“I get them from my mom,” he said.
Mayabb, 62, said she thought her days of raising kids were over, but when her 26-year-old granddaughter, Tamra Allen, was beaten so badly she has brain damage, her life plans changed.
Dwayne Jones, 43, of 3022 N. Verity Parkway, has been charged with felonious assault for the July 2 beating of Allen. His case has been bound over to a Butler County grand jury and is awaiting a response, according to court documents.
“Not only did he ruin Tamra’s life, he has put a hurting on this whole family,” Mayabb said.
Three other children Mashawn, 3; Tamdem, 2; and Shalamar, 10 months, are staying with their paternal grandmother, Mary Williams. The children don’t understand what is wrong with their mom, but Xavier tells her to “sleep and get better” on the phone before he goes to bed.
Mayabb carries around a large expandable file heavy with folders on Allen’s medical condition. The signature on the medical power of attorney is scrawled and barely readable, just another sign of how the girl Mayabb said was once “so beautiful she could have been a model” has reverted to the mind-set of a child.
“(Jones) gets three meals a day and can remember that he ate it,” Mayabb said while wiping away tears. “Tamra’s life is ruined forever and so is these boys’ lives.”
Allen was recently moved from a nursing home to Atrium Medical Center for further evaluation. Mayabb said the diagnosis is psychosis, or a loss of reality, secondary to a traumatic brain injury. While she can walk and speak at times, her memory is sporadic and she cannot care for herself.
“I got a call from her at 4 a.m. this morning. She can remember phone numbers,” Mayabb said. “She says, ‘come and get us. They are going to kill us here.’”
What has sustained the family has been the support of the community. The women of the Middletown Moose Lodge donated $500 for the children, and the Pot Belly Pigs Motorcycle club gave them five new bikes. The Faircreek Church in Fairborn has brought Mayabb meals twice a week for the past month.
“It makes me feel great to know that so many people have gotten out there and want to help us,” she said.
Donations are also being accepted to help the family. The Fund for the Allen Children has been established at Fifth Third Bank, 915 Elliott Drive, Middletown.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.
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