By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times
Fayetteville grandmother, Lori Gray, lost two of her grandchildren under mysterious circumstances inside a military housing unit aboard Fort Bragg between April and July 2009, The Army Times reported.
Jay'Vair Pollard and Ka'Mya Frey are among 10 infants who have also died mysteriously while residing in Fort Bragg government quarters since January 2007.
Gray told The Los Angeles Times she never cried so hard in her life after losing her grandchildren.
Pollard suddenly stopped breathing on April 15, 2009 and died in his mother's arms in their Fort Bragg home. Months later, Frey, who was Pollard's 7-month-old cousin, died as she napped in the same home.
Hours before, her mother, Bianca Outlaw, found Frey's lifeless, cold body lying face-up in her crib, the child was reportedly smiling and standing up in her crib.
"That was it for me," Gray told The Fayetteville newspaper. "I fell completely apart after that. I've never lost a child, but losing a grandchild is just as bad I think, and now I've lost two."
"I didn't know what to do," said Outlaw about finding her daughter dead. "I was frantic. That's something I'm always going to live with for the rest of my life."
Little Ka'Mya died during an "extended visit" with her aunt, Melissa Pollard, who is Gray's daughter. The baby was in Pollard and her soldier husbands Ardennes neighborhood home, which is on post at Fort Bragg.
Cody Frey was Ka'Mya's father and is Outlaw's fiancee. He is Melissa Pollard's brother.
Outlaw said it had only been a few months since the Pollard's son died, but the devastated mother said she had no reason to believe her child would have been at risk of dying by simply visiting her aunt. The baby never even had a cold before visiting Fort Bragg, said Outlaw.
Several weeks after, the Pollards learned from neighbors that a third baby, whose family had been living in the same housing unit, died unexpectedly two years earlier while at an off-post baby-sitting service.
"When we learned that, that's when we knew there had to be something going on in that house," Outlaw said. "My daughter was healthy before we went up there. It can't just be a coincidence."
About 18,000 people live in roughly 6,200 houses aboard Fort Bragg. The deaths have families frightened and they want answers.
Military officials recently announced that the deaths of all 10 children are being reviewed to determine if they might be connected. So far, though, officials said the only common denominator their investigation has uncovered is the location - base housing - that links these tragic cases.
Jamie Hernan, the lawyer representing Outlaw, Frey and the Pollards, has been pressing Fort Bragg officials and Picerne Military Housing representatives to release the results of environmental tests conducted at the house, but they have refused, he told The Fayetteville Observer.
Chris Grey, a spokesman with the Army Criminal Investigative Command, said test results from the homes would be made public only when the military investigation was complete.
"If everything is fine — if all the tests have come back negative — why not lay everything out on the table and say, 'This is what we're working with. Here are the test results,'" Hernan said. "My clients just want answers."
As do other family members who also lost children while residing in government quarters aboard Fort Bragg, like Spc. Nathanael Duke and his wife, Krystyna, who lost their 6-week-old son, Gabriel, in March. They say investigators removed chunks of drywall and carpeting and sent them to a lab before returning weeks later and telling them to move out immediately.
"They said we had Chinese drywall," Krystyna said, referring to the imported building material known to emit high levels of sulfur gases. The Dukes are certain that's what killed their baby.
According to the Fayetteville Observer article, John Shay, a program manager with Picerne Military Housing, said subsequent environmental and hazardous material tests at the home were negative.
Shay said the air, building materials and other items have been tested at all the units where infants have died. Toxic black mold and contaminated drywall from China have been ruled out in each case, he said.
Tweettwitter.com/thebutmsdotcom
facebook.com/theblackurbantimes
Jay'Vair Pollard and Ka'Mya Frey are among 10 infants who have also died mysteriously while residing in Fort Bragg government quarters since January 2007.
Gray told The Los Angeles Times she never cried so hard in her life after losing her grandchildren.
Pollard suddenly stopped breathing on April 15, 2009 and died in his mother's arms in their Fort Bragg home. Months later, Frey, who was Pollard's 7-month-old cousin, died as she napped in the same home.
Hours before, her mother, Bianca Outlaw, found Frey's lifeless, cold body lying face-up in her crib, the child was reportedly smiling and standing up in her crib.
"That was it for me," Gray told The Fayetteville newspaper. "I fell completely apart after that. I've never lost a child, but losing a grandchild is just as bad I think, and now I've lost two."
"I didn't know what to do," said Outlaw about finding her daughter dead. "I was frantic. That's something I'm always going to live with for the rest of my life."
Little Ka'Mya died during an "extended visit" with her aunt, Melissa Pollard, who is Gray's daughter. The baby was in Pollard and her soldier husbands Ardennes neighborhood home, which is on post at Fort Bragg.
Cody Frey was Ka'Mya's father and is Outlaw's fiancee. He is Melissa Pollard's brother.
Outlaw said it had only been a few months since the Pollard's son died, but the devastated mother said she had no reason to believe her child would have been at risk of dying by simply visiting her aunt. The baby never even had a cold before visiting Fort Bragg, said Outlaw.
Several weeks after, the Pollards learned from neighbors that a third baby, whose family had been living in the same housing unit, died unexpectedly two years earlier while at an off-post baby-sitting service.
"When we learned that, that's when we knew there had to be something going on in that house," Outlaw said. "My daughter was healthy before we went up there. It can't just be a coincidence."
About 18,000 people live in roughly 6,200 houses aboard Fort Bragg. The deaths have families frightened and they want answers.
Military officials recently announced that the deaths of all 10 children are being reviewed to determine if they might be connected. So far, though, officials said the only common denominator their investigation has uncovered is the location - base housing - that links these tragic cases.
Jamie Hernan, the lawyer representing Outlaw, Frey and the Pollards, has been pressing Fort Bragg officials and Picerne Military Housing representatives to release the results of environmental tests conducted at the house, but they have refused, he told The Fayetteville Observer.
Chris Grey, a spokesman with the Army Criminal Investigative Command, said test results from the homes would be made public only when the military investigation was complete.
"If everything is fine — if all the tests have come back negative — why not lay everything out on the table and say, 'This is what we're working with. Here are the test results,'" Hernan said. "My clients just want answers."
As do other family members who also lost children while residing in government quarters aboard Fort Bragg, like Spc. Nathanael Duke and his wife, Krystyna, who lost their 6-week-old son, Gabriel, in March. They say investigators removed chunks of drywall and carpeting and sent them to a lab before returning weeks later and telling them to move out immediately.
"They said we had Chinese drywall," Krystyna said, referring to the imported building material known to emit high levels of sulfur gases. The Dukes are certain that's what killed their baby.
According to the Fayetteville Observer article, John Shay, a program manager with Picerne Military Housing, said subsequent environmental and hazardous material tests at the home were negative.
Shay said the air, building materials and other items have been tested at all the units where infants have died. Toxic black mold and contaminated drywall from China have been ruled out in each case, he said.
Tweettwitter.com/thebutmsdotcom
facebook.com/theblackurbantimes
No comments:
Post a Comment
We appreciates all comments and fosters free speech, however, keep in mind that we have young readers who peruse our site. Having said that, please refrain from using profane language, and know that flaming will not be tolerated. Spam will not be tolerated.