He observed her unstoppable force, working double shifts as a medical secretary so they could live in a modest town house in a decent neighborhood. He saw her fly off to do overtime, and then surprise him and his sister with toy cars and video games and a trip to Disneyland. But by the time he was 12, his super mother had vanished, replaced by a crack cocaine addict.
He watched her pawn the gifts she'd bought him to feed her habit. If Jonathan felt confused, his sister Donnita was angry. She was 18 when the mother she once knew went missing. Donnita loved her and she hated her. She argued with her and listened to her. She tried desperately to save her from her addiction. And when she failed, she stopped calling her "Mom. Sometimes, their mother, Tonia Carmichael, disappeared for days or weeks at a time. So on November 10, , when her children heard she was missing, it seemed, sadly, like nothing new.
They were all black women with ties to the quiet neighborhood of Mount Pleasant in the eastern part of Cleveland. They were all mothers, some grandmothers, some second cousins. Almost all struggled with a drug addiction at some point in their lives. Court records show many resorted to stealing and some turned to prostitution to support their habits. When police found their bodies in October -- all on one man's property -- everyone wondered: How could 11 women in the same town disappear over two years without public notice?
Tonia's body was the first to be identified in what locals soon dubbed the Cleveland house of horrors. Her remains were unearthed from a shallow grave in the backyard, decayed beyond recognition, except for plastic jewelry falling off her skeletal fingers. Police believe the women were easy prey for Anthony Sowell, a convicted sex offender who served 15 years for the attempted rape of a woman in Sowell, now 51, had moved to the home on Imperial Avenue in , after his release from prison.
He has been charged with 11 murders, two rapes, one attempted rape and more than 70 other related charges. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and is scheduled to go to trial in February , according to the prosecutor's office.
