CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – 19 News spoke with a man who claims he is the father of one of the two little girls found dead and buried in suitcases in Cleveland.
Deshaun Chatman shared that he was overcome with grief and anger as he came to terms with the terrible truth that his 8-year-old girl, Mila Chatman, is dead.
Deshaun Chatman shared that he was overcome with grief and anger as he came to terms with the terrible truth that his 8-year-old girl, Mila Chatman, is dead.(Source: Deshaun Chatman)
“I’ve been looking for my daughter for five years. I’ve been calling CPS, going to the courts, trying to get emergency custody, calling the police for welfare checks. But they denied all access,” Chatman alleged.
On Monday, she and her half-sister, Amor Wilson, 10, were found dead and partially buried, after a neighbor walking his dog near a field in the area of East 163rd and Midland Avenue called 911 after his dog picked up a scent.
Cleveland police on Wednesday detained a person of interest, whom officers later identified as Aliyah Henderson, 28, near the crime scene.
Aliyah Henderson(Julia Thyret | (Source: Cuyahoga County Sheriff))
Records show Henderson was booked into the Cuyahoga County Jail on Wednesday evening.
According to Chatman, the little girl’s mother had been avoiding him and moving around a lot. The last time he said he saw her was when he helped buy clothes for kindergarten.
Chatman told 19 News that he is now working with detectives to prove he was Mila’s father.
“I’m still in contact with the detectives. We’re doing the DNA samples. So I’ll get more details within the next couple of days.”
Chatman visited the site where his little girl’s body was found with 19 News.
“What I’m feeling is hate. I’m not going to lie, I feel hate. I asked you on numerous occasions for my daughter. If it’s too much for you. I just want my daughter,” Chatman said when asked how he felt.
Chatman, so overwhelmed by the sight, needed to be comforted by a friend.
“I don’t get how you can hate your kids enough to kill them. To bury them. To do all this and go right there to that home, right there, and live there when your kids are right here. Go be a mother to another child, while you just killed your other two.”
Now, he tells 19 News that he wants changes to the system, which he said denied him a chance to be a father.
“Change these laws. Make it better. A man do have a say so in their child’s life, married or unmarried,” Chatman said.
19 News has reached out to Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services to learn if it was involved in any way and if Chatman had any contact with the office.
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