The Misery Machine - The Story of Emani Moss

Starting point is 00:00:00 Imani Gabrielle Moss was born on April 23, 2003 in Lawrenceville, Georgia to father Amman Giovanni Moss. Amon was given sole custody of Amani after her mother, who struggled with addiction, terminated her parental rights. Amani was one of five children born to her mother, all of which have since been surrendered. Although the parents still saw each other from time to time, Amman was convicted of battery and second-degree child cruelty in 2004 after beating Amani's mother in front of her. Eventually, the mother disappeared and didn't want anything to do with Amman or their daughter. But Amman didn't give up on finding another woman. In 2007, when Amani was around four years old, he met preschool teacher Tiffany Brown. The pair were introduced by a mutual friend at the Freedom Christian Church where Amon took

Starting point is 00:00:49 his daughter to worship on Sundays. In 2009, Amon and Tiffany married and had two children of their own, named Tristan and Emma. The family first moved into Tiffany's apartment, but would later settle at the veranda apartments located on Veranda Chase Drive in Lawrenceville. In March of 2010, Amani, now six years old, told a school nurse that she was scared to go home with a bad report card because she was worried her parents would hurt her. The little girl was having difficulty completing her homework assignments, and her teacher made note of this.

Starting point is 00:01:23 She also told the nurse that her stepmother had spanked her with a curtain rod. Some sources have indicated it was actually a belt and that Tiffany had used the buckle end on her. Amon himself has been quoted as saying, quote, She had whips all up her back, her legs, a belt whip, end quote. After observing multiple scabs, bruises, and welts all over the little girl's body, Amani was taken to police headquarters. At the time of the incident, Amman was at work. He received a call from a detective telling him that he needed to come down to the station due to an emergency with his daughter.

Starting point is 00:02:02 While at the station, he learned that his wife had been accused of beating Amani. Tiffany was arrested and charged with first-degree cruelty to a minor after admitting to hitting Amani three times for failing to do her homework. She pled guilty and was sentenced to five years of probation as part of Georgia's first offender program, which was later dismissed after the couple completed parent. and anger management classes. After the March 2010 beating incident and Tiffany's subsequent legal woes, Amani was removed from her father and step others home.

Starting point is 00:02:35 The little girl was placed in the care of her paternal grandmother, Robin MacArthur Moss. During the six months that Amani lived with Robin, her performance at school improved. After the completion of his parenting classes, Amman wanted his daughter back. Robin fought to retain custody of her granddaughter, but Amon refused to remain custody of her granddaughter,

Starting point is 00:02:53 but Amman refused to allow it out of spite. He stated, quote, in my pride, I was trying to prove something to my mom, that I can do it. And I said no, end quote. Even though Amani was flourishing in her grandmother's home, the Georgia Division of Family and Children's Services returned her to Amon and Tiffany in the fall of 2010. Due to her arrest, Tiffany lost her job as a preschool teacher and never went back to work outside of the home. Instead, she became a full-time stay-at-home mother to her stepdaughter and two other kids. Tiffany had a degree in child care, and she harbored resentment towards Amani because due to the nature of her arrest, she could never work with kids again. During this time, Amman worked two jobs to support his growing family.

Starting point is 00:03:40 Monday through Friday, he would work from 6.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. at his first job at KGP Services. And then would work a second job at Averett Express from 6.5. to typically 1.30 a.m. the following morning. After his commute, Amman barely had any time left to sleep or take part in his family life. On average, he'd have only around three to four hours to rest, so he would only see his family in passing. In July of 2012, Mani tried to run away from home twice. In one case, she went to the apartment office and told them that she wanted to run away because Tiffany had tied her up with a belt and placed her in a cold shower. The police responded and were told by Tiffany that Amani was lying. Because there was not enough evidence to charge anyone,

Starting point is 00:04:28 no action was taken. That same month, Amani ran away and was found sleeping in the bushes of a nearby apartment complex by a police officer. Amani told the officer she had run away because her stepmother was mean to her. The cop then decided to report the event to Georgia DFCS and filed runaway. and curfew violation charges against Amani to ensure that she would see a juvenile court judge. It is unclear, however, whether or not this cop followed through with this. It should be noted that there hasn't been any evidence presented that indicated that Tiffany harmed her biological son or daughter. All of her ire was directed at little Amani.

Starting point is 00:05:09 This is known as the Cinderella effect. In evolutionary psychology, the Cinderella effect is the phenomenon of mistreatment by step-parents being more likely than those of biological parents. It takes his name from the fairy tale character Cinderella, who was mistreated by her stepsisters and stepmother. Evolutionary psychologists describe the effect as a byproduct of a bias towards biological children and a conflict between reproductive partners investing in young

Starting point is 00:05:36 that are unrelated to one partner. If you've been listening to our channel for any length of time, you would recognize this as an ongoing pattern of behavior in some of our cases involving step-parents. This phenomenon is not only seen in humans, but in the animal world as well. For example, when a male lion enters the pride, it is not uncommon for him to kill the cubs fathered by other males. Since the pride can only provide support for a limited number of cubs,

Starting point is 00:06:04 the killing of the cubs in competition with a new male's potential offspring increases the chances of his cubs surviving to maturity. On Mother's Day of 2013, the Moss family visited Grandmother Robin at the home, of Amman's sister, Sharonise Rich. Robin had been living with her daughter at the time, and when she saw Amani, she knew immediately that something was not right. Amani was thin, and according to Robin, you could see bones protruding from her shoulders and her arms. Her once long hair that was often tied up in adorable pigtail braids and twists had been cut off. Robin asked Tiffany why she went and cut her granddad.

Starting point is 00:06:46 granddaughter's hair off, to which Tiffany replied, if you act ugly, you should look ugly. This was the last time that Robin saw her granddaughter alive. In the summer of 2013, Amani's school was notified that she would not be returning. Instead, Tiffany planned to homeschool her stepdaughter. Now, as we've seen in previous cases, such as Adrian Jones and Dakota Collins, this never bodes well for the kids involved. Amani's aunt Sharonis objected to the idea and called the Georgia DFCS asking them to intervene. Sadly, they declined to do so.

Starting point is 00:07:23 On August 6, 2013, the agency received an anonymous tip that Amani was being neglected by her father and stepmother and that she appeared to be thin. However, they refused to conduct a home visit, nor did they follow up due to not having a current address on file and because they had no current incidents of maltreatment in the home. With Amon working a rigorous schedule and Amani isolated from her peers, Tiffany had full reign to do whatever she pleased to the little girl. By the fall of 2013, Amani was looking sickly. Amman chopped this up to his daughter going through a growth spurt, leaving her looking long and thin. On the weekends, the father was home and he'd take over the cooking duties. He noticed that during this time, Amani would gorge herself on food. Despite this, the little girl kept getting thinner, and thinner and quit being as active. But this wasn't a gross spurt making Amani appear thin.

Starting point is 00:08:19 Rather, Tiffany was starving the little girl during the week. While her father was at work, Amani was confined to her bedroom. She eventually became too weak to move and could not even leave her bed to urinate and defecate. While the wicked stepmother denied food to Amani, she took care of and fed her two biological children. On several occasions, Tiffany sent Amman pictures of the tasty meals that she had prepared. In another instance, she asked her husband to bring home cookie dough so she could bake. While Amani lay in her room starving, she was further tortured by the pleasant aroma of baked cookies.

Starting point is 00:09:03 On October 24th, Amon had left for his shift at KGB services but was having issues with his truck overheating. He attempted to fix the issue before he left. for his shift at Averett Express, but on his way there, his truck began overheating once more. Due to this, he was allowed to leave early in order to remedy the situation. He spent the evening replacing a hose and finished up work around 10.30 p.m., after which he came inside to clean up. Amman dropped off his toolbox in the laundry room and went into the kitchen to grab some dinner that Tiffany had left for him in the refrigerator. This is when Tiffany called out to him, claiming something was wrong with Little Amman.

Starting point is 00:09:42 Amani. The little girl was in the bathroom, laying inside the bathtub. She was shaking as if she was having a seizure. She became unresponsive and her eyes were rolling back and forth. Amon immediately wanted to call 911 and get his daughter to the hospital for help, but Tiffany kept insisting to him that they could not. At first, Amman claimed that Tiffany wouldn't give him a reason, but went on to claim that she didn't want to end up going to jail due to her probation. She also did didn't want to end up losing custody of the couple's other children, Tristan and Emma. Tiffany suggested that they hide her body instead. There was just one problem with that plan. Amani wasn't dead. Over the next few days, Amani laid in bed while her father tried to feed her and nurse

Starting point is 00:10:28 her back to health. But it was to no avail. After four days of languishing in her bed, Amani Gabriel Moss died of starvation on October 28, 2013, just days before house. Halloween. As Amman was at work, he was notified of his daughter's death over the phone, and he didn't even bother to leave work early. When he finally came home from work, the family seemed normal. The children were playing and Tiffany was watching TV. Before leaving for his second job, Amman, who claimed to be devastated, spent time with his daughter's body. He said that she was cold to the touch and her essence just wasn't there. Now, instead of contacting the authorities, Amon wrapped Amani in a blanket and moved her to the computer room where she was left for a number of days.

Starting point is 00:11:16 The father wanted to call 911, but Tiffany simply would not allow it. During this time, the father still worked both of his jobs and would visit Amani's body in the computer room to grieve between his shifts. Other than the fact that Amani lay dead in their apartment, the Moss family went back to business as usual as if she wasn't even there. Around the 30th of October, Amon went to a local Walmart to purchase some supplies, including a metal garbage can, a bag of charcoal briquettes, and some black lawn bags. But Amon and Tiffany weren't preparing for yard work or a barbecue. They were exacting the stepmother's plan to dispose of Amani's body. In the early morning hours of Halloween, Amman retrieved his daughter's remains from the computer room and brought them back to her bedroom. He unwrapped her from the blanket and noticed that she was still.

Starting point is 00:12:08 from rigor mortis and felt much heavier than she had been prior. Together, the couple wrapped Amani in duct tape and stuffed her body into a yard bag and her clothes and the blanket into another. After Amman brought his daughter in the other bag down to his Chevy Trailblazer, which already held the metal trash can that he had purchased, they then loaded their other two kids into the truck and drove around town looking for a place to buy. burn Amani's body. They did not even attempt to hide this from the other two kids. Once a suitable place was located, Amman removed the trash can from the truck and poured in the

Starting point is 00:12:49 charcoal. The couple stuffed Amani's body inside the can, feet first. Amman described it as difficult to fit her inside and said they had to work to get her in at an angle. He then sprinkled her with lighter fluid and lit her remains ablaze. According to Amman, it started to flame real big. He claimed that he couldn't bear to watch and after five or so minutes he extinguished the flames because Amani's body wasn't burning in the way that he thought it would. Amman thought that he could cremate his daughter down to ash in a trash can, but that's not how cremation works. The cremation process for humans takes about 1.5 to 2 hours but can last as long as three

Starting point is 00:13:29 hours depending on the size of the deceased. The body is placed in a chamber called a retort which is then heated between 1,400 to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature, the body burns and the bones turn to ash. The cremains are further processed in a self-containing riny milk called a cremulator where they're transformed into the fine powder that you're more familiar with. This process, however, cannot be done in a metal trash can with some charcoal. Amon and Tiffany's master plan was to reduce Amani's body to ash and then to contact the police to claim that the little girl had run away as she had attempted to run away multiple times in the past. When their plan failed, they waited for the trash can to cool down,

Starting point is 00:14:10 loaded it back into the truck, went home, and then went about their lives as if nothing had ever happened. Amon left for his 6.30 a.m. shift at KGB services with his daughter's partially burned body in the back of his trailblazer. After finishing his second shift at Averid Express, he met with his cousin Rudy at a local 24-hour quick-trip gas station. conflicted as to what to do, he asked his cousin, who was also his best friend, for advice. Rudy told him to do the right thing and to call 911, and that's exactly what he did. But first, he went home to tell Tiffany. Not wanting to get into trouble, Tiffany got dressed, dressed the couple's toddlers, and took off in the trailblazer to her mother's house.

Starting point is 00:14:56 According to Amman, she had removed the trash can containing Amani's body from the truck and left it in a grassy area near the parking. lot. All alone with his dead daughter, Amman called 911 at around 4 a.m. on November 1st and told the dispatchers he wanted to take his own life. Once the police arrived, Amman tried to convince them that Amani had consumed some chemicals and died. He claimed that he had panicked and put her body in a trash can outside of the apartment and tried to cremate it. The police weren't having any of this. He was quickly arrested on the spot. Tiffany dropped her children off at her mother's house and ultimately turned herself in. Amon ultimately confessed to covering up Amani's death by reporting her as a runaway and trying to burn her body. In 2015, he pled guilty to felony homicide and concealing a

Starting point is 00:15:46 death. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In exchange, he agreed to testify against Tiffany, who rejected a plea deal that would have allowed her her to be sentenced to life in prison. In return, Amon avoided the death penalty. Amon is currently incarcerated at the Smith State Prison in Glenville, Georgia. Tiffany's trial began on April 15, 2019, and was presided over by Judge George Hutchinson. She decided to represent herself, despite Judge Hutchinson's efforts to persuade her to do otherwise. Instead of representing her, her defense attorneys served as standby attorneys to answer any legal questions. During pre-trial, hearing in jury selection, Judge Hutchinson urged Tiffany to rely upon the standby counsel,

Starting point is 00:16:33 but she refused. She claimed that she would rather rely upon divine guidance than legal counsel. Tiffany did not give an opening statement, nor did she cross-examine any witnesses, or give a closing argument. District attorney Danny Porter, an assistant district attorney Lisa Jones, called 18 witnesses, including Amman Moss, Sharon East Rich, Robin McArthur, Moss, and Amani's fourth grade teacher. They also called Dr. Staffenberg, who was the medical examiner who performed in an autopsy on Amani's body. She testified that by the time Amani died, she was severely underweight and was more or less

Starting point is 00:17:16 skin and bones. 10-year-old Amani weighed 32 pounds, the weight of an average 3-year-old. Additionally, her organs were found. at autopsy to be very small. According to Dr. Staffenberg, the process of starving to death would have been very painful. At first, Amani would have experienced hunger pangs. She then would have become fatigued. She would continue losing her energy and weight until she ultimately died, which is exactly

Starting point is 00:17:48 what happened. On April 29, Tiffany Moss was convicted of one count of malice homicide, two counts of felony homicide, two counts of cruelty to children, and one count of concealing a death. The jury deliberated for less than three hours. During the sentencing phase on May 1st, she declined to address the jury, present mitigating evidence, or have relatives that had attended her trial testify on her behalf. She also refused to make a closing statement. In the state's closing argument, the DA argued that Tiffany did not deserve a life sentence,

Starting point is 00:18:21 whether it be a life sentence with parole or without parole. He said she should not be given the opportunity to be released because she would never change in his opinion. According to the DA, quote, she's shown you too much of her capacity for cruelty. There will always be that dark side waiting to come out, end quote. He also argued that for Tiffany, life without parole would not be a worse sentence than death because she did not regret her crime. and would never be bothered by them. After a closing arguments, the jury began deliberating. After the first day, they appear to be conflicted and were told by Judge Hutchinson to go

Starting point is 00:19:05 home and sleep on it. They continued deliberations the next day and ultimately decided on the death penalty. Judge Hutchinson agreed with the jury's recommendation and sentenced Tiffany Moss then age 36 to death by lethal injection. She was the first person to be sentenced to death in Georgia in over five years. Judge Hutchinson scheduled her execution for June of 2019. District Attorney Danny Porter said of the death sentence, quote, There's no joy when a jury imposes a death sentence.

Starting point is 00:19:35 But this was one of the worst cases I've ever seen. The first time you look at it, it made you sick. The last time you look at it, it makes you sick, end quote. The execution did not occur in June due to the appeals process, which resulted in an automatic stay of execution being applied. Tiffany is currently being held at the Arondale State Prison and is Georgia's only female death rowing mate. If her sentences carried out,

Starting point is 00:20:06 she will be the third woman in Georgia to be executed since 1945 behind Lena Baker and Kelly Gissendaner. If you'd like to learn more about Tiffany's trial, we'll have links for you in the show notes as the whole ordeal was recorded and is widely available online. In the aftermath of Amani's death, Amon and Tiffany, who remained married, lost custody of Tristan and Emma. The children were sent to live with foster parents who adopted them in 2019, despite the extended Moss family trying to gain custody.

Starting point is 00:20:42 Tristan, who was three years old when Amani was killed, reportedly did have some memories of the crime. In 2018, Robin MacArthur Moss filed a lawsuit in the Gwynett County State Court against the Georgia DFCS, arguing that caseworkers were aware of deteriorating conditions in the Moss family and could have acted earlier. In close, we'd like to share a bit about Amani as told by her family members and her obituary. Amani was bright and beautiful and full of life. She enjoyed reading, dancing, cooking, and making up songs. She enjoyed attending church with her grandmother and would be seen preaching to her stuffed bears and dolls. Amani loved school and excelled in all subjects. At the age of three, she attended the Susan Chambers School of Dance where she studied ballet.

Starting point is 00:21:34 At the age of five, Amani attended Gwynette School of Music where she took guitar lessons. Amani's presence would light up a room and her spirit would be felt. She was an angel on earth. Amani will be greatly missed, but always remembered.

The Misery Machine - The Story of Emani Moss

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