drinking. By the time you realize he has been drinking, he is beyond drunk. Its like he can drink all day, and then all of a sudden he is trashed, It is weird!

 

[Beyond Belief]

I wonder if there are "dead end" signs on Zangle?

 

[SMK]

Such a horribly tragic case. In the end, it seems there are only two possibilities:
1. That Shantina intended to go on this visit, drank from stress, and wound up going off on a tangent and drowning accidentally with her son.
2. Or, that she was really suicidal, and planned something along the lines of what occurred, either ahead of time, or at the last minute.

The pounding on the garage door would seem to have to be related to SS and her son. One or the other of them must have awoken and panicked, and then gone back to the water. If 1., from sleeping and awakening to one of them gone. If 2. From suddenly wanting to reverse what she had begun to do, and then realizing it was too late.

I am surprised that the people did not see anyone after the pounding. And what could it mean, that the bloodhounds did not pick up the trail? Isn't that odd?

I also wonder if she dreaded the visit to the step family due to past trouble with them.

 

[90Nine]

SS's MySpace 'About Me' summary:

It looks like it was updated recently since it mentions she just graduated from school....bless her heart for trying so hard, but still there was the guilt and hurt in her that she likely never dealt with and didn't heal from. I feel badly for her, as I've been there myself and it's not a nice place to be for so many years. But if you continuously make poor decisions from doing something such as drinking and putting your child in danger and having even lost him for a year, I do blame her because she made that decision.

It wasn't the disease that made the decision for her to spend the evening drunk with her child because she had a choice before she chose to drink to at the very least put him in a safe situation while she was doing her thing.

Kat's Blurbs
About me:
Well I am a single mother of one fantastic little 7 yr. old.I just graduated from Olympic College for Medical Billing and Coding. I never realized how much I missed being in school. I like to listen to music, read horror novels, watch tv, and I absolutely love to cook! I'm into a lot of different cultures. I've lived in Hawaii and Guam and you get to hear a lot of really cool stories. I am now engaged to this fabulous guy! His name is Robb and I couldn't be any happier. He has two great kids named Niki and DJ. Azriel and D.J. are in Cub Scouts. Robb and I are both den leaders for them. Robb is the Webelo I den leader and I am Azriel's Wolf den leader. Niki is so talented, she draws and plays guitar. She loves anything that has to do with music. All the kids are turning into such great human beings before our eyes. I love all of them so much! I just hope that everyone out there can and will be as happy as our family!

 

[RubyRed]

Officials: Boy died of drowning; abuse reported

That portrait of the relationship between mother and son differed dramatically from an earlier statement by Smiley's fiance, Robb Simmons, that he didn't believe she would do anything to endanger her son.

• A report was filed in June 2005 that Carver suffered "serious physical abuse," including a broken arm and bruises, by Smiley's former boyfriend. The complaint was investigated, and the boyfriend was arrested for assault - but never prosecuted.

• In March 2007, CPS investigated a complaint that Smiley had physically abused her son, but the complaint was closed as "unfounded."

• In August 2007, the agency found that Smiley was negligent in caring for her son after she left him unsupervised while she was passed out from alcohol intoxication. The boy was placed under the care of relatives while Smiley received substance abuse treatment, then returned the next year to his mother's care.

• Another referral was made to CPS in April 2009 about Carver "acting out" in school, but no details were immediately available. "We're still waiting to find out how much contact we had at this time," Hill said.

CPS will now conduct an extensive "fatality review," which involves going over every aspect of the case to see if mistakes were made by any agency along the way.

"We will look at all activity we had with the family ... in the fatality review," Hill said. "We're going to scrutinize every action."

Hill said it is not fair to blame CPS for the boy's death without further information

http://www.klewtv.com/news/88624222.html

The latest report was April/09 by the school. Fatality Review, how sad.

 

[Beyond Belief]

Does anyone find it strange how they ended up so close to the waters edge? Thats a big beach to end up that far down.
Could a violent accident make all the door fly open? Maybe they were knocked unconscious and floated out the door of the van.
Well that just looks like it was a rough ride down to the water.

 

[yosande]

Okay, this is pure speculation on my part, but I'm thinking there might be a more logical explanation for the fiancee and SS driving down separately, considering her relapse.

Maybe they were planning on going down together. She got nervous during the day, started drinking. At 4:15, he calls her and tells her the meeting is almost over, he'll be on his way home and they can drive down together. She freaks out because she has been drinking and thought she'd have until 6:30 to "sober up," tells him she's already about to leave and he should just meet them at Castle Rock. She grabs Azriel, runs out the door - forgetting her overnight bag and cell phone.

When originally asked, the fiance might not want to say that she rushed out of the house and wouldn't wait for him - people would treat her as a runaway and he knew there was probably more going on because of her drinking. Plausible? And it explains why he would immediately put up the website, not to give HIMSELF an alibi, but to "show" that she didn't run away.

I think she left her cell phone at home on purpose. Perfect way to control contact, or lack thereof.
moo

 

[Allyne]

Also why he wouldn't stop and get his charger.
However, now I am wondering if he did NOT go home before heading South for the night - did he have a bag packed on his motorcycle OR were his clothes in that van? All very strange and I am just throwing this stuff out there. No firm beliefs in any theories yet. More info needed!

Good point about the charger. If I was going on a trip somewhere, I usually stop at home first...

On the news they said the latest report was from the school three months ago...we don't know if it was against him, her, or both of them.

I know it was awhile ago, but one of the comments she made on his myspace page says in part:

I love you enough to fight for you,
compromise for you, and sacrifice
myself for you if need be.

Makes one wonder.

I hope they did a toxicology on the boy.

I've been lost plenty of times, but if I had been there I would have turned around in the driveway, not thought a narrow road to who knows where is a good place to go...

 

[billyjoesgirl]

dang it...if these reports of abuse are true....omg! these friggin moms need to stop putting their needs first and put their kids as the MAIN priority...this irks me! How selfish! I just don't understand it!

 

[sorrell skye]

http://media.kitsapsun.com/media/img/photos/2010/03/17/roadtobeach_t607.jpg

There's no way I'll believe that she drove down that almost impossible to see gravel drive (late at night, no less) unless she had been there before and/or knew where she was going, based on this photo.

 

[Allyne]

The other thing that bothers me is that in the interview with KIRO he was boasting about the business & how well he'd been doing...made enough to retire early...but from his websites, it sure doesn't look like it.

Just sayin'.

 

[PaulR]

I've been lost plenty of times, but if I had been there I would have turned around in the driveway, not thought a narrow road to who knows where is a good place to go...

If she was looking for a place to "sleep it off", then she may have thought that parking on a gravel road would be quiet, without any cops coming by.