‘I want to know why my daughter is dead:’ Family of woman found in CT shelter demands answers
Imani Mohammed-Denny lost the oldest of her six children in December and has been desperate for answers ever since.
Her daughter, Aseelah Mohammed, was found dead during the week of Christmas in a shelter in New Haven and since then, she said she has gotten very few answers about the circumstances surrounding the 41-year-old’s death.
“I want to know why my daughter is dead,” said Mohammed-Denny, who was raised in Connecticut and has since relocated back to the state in hopes of finding answers.
She gathered with family members and supporters Thursday outside the New Haven Police Department, to demand “Justice for Aseelah.”
Mohammed-Denny said she was at home in Jacksonville, North Carolina, on Dec. 27 when police knocked on her door and informed her that her daughter had been found dead at a shelter at 515 George St. in New Haven. According to the mother, a New Haven detective told her that footage at the facility — which property records show is owned by Liberty Community Services, LLC. — showed Mohammed wrapped in a comforter and being dragged down a flight of stairs to a sunroom in the building, where her body was placed under sheetrock.
By the time the body was found days later, it was too badly decomposed for an open casket funeral and the odor made a closet casket service impossible as well, Mohammed-Denny said. Her daughter had to be cremated.
“She was unrecognizable when I went to view her body,” the mother said. “That just tells you the brutality of how her body was when I came up to make funeral arrangements.”
Since the first day that a detective was assigned to the case, Mohammed-Denny said she has felt like authorities have not investigated properly or taken her daughter’s death seriously because she comes from the Black community, was diagnosed as a schizophrenic and had a history of substance abuse — allegations the New Haven Police Department has refuted.
“I hate to say it, but it’s true: we have cops that count some people off,” Mohammed-Denny said outside the police department, surrounded by supporters holding signs that said “Justice for Aseelah Mohammed” and “Aseelah Mohammed’s life mattered.”
“My family is grieving,” she said. “We have been disrespected. We have not been heard.”
According to Mohammed-Denny, the person seen on video moving her daughter’s body told authorities the two were getting high together when she laid down on a bed and he left the room. The mother said the man told investigators she was not breathing when he returned.
Despite inconclusive autopsy results, Mohammed-Denny claims the lead detective has leaned toward her daughter’s death being caused by an overdose. The mother said she refuses to believe that the man who was with her would not have called 911 if that were the case.
According to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Mohammed’s cause and manner of death have been found to be “undetermined,” to date, though police have noted that a combination of narcotic substances was discovered in the toxicology screening.
“Our investigation has been conducted in a professional manner and was in no way affected by Aseelah’s race, mental health diagnoses, or substance use issues,” New Haven police Officer Christian Bruckhart said in a statement this week.
“While waiting for the results of the autopsy, the assigned detective kept in constant contact with the family and spoke not only with Ms. Denny on several occasions, but also several of her sons,” Bruckhart continued, adding that police are limited in what can be released based on an internal affairs complaint filed by Mohammed-Denny that remains under investigation.
“Detectives reviewed numerous hours of video surveillance from the facility where Aseelah was found and was able to arrest an individual associated with her, charging him with illegal disposal of a body,” Bruckhart said, declining to identify the man. “He was then re-interviewed in a post-arrest interview. With assistance from the state’s attorney’s office, it was ultimately decided there was not enough evidence at that time to conclude that Aseelah was murdered. That may change should new information come to light.”
Mohammed-Denny, though, has questioned why her daughter’s death was never given any media attention.
Mohammed-Denny asked, “Why isn’t this being exposed?
Liberty Community Services has not responded to a request for comment.
“My daughter mattered,” the mother said. “Her life mattered. I’m going to make sure I turn New Haven upside down to make sure she gets the justice she deserves.”
In his statement, Bruckhart said investigators welcome any media attention the mother’s advocacy may bring and hope that it will lead to new information on the case.
“We recognize that the loss of Aseelah is extremely difficult for her and share her desire to determine what happened,” Bruckhart said. “To that end, we appreciate any media attention that this may bring in the hope that anyone who has additional information will come forward.”
Bruckhart encourages anyone with information to call detectives at 203-946-6304 or the Police Department’s anonymous tip line at 866-888-TIPS (8477).
“This is a grieving mother, a grieving family,” Jewu Richardson, an advocate who sits on the New Haven Civilian Review Board, said at Thursday’s protest.
Richardson has helped raise funds that will go toward an independent investigation into the death, as he said he does not believe police have handled the investigation properly thus far.
“Our lives are worthless?” Richardson asked, questioning why the case has not seemed like a high priority and received no media coverage.
“They already had their minds made up, right or wrong,” Richardson said as protestors chanted “Justice for Aseelah Mohammed.”
Yolanda Ragland, Mohammed’s cousin, described her as a caring person who always looked out for her when the two were growing up.
“She was a beautiful person,” Ragland said. “She did not deserve this. We are here because we want justice.”
According to her mother, Mohammed often had no phone, but she always found a way to keep in touch with family members. Even if she had to ask a stranger on the street to borrow a cellphone, she never missed calling each of her siblings on their birthday. It was during the week of Christmas when one of her sibling’s birthdays passed without a phone call that her mother knew something was wrong.
“At that point, I knew,” she said. “I knew in my heart my daughter was gone.”
Mohammed-Denny said her daughter, despite her struggles, was a “beautiful” and “very kind person” who enjoyed long walks.
“She loved to sing,” she continued. “She had a beautiful singing voice.”
Mohammed’s family and supporters said they will continue to fight for answers until she receives justice. They plan on protesting again next Thursday outside of the George Street facility where she was found dead.