The Misery Machine - The Case of Dante Mullinix

Starting point is 00:00:00 Leah Mullinix was born on December 30, 1996. The youngest of five siblings, she enjoyed reading, playing video games, and watching cartoons. Like most children, she hated cleaning her room. For most of her childhood, Leah lived in Adams County, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Victoria Schrader, said Leah was a good girl who had a normal childhood. However, Leah strongly disagreed. Her parents divorced when she was young. Her mother moved into apartment above a homeless shelter in change.

Starting point is 00:00:30 Ambersburg where she worked at the time. When Leah was 11, her mother moved to Sweetwater, Texas to marry someone new, and she chose to stay in Pennsylvania with her father. Throughout her school years, Leah was quiet and rarely participated in class. She often complained of headaches and said that the other children were just too loud. Several years later, she learned that she was autistic. On December 30th, 2004, Leah turned 18. She moved out of her father's house and in with her sister, Sarah who was nearly 10 years older and was already a mother to several children. At the time, Sarah was living with her long-term boyfriend and the father of her two children, Joe Sanchez. Joe, who was already a convicted criminal at this point, was also 18 years older than Leah.

Starting point is 00:01:15 Then a month of Leah's 18th birthday and the move to her sister's home, she's pregnant with Joe's baby. It wasn't long before Joe was in trouble again. He pled guilty to several crimes, including assaulting Sarah on both February 1st and 2nd of 2015. Allegedly, he punched her repeatedly in the face. He even punched her while she was holding their one-year-old daughter. That was an all. The day after Joe was arrested, a 10-year-old girl came forward, saying that he had been essaying her for over a year.

Starting point is 00:01:46 Joe ended up convicted of several charges and is currently serving 13 to 30 years in prison for his various crimes. Leah gave birth to her son, Dante Molinix, at 5.45 a.m. on September 21st, 2015 at Gettysburg Hospital. Dante was described as a happy baby with trusting brown eyes. The dark hair he had when he was born later lightened and grew into blonde curls. Dante's aunt Sarah said he could light up any room he was in and just loved to be loved. Sarah affectionately called him Monkey Man.

Starting point is 00:02:19 Now, this nickname came from his beloved blanket that had monkeys on it. Dante carried that blanket around with him everywhere and rubbed it on his face every night as he fell asleep. As Dante grew, his happy nature stayed, but he seemed to lack the skills that other children had. By the time of our story, Dante was nearing his third birthday and was essentially nonverbal. The only words he could say were yeah and ew. Dante received some early intervention services in his home. Family members suspected that he was autistic, but he never received a formal diagnosis. Leah had graduated high school by the time Dante was born.

Starting point is 00:02:58 She worked for a while at a local restaurant. When that didn't work out, she took part in a work-ready program. She did all this while continuing to live with Sarah. During this time, she had several contacts with child welfare as well as law enforcement in Adams County. The details of these interactions are unclear as the records are not currently available to the public. We do know she was involved in a drug investigation when police found pot in her vehicle.

Starting point is 00:03:22 contacts with the child welfare led to Dante's in-home services. The Adams County Children and Youth Services also helped Leah receive cash assistance and assisted her in getting her driver's license and a car. When Dante was a little over two and a half years old, Sarah was running out of patience with her sister. After a falling out, she gave Leah a 30-day warning to find a new place to live. However, Leah, who was still young and rash, did not take this time to find a stable place to live with Dante. Instead, she moved out with Dante immediately. Leah had friends in York, Pennsylvania, so she headed in that direction. Many of her friends were said to have gang affiliations with the Latin Kings.

Starting point is 00:04:02 Not long after leaving Sarah's house, she met Hector Rivera when she was getting her hair done in someone's home. Leah told him about her situation, claiming she was recently kicked out of her sister's house and about to be homeless. Hector, better known by his street name, Holiday, decided to help them by putting Leah up in a room for a week. When that week ended, Leah and Dante moved in with Holiday at his mother's home on East South Street in York, Pennsylvania. Initially, it seemed like it might be a good fit. Leah reported that Dante was the happiest he had ever been. She claimed that he came out of his shell, was often seen dancing, and Holiday was hoping to build a family with Leah and Dante. He claimed that Dante was perfectly taken care of in his home.

Starting point is 00:04:46 He said that he bought Dante diapers and clothes and described Dante as his stepson. However, this imaginary family did not last long. In mid-August, Leah was kicked out of Holiday's house for cheating on him. A friend paid for her to get a room for the night, but once again was on the verge of being homeless with her son. On August 17, 2018, Leah was sitting at a McDonald's with Dante when she got a Facebook message out of the blue. This message was from 40-year-old Tyree Bowie. Tyree had talked to Sarah the year prior, and he struck up a virtual conversation with Lisa. Leah. After chatting for a while, Leah told him that she had to leave the room she was staying in

Starting point is 00:05:26 and had nowhere to go. Tyree offered to let her come to his mother's home to give Dante a bath. When they arrived, the clothes that Dante was wearing were so filthy that Tyree's mother gave him new clothes and put his soil clothing in a bag. From there, Leah and Tyree entered a relationship. Now, this relationship was sometimes referred to as a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, and other times as just a platonic relationship. Either way, Leah now had a new place to stay. It is important to note that when Dante came into Tyree's life, he arrived in very rough shape. He had bruises on his body which Leah claimed to be either the result of Dante's clumsiness or the result of holiday beating on him. Dante also had a broken wrist that was untreated

Starting point is 00:06:12 that had been healing for about three weeks. In addition to the filth, the bruises, the broken bones, He also had open source and an infection on his privates. In the meantime, Sarah learned that Leah was at risk of becoming homeless. Out of concern for Dante's well-being, she filed an emergency petition for custody on August 22nd. In court documents, she claimed that Leah was verbally and physically abusive towards Dante. She also said that Leah was mentally and financially unstable, and that Dante was not getting the care he needed. A court date was set for September 5th to address Dante's custody. Leah didn't live with Tyree for very long. Tyree worked to get Leah and Dante placed in a shelter

Starting point is 00:06:54 for victims of DV. While staying in this shelter, Leah took Dante to York Hospital to have the sores on his privates addressed. During this visit on August 31st, she claimed that he had only been suffering from this condition for four days. However, due to the severity of the infection, it seemed that the sores had been present for several weeks. The doctor prescribed two medications for Dante. However, Leah didn't even bother to have these prescriptions filled. Now, residents and workers at the shelter noticed that Dante was not okay after his visit to the hospital. He screamed and cried in pain all night while Leah slept. Staff pled with Leah to at least give him Tylenol to ease his discomfort, but she refused for over an hour before finally relenting. The next day,

Starting point is 00:07:39 the staff members at the Access York Shelter filed a report with state authorities. That following day, representatives from the office of children, youth, and families showed up and forced Leah to fill the prescriptions for Dante. Police reports it has noted that Leah had to be forced to administer the medication by shelter staff. During this process, Leah acted disgusted that she had to apply the medicine to his private areas. The medication ended up being applied by shelter staff. In text messages to Tyree, she said she didn't want to touch her son's and said she couldn't. handle him anymore. On September 2nd, three days before the hearing for custody was to be held, Dante was back in the presence of medical staff. On this occasion, Dante was seen by a nurse

Starting point is 00:08:23 practitioner named Natalie Billings. Natalie noted in Dante's chart that he was suffering from neglect and trauma and should be taken from his mother immediately. Natalie insisted that Leah not be allowed to leave the hospital with Dante. She noted over 20 bruises all over his body, lesions on his face, and a possible cigarette burn on his temple. However, Natalie's pleas were not taken seriously. Leah left with Dante after CYF deemed Dante safe to stay with his mother. Three days later, to no surprise, Leah failed to show for her court hearing. Some sources say Leah claimed to have a flat tire and asked for the hearing to be rescheduled.

Starting point is 00:08:59 In other accounts, Leah was quoted saying she never received the summons, or in another source that she just didn't have a ride. Either way, she did not show. Judge Christina M. Simpson moved the custody hearing to October 3rd. She warned that next time, if either party failed to appear, a warrant would be issued. Unfortunately for Dante, this lack of action proved to be fatal. On September 6, 2018, just two weeks before his birthday, Dante and Leah were picked up from the shelter by Tyree. Tyree helped them run errands and they ate fast food.

Starting point is 00:09:34 At this point, Tyree had only known Leah and Dante for eight. 18 days. Despite their short relationship, Tyree had great affection for Dante and claims that he had gained Dante's trust by this point. He typically approached Tyree first for affection, even if Leah was in the room. After running errands, they went back to the home that Tyree had been staying at with a friend. Tyree said that while they were at his home, he heard a muffled cry from downstairs. When he went to see what was going on, he found Leah putting cover up on Dante, presumably to cover-up his bruises. He also noted later that Dante seemed to be breathing differently than normal and had a problem with his eyes rolling back in his head. Shortly after the cover-up

Starting point is 00:10:18 incident, Leah suddenly claimed to have a migraine and insisted on going to the hospital. All three of them left in Tyree's car with Leah driving. Leah stopped at the shelter on the way to tell the staff that she would be out past curfew. Tyree left her at the hospital at 8.25 p.m. and took Dante with him and headed home. On their way back to the house, they stopped at a gas station called Ruttors, located in Manchester Township. Surveillance footage places them at the store just after 8.30 p.m. According to Tyree, he returned to the home he was staying in with Dante, but was unable to get in because he forgot his key. So he hung out in the car with Dante for a while. During the next hour, he and Leah

Starting point is 00:10:59 texted and even video chatted at one point. During these texts, he told Leah that Dante fell from the car and messed up his chin. There was a 16 to 19 minute period of time when they were not communication. Just two hours after dropping Leah off at the emergency room, Tyree returned. This time, he rushed through the door with a lifeless Dante in his arms. There are varying accounts of what brought Tyree back to the hospital. In some accounts, he was headed back there because Dante didn't seem right and in others he was on his way back for Leah. And he claimed that when they were driving there, he gave Dante a teddy graham to snack on. This is when he heard a thump in the backseat. Tyree looked and saw Dante slump to the side apparently choking. Due to Dante's developmental delays,

Starting point is 00:11:44 he was known to have trouble chewing and swallowing. Tyree said that he then pulled Dante from the back of the car into the front seat. He tried to use his finger to dig the cookie out of Dante's airway, and with Dante across his lap, he attempted CPR and mouth-to-mouth. When Tyree blew into Dante's mouth, cracker residue came out of Dante's nose and onto Tyree's cheek. Tyree then claimed to continue trying to administer life-saving efforts while also driving to the hospital with Dante in his lap. When he arrived in the emergency room and Dante was being cared for by staff, Tyree allegedly told Leah that she needed to tell them the truth about Dante's bruises and about the cover-up she had used. Medical staff were able to restart Dante's heart, but he never regained

Starting point is 00:12:27 consciousness. He was airlifted to Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Dante survived nine days on a ventilator before he succumbed to his injuries on September 15th, 2018. During his hospital stay, Sarah was not allowed to come see Dante. This poor boy didn't make it to his third birthday, or the hearing for his aunt to gain custody of him. Tyree was absolutely distraught and heartbroken. In text messages with Leah, he was begging for updates on Dante's condition. He was also berating himself for giving Dante crackers without a drink to help wash them down. Despite leaving the hospital after Dante was in the care of medical professionals, Tyree was not avoiding the police or accountability.

Starting point is 00:13:08 When he was called by law enforcement to come in for an interview the next morning, he came immediately instead of waiting for their scheduled interview appointment. Now, Tyree was no stranger to the law. As early as 97, he was having run-ins with law enforcement. There are reports that he had made threatening phone calls, assaults, women and threatened to burn down a woman's home with her inside of it. There are records of Tyree being at a boot camp as part of the juvenile justice system, but it is not known why.

Starting point is 00:13:37 In 2006, Tyree was investigated for child endangerment when his 10-month-old daughter was admitted to the pediatric ward of York Hospital, just covered in bruises that were in various stages of healing. She also had retinal hemorrhaging in both eyes. Doctors determined that these injuries were not accidental. Tyree and the girl's mother both pled guilty to child endangerment and served three years of probation. Tyree also had a history of abuse towards several ex-girlfriends. These incidents occurred in 1996, 2009, and 2017.

Starting point is 00:14:10 Despite a complicated and sometimes violent history, Tyree always admitted his wrongdoing. In a phone call with police in 2009, he said, and I quote, I'm not doing good at all. I messed up real bad. By the time Dante came into Tyree's life, friends and family members said Tyree was doing really well. They said he had made big changes in his life and was determined to never go back to jail. He was working several jobs to try to support his seven children.

Starting point is 00:14:41 He appeared determined to be independent and successful. When Tyree went to be interviewed by police five days after Dante's death, he was nothing but cooperative. However, there was no denying Tyree was the last person to have Dante in his care. As a result, Tyree was charged with first and third degree homicide, as well as endangering the welfare of a child. He was arrested and brought to York County Prison where he would await trial for the next four years without bail.

Starting point is 00:15:06 But he was also charged with child endangerment. She was arrested in 2019, but was released on bail. So how did we go from a case of choking on an animal cracker to a first-degree homicide charge? Well, this is where it gets a little murky, as there are many conflicting expert opinions. The autopsy Donandante ruled this cause of death to be a traumatic brain injury, strangulation, and chest compression. They also found that the infection on his privates was HSV-2. You might know it as genital herpes.

Starting point is 00:15:40 This is an STD. It was also noted that he had a series of bruises around his scalp and significant bruising on his face and neck. He also had broken ribs and a lacerated liver. The theory of lead investigator Kyle Hauer was that in the 16 to 19 minute window where Tyree was not communicating with anyone, he flew into a fit of rage. Hauer claimed that Tyree must have beat Dante and thrown his body around, biting, punching, and kicking him to cause such extreme injuries. Tirey denied doing any such thing.

Starting point is 00:16:11 He claimed to love Dante and insisted that he never would have harmed him in such a way. Police also insisted that the animal cracker story could not be true. They claim no crackers were found in the car. However, Tyree's roommate Lacey Pfeiffer came forward to say they did have an open box of Teddy Grams in their home. Police did not want to hear it and refused to come and collect the evidence. Since the police refused to come, the roommate put on gloves and retrieved the evidence from the trash. She then brought the evidence to submit it it herself and the police refused to take it saying he's guilty we don't need it they then threatened to charge lacey with tampering with evidence for preserving the cookie box lacy turned the box over

Starting point is 00:16:54 to tyrie's attorney farley holt the attorney kept it in his office for years as they awaited tyree's trial typically in our stories we don't spend a great deal of time covering the trial however this case is unique unlike other cases where it seems that no one is being charged or that police immediately charged the correct person. In this case, there was a lot of fishy stuff going on. Leah's sister Sarah has insisted for years that Tyree was innocent. Sarah, who lived with Leah and Dante for the majority of Dante's life, the one person who probably knows Leah best as a mother,

Starting point is 00:17:30 did not side with Leah. Sarah has been fighting for justice for both Dante and Tyree since 2018. During the time since Dante's death, Leah has given birth to three more children. The first two were girls and were immediately taken by CYF and placed in homes where they were later adopted. The third was a boy and was taken by CYF and placed in Sarah's care where he still lives today. In Sarah's fight for justice, she did not hesitate to rock the boat with CYF and local law enforcement. Sarah released some of the records that were provided to her by Tyree on social media.

Starting point is 00:18:07 These records documented encounters that Leah had with CYWF, dating back long before Tyree ever entered their lives. The local police then charged Sarah with an obscure charge of unauthorized release of information. This is a crime meant for local officials to stop them from releasing classified information. However, the information she released was not confidential. In addition, Sarah was the second person in a decade, the last decade, to be charged with this crime. This is clearly a move to try and stop Sarah from casting doubt on the investigation against Tyree.

Starting point is 00:18:42 Despite pressure from local law enforcement, Sarah did not stop her public campaign for justice. Sarah raised money through GoF Fund Me to post billboards drawing attention to the injustice in Dante's case. The first billboard she posted criticized CYF's lack of action on behalf of Dante. The billboard had a photo of Dante and said, I was murdered because York County children, youth and families left me to die. though a forensic nurse told them I should be taken four days prior. Why didn't my life matter? Finally, after four years and three months in prison, Tyree's trial started on Monday, December 5th,

Starting point is 00:19:19 2022. The trial was expected to last two weeks, but ended up lasting four weeks. The trial included dozens of witnesses, including Tyree and Leah. Leah testified for over 20 hours total. During Leah's cross-examination, she initially said that none of Dante's injuries were present before leaving him with Tyree. However, after being presented with medical records and photos of Dante before the September 6th incident, she had to admit that the vast majority of the bruising was already present. Witnesses for both the prosecution and defense went into great detail about the extent of Dante's injuries and speculated about when and how they were inflicted.

Starting point is 00:20:00 They also disagreed on what some of the injuries truly indicated. For example, in the autopsy report, one of the autopsy report, one of the first, cause of death was listed as strangulation. However, witnesses for the defense said that in the report there was no mention of hemorrhage in the neck tissue. This is something that should have been present had Dante been strangled. The report did note a swollen larynx, which is commonly found in the case of choking on a foreign object, such as a teddy graham. The prosecution also denied any evidence supporting the presence of the supposed cookie that Dante choked on. Luckily, Detective Hower wasn't the only one collecting evidence.

Starting point is 00:20:37 At this point, Dante's attorney brought forth the preserved cookie box. In addition, samples had been taken from Tyree's pants, steering wheel, and car door that were indeed consistent with the cookies in question. When witnesses were being questioned about Dante's infection, one expert testified that HSV2 is not always the result of intimate contact. Instead, she said if two people were showering together, it could have been transmitted through water droplets. So just so we're clear, there's absolutely no studies that support this. The virus cannot survive off the human body and can only be contracted through skin-to-skin contact. You cannot get it through a towel or water droplets. Despite all of the other injuries and absolutely horrific abuse and neglect that Dante had endured,

Starting point is 00:21:25 the most relevant point in this case was the brain injury that Dante suffered. The forensic pathologist said that Dante suffered. The forensic pathologist said that Dante suffered from diffuse axonal brain trauma, meaning the connective fibers in his brain were torn. So the big question is, how much force does it take to cause these injuries, and how long after these injuries would Dante be able to function or walk normally? Tyree did testify that Dante fell out of the car and hit his head on the night of September 6th after he had dropped Leah off at the ER.

Starting point is 00:21:55 The prosecution experts testified that this would not be nearly, enough forced to cause such an injury. On the other hand, the defense experts testified that the brain bleed could have been caused by a culmination of all the other injuries Dante suffered, presumably at the hands of Leah. They felt the final event could have been the choking which caused a hypoxic brain injury and ultimately Dante's death. One expert stated that there was no way the injuries to Dante's brain occurred while in Leah's care. The surveillance footage of Dante and Tyree walking through Rudder's gas station shows Dante walking fairly normally. One expert said he would not have been able to walk had he already sustained the level of head injuries necessary to cause the

Starting point is 00:22:36 diffuse exonal brain trauma. Both Tyree and Leah testified that Dante seemed off that day. Leah testified that he seemed run down and was walking strangely and hadn't eaten much that day. She blamed this on his infection. Tyree testified that Dante had been having trouble breathing and his eyes were rolling back in his head on September 6. Leah also implicated Hector Holliday Rivera, though did not directly accuse him of harming Dante. She also admitted that Hector's family had reported her to CYF. When questioned about his bruises, Leah began crying on the stand. Tyree and many others testified about Dante's extreme neglect before ever entering Tyree's life. Tyree said that on the day they first arrived at his mother's home for a bath, Dante had feces overflowing from his diaper, up.

Starting point is 00:23:25 to his shirt and down his legs as well. He noticed the bruises and discoloration on Dante's privates, but when he questioned Leah, she blamed it on Hector and Tyree initially accepted that. However, Tyree continued to see new bruises appear on Dante's body. This contributed to his choice to have them placed in the shelter, where hopefully more eyes would be on Dante and help ensure he would stay safe. It is important to note that several of the medical staff who treated Dante also testified, They all agreed in their testimonies that Dante had more injuries when he was seen on September 6th than four days earlier when he was seen for his infection. Finally, in Tyree's testimony about the day of Dante's death, he cast doubt on whether Leah was truly suffering from a migraine. Tyree said they had been together all day and she had not mentioned a headache.

Starting point is 00:24:16 He also said that her behavior did not seem like someone suffering from a migraine, saying that she sat in the brightest part of the emergency room and did not seem bothered at all. Tyree said that when Leah abruptly stated that she needed to be taking the ER for her migraine, Dante was asleep with his head in Tyree's lap. When Tyree tried to move him, Dante threw up on his lap. Tyree also noted that he had gagged on food earlier that day as well. Tyri believed that Leah knew she had finally crossed the line, was afraid to take Dante back to the shelter where staff would call her out for Dante's new injuries.

Starting point is 00:24:50 After four weeks of testimony, the jury entered deliberations on the morning of Friday, December 30th, 2022. They deliberated for only two hours before returning with their verdict. Tyree was found to be not guilty on all charges. Tyree sobbed as the verdict was read. Family, friends, and supporters celebrated in the courtroom and outside. Tyree was released that evening and ran into the arms of his mother and attorney. Tyree states in later interviews that he is incredibly grateful for the hard work and steadfast support that he received from his attorney Farley Holt. On January 1st, 2020, Two days after being released, Tyree went to visit Dante's grave. Dante was buried at the Mount Rose Cemetery in York, Pennsylvania.

Starting point is 00:25:35 He had a funeral in 2018, however, none of his family was present. Leah did not allow Sarah or any other family members to attend. The only people at the funeral were Leah and several of her friends, most with affiliations to the Latin Kings. Leah buried Dante in an unmarked grave. Several months later, a friend of Sarah paid to have Dante's headstone placed at Dante's grave site. The flat stone includes a black and white photo of Dante, as well as the words, We will always love you, Monkey Man.

Starting point is 00:26:08 On Wednesday, January 18, 23, Leah, who was still out on bail, made an open plea to her third-degree felony child endangerment charge. This means that she pled guilty, but is leaving it up to the judge to decide what her sentence or punishment will be. Leah was initially scheduled to be sentenced in April of 2023. However, that was pushed back to June 12, citing the need for a mental health evaluation before her sentencing. As of the date of this recording, and today it is October 15th, she has still not been sentenced for her child endangerment charges.

Starting point is 00:26:40 She also has not been charged with any manslaughter or homicide charges, something one might expect to see after Tyree was acquitted. During an interview with Tyree and Sarah in an episode of Suffer the Little Children, Tyree states that he doesn't expect Leah to ever be charged with Dante's death. Tyree explained that due to the prosecution going on record to blame everything on him, it can no longer go after Leah. To do so would mean that everything stated under oath in his case would have been perjury. So where does this leave the fight to find justice for Dante and now for Tyree?

Starting point is 00:27:15 Well, Sarah hasn't given up in her mission to make sure the investigators in Dante's case are brought to the public's attention. In 2023, Sarah raised money for a second billboard, which included a picture of the lead investigator in the phrase, ask me about my water droplets. This is a clear dig at the shoddy police work done during the case against Tyree. Initially, Sarah wanted to post a fairly aggressive billboard but was discouraged from doing so. Instead, the second billboard contains a picture of Dante in the simple words, where is my justice? In addition to Sarah's fight for Dante, it is expected that there will be a future wrongful imprisonment lawsuit for Tyree. But the question still stands, who is responsible for

Starting point is 00:28:02 the death of Dante Melanix? Will Leah ever be prosecuted for the extreme neglect and abuse that she either inflicted on her son or, at the very least, fail to protect him from? Will CYF employees be held responsible for their failure to intervene on his behalf. Who do you think as at fault? Tell us what you think in the comment section down below.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Dante Mullinix

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