The Misery Machine - The Case of Regis Johnson and Arhonda Tillman

Starting point is 00:00:00 On Tuesday, May 10th, 2022, deputies with the Polk County Sheriff's Department, along with members of Fire and Rescue, responded to a call at a derelict home, located at 6720 South Orange Blossom Trail in Davenport, Florida. The property, which sat on State Highway 17, contained four ruined houses, a storage trailer, a vast array of vehicles, and large orange signs warning passers-by to keep out.

Starting point is 00:00:30 According to an affidavit, first responders were dispatched to the home for the report of an unresponsive childs. At the time of our story, the little girl who has not been named, was just two months shy of her third birthday. When they arrived on the scene, the little girl was located in an inflatable pool that was being used as a makeshift playpen. Sadly, there wasn't anything that the deputies or the rescue workers could do for the little girl. She was already dead. The little girl was born on July 25, 2019, to parents Regis Greg Johnson, age 57, and Aranda Shirley Tillman, age 35. According to one of Aranda's many Facebook profiles, she also had a baby named Faith, who was born a year prior. That child live in Arizona with her cousins.

Starting point is 00:01:24 It's unclear what prompted the move from Arizona to Florida or why she didn't have her daughter. According to reports, the couple had met at church and Aranda was about four months pregnant with another baby. What's really sad is that her social media, which is public, is devoid of any mention of her child with Regis or her current pregnancy. At first glance, it seems if Aranda just liked to play app games all day. During interviews, Regis told detectives that when his daughter was born, there were some concerns about her health. Allegedly doctors believe that she shared what he referred to as a muscular dystrophy gene with a Rhonda. According to Regis, he took his daughter to a doctor's appointment in July of 2021 for testing, but the results came back inconclusive.

Starting point is 00:02:10 He just further claimed that his daughter was last seen by a physician in August of that same year. Father stated that for the past two days, toddler hadn't wanted to eat very much, and when he'd try to feed her, she would only take a few bites. Now, Regis said he had placed his daughter in the inflatable pool at around 5.15 a.m. where he left her alone to play with her toys. He returned a short time later by his own omission. She was cold to the touch and she was not breathing. When detectives interviewed Aranda,

Starting point is 00:02:41 she claimed that she attempted to feed her daughter a turkey sandwich the night prior on May 9th, right before she put her to bed. She too echoed Regis's sentiment that the little girl just didn't want to eat. She claimed that she had attempted to call 911 prior to Regis's call, and that first responders were supposedly busy. She also added that she could crawl but not walk. Now, generally speaking, babies usually start walking sometime between about 10 and 18 months old. Before walking, babies will usually have been crawling between 7 and 12 months and pulling themselves up to stand usually between 9 and 12 months.

Starting point is 00:03:23 months. Remember, at the time of our story, Aranda and Regis' daughter was two years, 10 months old. Although there are a number of reasons why a child might have a delay in the ability to walk, none of them would have applied to the toddler in our story. We'll discuss why in just a moment. The detectives next reached out to this little girl's pediatrician, and this is when Regis and Aranda's web of lies began to unravel. According to the doctor, this child was last seen in January of 2020 for her six-month checkup. Allegedly, the office staff attempted to make contact with the parents numerous times following that appointment as there was concerned that the child may have cystic fibrosis,

Starting point is 00:04:05 not muscular dystrophy as Regis had previously claimed. During the course of the investigation, the detectives discovered that the Department of Children and Families had opened a medical neglect case against Regis and Aranda in December 10, 2019. According to reports, toddler was consistently losing weight, and her parents' parents were not following up with doctor's appointments, which reflected exactly what the pediatrician shared with the detectives. Allegedly, the DCF report indicated that the parents needed to comply with DCF instructions

Starting point is 00:04:35 and adhere to a series of weigh-ins with the child's primary care physician. Following several positive weight checks, DCF eventually closed their investigation. We'll be back in just one minute. Please stick around for the following ad. It not only supports the channel, but it also supports charities in our area. This week's episode has been brought to you by Morgan & Morgan, America's largest injury law firm with over 1,000 attorneys operating in all 50 states. When you're hurt, you deserve the best on your side because your injury could be worth millions and insurance companies often low-ball clients' claims. Just in the past couple of months, Morgan and Morgan saw verdicts of 12 million in Florida, 34 times the highest insurance offer, as well as 26 million in Philadelphia, 40 times the highest insurance offer, as well as 6.8 million in New York.

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Starting point is 00:05:53 It's so easy. You can start your claim now with Morgan and Morgan at 4Thepeople.com slash the misery machine or click the link in the description. Thanks and back to the episode. On Wednesday, May 11, 2022, the day after her tragic and untimely death, the District 10 Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy on the child's body. It was found that at the time of her death, she had no food in her stomach. Now, this wasn't likely because the little girl didn't

Starting point is 00:06:21 want to eat. It was because she wasn't being provided proper nutrition. At almost three years old, she weighed a mere nine and a half pounds. This is the weight of some newborn babies. generally speaking, girls weigh anywhere from 25 to 38 pounds at her age. In the end, the medical examiner ruled that the little girl suffered from long-term starvation. This is more than likely why the little girl couldn't walk. She was just skin and bones. Now, following the autopsy, the detective circled back and spoke with Regis Johnson. He finally admitted that his daughter's last doctor's appointment was indeed in January of 2020,

Starting point is 00:07:02 and not in August of 2021, as he previously reported. He told the detectives that he knew his daughter was not gaining weight and developing as normal. Regis further admitted that he knew she was losing weight and was not thriving, and still did not seek medical attention. That same day, Polk County Sheriff's Office homicide detectives arrested Regis Johnson and Aranda Tillman. The couple were charged with one count each of negligence CA causing great harm. this is a second-degree felony. Regis and Aranda were transported to the Polk County Jail where they're currently being held without bond. On Thursday, May 12, 2022, a third arrest was made in the

Starting point is 00:07:42 starvation death. Regis's brother, 64-year-old Frank Robinson, was taken into custody on one count of negligent CA causing great harm and one count of failure to report CA as he was an adult in the same home. This is a third-degree felony. According to reports, Frank lived with the couple, he was aware of the abuse, he did absolutely nothing to report or prevent his niece from being starved to death. During a press conference held the same day, Holt County Sheriff Grady Judge shared the following message while standing in front of two stacks of colorful children's toy blocks. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for being with me today. We have to talk about something that's just horribly sad. And I want you to think about this.

Starting point is 00:08:33 I want you to understand that each of these blocks represents one pound. We started an investigation where a child was starved to death, died of long-term starvation. And what shocks our conscious is nothing in this world is more important to us than our children in their growth. their ability to thrive. They're the most important, precious thing in our life. They're innocent, and they depend solely upon us for everything. The point of the colorful toy blocks became clear after Sheriff Judd used them to illustrate how heavy the little girl was when she was born, how much she weighed when she died, and how big she should have been at her age.

Starting point is 00:09:35 So this little girl, this baby girl, was born at six pounds and 10 ounces. Six pounds and 10 ounces. This baby, when it died, weighed nine pounds. This baby should have weighed 32 pounds. This baby was born on July the 25th, 2019. Between July the 25th, 2019, And when they took the baby to the doctor in January of 2020, the child had gained three pounds, was thriving. Listen closely to what I'm going to tell you.

Starting point is 00:10:41 Between January the 2nd, 2020, when the baby went to the doctor for the last time, and May the 10th, 2022, which was two years and four months, that sweet baby, gained one ounce, one ounce. So the baby should have been 32 pounds. The baby should have been talking, putting sentences together, asking questions, telling that my diaper needs to be changed, running, jumping, and playing. When this baby died on May the 10th, she couldn't start. She couldn't talk. She couldn't walk. Next, Sheriff Judd dramatically swiped the stack of colorful toy blocks from his podium.

Starting point is 00:11:50 The larger stack that represented how much the little girl should have weighed and displayed the pictures of the monsters who allegedly neglected her to death. Not to be this big because of these people. This is mom at 35. This is dad at 57. Allegedly he was her counselor at church along the way. Oh, he weighed 213 pounds. Or Rhonda Tillman, mom, weighed 144 pounds. Did I mention to you that she's pregnant, according to what she says, about four months pregnant?

Starting point is 00:12:43 There was food in the house. Regis Johnson the dad told us, oh, the baby ate a sandwich yesterday and some chicken nuggets last evening and drank, well, that's just a ball-face lie. When we did the medical examination, that child had zero food in her stomach and only slight traces of fecal matter in the intestines. The child suffered long-term starvation. Next, the sheriff compared the little girl's condition to that of starving children in Africa depicted in the Christian Children's Fund commercial starring Sally Struthers that you may remember from the late 80s and early 90s. The simplest thing in the world is to just turn all this off. Turn off babies who are near death

Starting point is 00:13:50 simply because they have no food or water. I can't. I've seen too much. Now I want to call your attention for those of you who remember the Sally Struthers commercials where she was raising money for the children that were malnourished and starving. And you'd see those horrible pictures of those children. Keep in mind they were still alive. This baby laid in a playpin, made. out of an inflatable swimming pool and starved absolutely to death.

Starting point is 00:14:36 Sheriff Grady Judd then went on to explain the charges against the couple and his department's plans for the future. He then reviewed what went on in the Johnson Tillman household on the morning of the incident, including what the little girl looked like when they found her dead. Regis works for his brother at a business called First Class car getters on highway 1792 between Haines City and Loughman and that's allegedly where they lived. We know that the doctor did the things that he should have. We know that there's investigations underway.

Starting point is 00:15:23 We're doing a lot more investigation. There's a lot of questions we can't answer because we're early into the investigation. There are some questions we can't answer because they're protected by DCF regulations. These folks are both charged with aggravated child neglect at this moment in time. Obviously it is our intention to charge them with the appropriate murder charges, but we've got to do medical investigations. The medical examiners got to complete some work before we file those charges. but we got them into jail just as soon as we could.

Starting point is 00:16:12 The baby didn't thrive because they wouldn't take her to the doctor. They wouldn't feed her. On this fateful morning, the father of the year called 911 and said that his child wasn't breathing. We talked to mom. She said she'd call 9-1-1 before, but they were busy. What? They made admissions. They defended their action.

Starting point is 00:16:59 But I want you to understand that this baby, this little girl, this child that should have been thriving, gained one ounce. in two years and four months. If you can imagine looking at such a heart-breaking sight, basically it was just bones and skin. Sheriff Judd then asked an important question that I'm sure most of us are wondering. How did no one observe this child

Starting point is 00:17:43 in the condition she was in? And why didn't anyone act? There aren't adequate words to explain our frustration and our sadness, but our folks are going to do a complete and thorough investigation, and we're going to lodge all of the charges that the law allows against this mother and father, against these murderers who starved this child to death. We're going to lodge all the charges that we can, and the investigation still underway, because we have probably the same questions you do. Did no one else see this child in this condition?

Starting point is 00:18:29 That's under investigation at this moment in time. This child just didn't get sick and pass. People had to watch this child who should have been up running and playing and talking to mama and dad and, you know, I've got a two-year-old grandchild and a three-year-old grandchild. that are thriving and happy and climbing all over us when they're with us. And this child couldn't talk, couldn't walk, couldn't communicate. There aren't adequate words to express my frustration.

Starting point is 00:19:13 In the wake of the toddler's death, Terry Saunders, CEO of Heartland for Children, shared the following, and I quote, this is a case of why a strong child welfare system with a stable workforce, adequate resource, resources, services, and support is so important. There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered to understand the full picture. Heartland for Children is a community-based care of lead agency, which contracts with the state to place kids and foster and adoptive homes. Like in many cases that we cover, there haven't been many updates in the media on this. Most outlets stopped reporting on the story in 2022.

Starting point is 00:19:53 We ran a few searches on the Polk County Sheriff's Office inmate list and found a few bits of information that might be worth mentioning. Miranda Tillman is currently being held in the central county jail. Currently, her charges include aggravated CA, battery, and aggravated manslaughter of a child. She was also indicted by a grand jury for first-degree murder. All three charges have a disposition of incompetent to proceed. There is a fourth charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child that's, listed as a duplicate. But it's unclear what happened to the baby that she was carrying at the time of her arrest, but I hope that it got the care that Sheriff Grady Judd mentioned in the news conference.

Starting point is 00:20:35 Regis is also being held in the Central County Jail. He was indicted by a grand jury for first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child, an aggravated CA battery. He also still has his original charge of negligent CA causing great harm. Frank Robinson on the the other hand, was released on $11,000 bail for his two original charges. It also appears he's subject to GPS monitoring. As this case develops, we'll keep an eye out for updates as they become available, if they become available. In closing, we'd like to focus on one point that Sheriff Grady Judd has touched on

Starting point is 00:21:12 many times in many of the cases that we've covered. And that's the fact that if parents don't want their child, there are resources available for them, such as safe places, locations, fire stations, social service facilities, and many more. According to Nikki Daniels, who is the Associate Director for Champions for Children in Tampa, neglect and abuse often happens when parents are isolated and struggling to bond with their children. In addition, the stigma surrounding asking for help can keep people from reaching out. She said, our belief is, and the research shows that if you are attached and bonded with your child, if you have love for your

Starting point is 00:21:53 child, you're not going to hurt your child, or you're not going to let anyone else hurt your child. Her organization offers a variety of services that range from things from like parenting classes to child development classes and bonding activities. As always, if you see something, say something. Frank Robinson saw something, and rather than call 911 or feed that baby, he turned a blind eye and let her die in a kitty pool in an abysmal property. She'll never get to see her third birthday, go to school, or learn to ride a bike, all because of the actions of two individuals who were supposed to care for her and an uncle who couldn't care less. Don't be like Frank. Well, I can tell you as a Christian, the only solace I get of this whole thing is this child's

Starting point is 00:22:43 no longer starving or sick, but that she is in the arms of Jesus where as Christians, we believe she's well and healthy again. And what would heaven be like if you didn't have children?

The Misery Machine - The Case of Regis Johnson and Arhonda Tillman

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