The Misery Machine - The Worst Parents in Ohio’s History: The Takoda Collins Story

Episode Date: March 14, 2022

This week, Yergy and Drewby discuss the horrific story of Takoda Collins, and ten year old boy from Dayton, Ohio, who lost his life after he was horrifically tortured by his father, his father's girlfriend, and her sister.  RIP Takoda Go to shop.analuisa.com/misery this sale is too good to be true, and won't last long! Enjoy 20% OFF the entire Ana Luisa's website today! Check out Hollie's masks here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HollsNDolls Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #themiserymachine #podcast #truecrime Source Material: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21071102-takoda-collins-court-docs https://www.wdtn.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2021/09/Takoda-Collins-Court-Docs.pdf https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1934-Kensington-Dr_Dayton_OH_45406_M34882-26866 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsjkGg47hIE https://dayton247now.com/news/local/takoda-collins-father-sentenced-for-childs-death https://www.whio.com/news/local/sentencings-underway-3-people-involved-death-takoda-collins/XV6GURZUBFCX5NHHRIH65BPDKE/

This is one of the worst cases I've ever heard. It is up there with some of the most depraved and barbaric things I've ever heard done to a young person. Over a hundred of you have requested this case over a hundred, so get ready because this one's bad. On December 13, 2019, 911 dispatchers received a disturbing phone call from a Dayton, Ohio father named Al-Mudahan McLean. regarding his son who was allegedly unresponsive. Rather than focusing on his son's condition, McLean spent most of the call lamenting that Dakota was allegedly disobedient and how difficult it was to be apparent.

At one point during the call, when McLean was instructed to initiate CPR, he could be heard audibly retching and then complained, quote, it smells real rotten inside of his stomach, end quote. Upon arrival at McLean's 1934, Kensington. Kensington drive home in Dayton, Ohio, paramedics found him waiting at the door, and his son, 10-year-old Dakota Collins, battered and bruised from head to toe, lying alone and unresponsive on the living room floor. Dayton Police Officer Evans also responded as paramedics tended to Dakota. To allow the medics to work without distraction, Officer Evans engaged McLean in conversation on the porch,

during which McLean continued to rant and rave about his uncivilized and uncontrollable son. Famedics focused on attempts to resuscitate Dakota, the evidence of neglect and harm done to him were clearly present all over his body. When the paramedics indicated that Dakota had passed away and that there was nothing more that could be done to save him, McLean's response to the news of the death of his own son was, quote, all right, I tried to get you guys here as fast as I could, end quote. Dakota was transported to the hospital for further examination. Upon arrival, Dr. Lyker, an expert in pediatric, specializing in CA, had an opportunity to externally examine his battered remains. Dr. Lyker noted hundreds of lacerations, abrasions, and bruises to Dakota's

head, scalp, face, mouth, including the inside of it, his neck, his chest, his abdomen, arms, hands, legs, and feet, basically everywhere on his body. Patterned abrasions were noted on his chest, as well as his abdomen and legs. Older scars were seen on his torso and extremities. Injuries, lacerations, and bruising were also visible externally in his private areas. According to Dr. Liker, the extent and nature of the injuries were not consistent with accident or self-infliction. They were the result of severe physical harm on numerous occasions over a sustained period of time. many of the injuries were in areas that are very difficult to bruise.

Dr. Liker noted that many of the injuries were located in areas often considered to be defensive locations, as they are the areas of the body, such as the back of the arms and posterior of the body, that are exposed when one tries to protect themselves from strikes. She also noticed evidence of prior rib fractures that were not visible in Dakota's medical records. Dr. Liker also noted pruning on Dakota's hands. Like one would note if they've been in water for too long. As disturbing as the external presentation of Dakota's injuries were, it was the internal examination performed by deputy coroner Dr. Brian Casto

that told the true depth and extent of the harm inflicted on Dakota. The autopsy confirmed extensive injuries, abrasions, and contusions to the head, torso, and extremities. Evidence of fresh injuries as well as old injuries, were both present on Dakota. With respect to Dakota's head, Dr. Castro found even more injuries as the bruising was hidden in his hair. External autopsy photos show bruising around Dakota's right forehead, right chin, inside the upper and lower lip and in the left nasal opening.

The internal examination explored the depth and gravity of those injuries. When Dakota's scalp was peeled back, deep bruising was observed in all areas of the head. External contusions in patikia, which are pin-sized red spots due to bleeding, were noted on Dakota's chest. An internal examination revealed internal bruising to his stomach. Dakota's backside also showed severe external and internal injuries. There was severe pulmonary edema, which is fluid in the lungs. And they concluded that it was related to prolonged submersion in water.

Dr. Castro also observed fractures of numerous rins. Tocoda's digestive system was also examined, and what was found was shocking. His stomach had contents that were a tan yellow puree-type consistency, which appeared identical in color and consistency to that of human waste. An external examination of Dakota's backside and the back of his legs showed healed scars and fresh bruising. Branding was also found on Dakota's back. Due to its location, it would have been nearly impossible,

for Dakota to have done this himself. However, the internal examination was most telling relating to the trauma of these injuries. The entirety of his backside, all the way to the bone, was bruised and swollen with a significant injury to his private areas. Observed were two half-inch lacerations. Internal examination showed the depth and damage of this injury. The internal examination of Dakota's pelvic area revealed an abundance of blood associated with the injury.

The most significant injury as it related to Dakota's death was not even visible externally. It was severe bruising to the back of the neck. Internal examination of this area revealed deep bruising through all the layers of neck muscle directly over the spine. Dr. Castro described this bruising as the type of injury typically only observed in catastrophic events, such as severe car accidents. Dr. Castro ruled the cause of death for 10-year-old Dakota Collins as blunt force trauma, combined with compressive asphyxia and water submersion, with the manner of death listed as homicide. While Dakota was examined, law enforcement remained at the Kensington address with his father,

Almudahan McLean. Shortly after Dakota's remains were transported, McLean's partner Amanda Hines and her sister Jennifer Ebert returned to the residence with a three-year-old, who was later determined to be McLean's brother. Although McLean initially maintained that just he and Dakota lived at the Kensington residence, it was later confirmed that he, Heinz, Ebert, Dakota, and the three-year-old all lived there. When police arrived, they originally stayed on the ground level of the home. However, they were eventually given permission to search the entire residence.

The ground floor was furnished. There was running water and food in the refrigerator. There appeared to be a security system as the TV in the living room showed live video of the outside. Family photos and photos of pets were hung on the walls throughout the home. However, there were absolutely no photos of Dakota. There was a bedroom that belonged to McLean and Hines, along with a mudroom that had been converted into a spare bedroom for Ebert. There was also a bedroom consistent with the needs of a three-year-old

with age-appropriate toys and clothing. But there was no room set up for Dakota, no age-appropriate toys, schoolbooks, or clothing for a 10-year-olds. Nor was there a bedroom for Dakota set up in the basement, only a room for the dogs with crates in a dirty cement floor littered with excrement. In the living room, there was a door that led to the attic, an area that authorities soon learned to be where Tocoda was being kept. As the detectives went up the stairs, they noticed an overwhelming smell of human waste. Due to their not being a light source in the attic, they had to use flashlights to further investigate.

The attic was devoid of any personal effects aside from a broken chair. Two legs from the broken chair were recovered downstairs, one stuck behind the television, and the other in a laundry basket outside the bathroom. There were no clothes, no books, no toys, only filth, excrement, and insects. Deep inside of the attic was another room secured with a lock. When the room was unlocked, detectives found a bloody tarp in a filthy lawn chair, which they discovered was Dakota's bedding when he was permitted to have it. detectives also found a dismantled video camera that had been used by the three adults to watch Dakota,

which, per Heinz, had been disconnected by McLean after Dakota became unresponsive, but before he called 911. Dakota originally did have a bedroom in the home. However, he lost the room after McLean and Hines took custody of McLean's three-year-old brother, and Dakota was sent to the attic. After leaving the Kensington residence, the investigation continued, including interviews of the residents, teachers, and other individuals, as well as review of the evidence gathered. As the details unfolded, it became clear that the only thing more horrific than the facts of Dakota's death were conditions he was made to live in at the hands of his father, his father's partner, and her sister. On January 5, 2015, Dakota was enrolled at Horace Mann Elementary School at ages 7. Although they were unsure of Dakota's specific needs, his teachers recognized.

that he could benefit from a little help. Although he did not have issues at school with proper restroom usage, he was sent to school daily smelling of human waste. He was also sent to school with embarrassing and potentially painful haircuts, making him vulnerable to ridicule, in addition to the ridicule he already faced from the odor. The school tried their very best to help with Dakota, providing him with donated clothing to wear during the day while they washed his soiled ones.

Teachers sent Dakota to the school nurse who would assist him with these issues. When notified of what was going on, McLean refused assistance and was enraged with staff interventions, further demanding that the school nurse not see Dakota for any reason at all. Ebert noted that McLean would give Dakota weird haircuts knowing that it would cause him ridicule. Hines noted and teachers confirmed that McLean wanted daily updates from teachers. Heinz would get those reports and then relay them to McLean. If there were anything but glowing, unbeknownst to his teachers, it would result in severe discipline for Dakota. Based on the account of Heinz, Dakota was ordered to stand in the living room and hold a loaded book bag.

Most days of the week from the time he got home from school until it was bedtime, this was Dakota's life. On weekends, if Dakota did not have a good report card, he would be made to stand in this position in the living room for the entire day. Dakota was an active and rambunctious youth, so it was no surprise that he didn't receive a perfect report from the school daily. However, because of this, Dakota's life was a living hell when he was at home.

McLean was furious with Horace Mann Elementary and blamed the school for repeatedly sending CPS to his house. However, when CPS did come, the family was prepared. McLean and Heinz instructed Ebert and Dakota on how to act when the door was knocked on, which was to stay behind a locked door and not be heard. Then McLean and Hines would schedule a time for CPS to return. McLean had Dakota prepared to answer their questions.

He was to tell them nothing and act perfectly happy. CPS had a host of resources to offer the family, including connecting them to medical or psychological services. Sorry about Prada's meowing. However, McLean declined their assistance. He blamed the school in Dakota for their intrusions and would take his rage out on Dakota after every time they came. Beating him, throwing him, kicking him, body slamming him,

any marks left behind would be covered by long sleeves and pants. For those that weren't here for last week's episode, I want to quickly address sponsors in True Crime. I know some people believe that True Crime channels, podcasts, or even TV shows should have no sponsors because we're talking about horrific events. Please know that honoring those that have suffered is the utmost priority to us.

We spend a minimum of 40 hours each week on every episode on top of our full-time jobs. Sponsors help us cover our hosting fees as well as tools we use to produce these episodes for you. This is no disrespect to Cota. We want to keep bringing you the best content possible. With that said, I want to introduce the sponsor to this episode. We'll be back in a minute to continue to Cota's case.

This episode has been brought to you by Anna Louisa, who's offering our listeners an exclusive 20% off their entire collection. Anna Louisa is a jewelry brand with a simple but clear-cut idea, that high-quality jewelry shouldn't cost the planet. Their metals are recycled whenever possible, and their gemstones are ethically sourced. Best of all, Anna-Louisa is 100% carbon and water-neutral, including their packaging. Anna-Luisa offers fair pricing, with jewelry starting just at $39. dollars. Each piece is released in limited batches every Friday and are put through rigorous stress tests so that way you can wear your jewelry with confidence. Metals used are always safe, nickel-free, and hypoallergenic. My favorite piece is the Levs Silver Heart Necklace. It's simple yet classy,

and it looks great with both a casual outfit or dressed up for a night out. And for me, I've been enjoying the mini-huggy hoops and the Hanali earrings and silver. Go to shop.ana-luisa.com slash misery. That's A-N-A-L-U-I-S-A. Again, that's A-N-A-L-U-I-S-A dot com slash misery, and enjoyed 20% off the entire Anna-Luisa website today. Thanks and back to the episode. Fed up with a repeated interference. In May of 2018, McLean and Hines withdrew Dakota from school, the one place where Dakota found at least a momentary refuge during the day. In order to keep the school out of their business, McLean and Hines wrote falsified educational plans, claiming that Hines, who represented herself as his stepmother, would be homeschooling Dakota. By then, Dakota was largely confined to the attic for the majority

of every single day. Originally, Dakota had full reign of the entire attic. However, in November of 2018, he allegedly launched himself through a window, leaving McLean and Hines no other option but to take him to the hospital. At that time, there was not an allegation of CA on record. and social workers and doctors treated Dakota in the presence of McLean and Hines, who again represented herself as a mother figure to Dakota. During that visit, psychological counseling was recommended as part of an aftercare plan. However, the family did not follow through with making appointments. When social workers called McLean and Hines to assist in setting up that appointment,

that help was declined to. During this time, McLean did call the juvenile court to inquire about services for juveniles' under the age of 10. The court does in fact have a program to offer services to family struggling with mental health or behavioral issues. However, when McLean learned it was therapeutic help and would not result in Dakota being locked up, he declined that assistance to. After his visit to the hospital, Dakota was moved to the basement while McLean walled off the windows in the attic. When Dakota returned to his attic confinement, it was now a smaller area deprived of external light. Afterwards, McLean and Hines made sure Dakota was locked up in the attic to avoid his escape.

In the attic, Dakota was deprived of clothing, and by the time of his death, Ebert confirmed that all of his clothes had been thrown out. Yet despite this, if Dakota came down to use the restroom, without his clothes, he would be subject to discipline. His father only allowed Dakota to use the restroom at night, after McLean's brother went to bed and accused him of trying to show off his unclothed body to McLean's three-year-old brother. To further humiliate him,

McLean began to call him slurs and would refer to him by using girls' names. Once confined to the attic, Dakota spent all day, every day in painful poses created by McLean. All three adults watched him

from the comfort of their living room television. They had installed a camera to monitor him. If Dakota moved out of these horrific poses, Ebert or Hines would advise McLean of the movement so he could beat Dakota for disregarding the rules. An iPad recovered from the home had images of Dakota in these excruciating positions. He was made to stand with no clothes on, in a dark attic, bent over so that his hands were touching the floor.

He was to hold this pose from when he woke till the early hours of the morning. But the details surrounding the harm of Dakota only got worse. As McLean spoke to 911 dispatchers, as well as Officer Evans and detectives, he repeated a theme about how Dakota would not stop eating. his own waste. However, McLean failed to mention that it was he that physically made Dakota performed this dehumanizing act. Per Ebert, and later confirmed by Heinz, it started as a disciplinary action handed down by McLean. McLean became enraged that Dakota, who was confined to the attic without access to a bathroom, had no choice but to use the floor. McLean commanded Dakota

to eat his own wastes, and when Dakota refused, McLean physically made him do so. Tacoda tried to refuse, but Maclean made sure that he had no escape. After that, Dakota knew that he was expected to do this, or face further suffering. The last hours of Dakota's life were detailed by Heinz and Ebert. McLean had been out drinking, and when he came home, he took his anger out on Dakota. Ebert from another room heard Dakota crying and saying, no more. Heinz dozed off in the couch and woke to McLean punching Dakota hard in his stomach, consistent with the internal bruising visible at autopsy. The next morning before the three-year-old woke up, Ibert called for Dakota to come down to use the restroom. Dakota was walking, but he was

holding onto the walls. He would wobble and fall and then stand back up. McLean's response was to elbow, Dakota, harden the back and order him back upstairs. Once back upstairs, McLean gave instructions to put away his folding chair and perform his discipline pose. Because Dakota did not move fast enough, McLean decided to take things further. As Dakota laid down in his stomach, McLean stood on his back, forcing all of his weight, even reaching to the ceiling to push down extra hard on Dakota's body, crushing him. This is a man that's over 200 pounds. After this, McLean again had Dakota stand in the same pose and went downstairs to watch TV with Ebert in the three-year-old, all the while yelling up at Dakota, calling him a mama's girl as well as slurs that

we cannot say here. McLean then took a bottle of hot sauce up to pour on Dakota's backside. McLean readily admitted that pouring hot sauce on Dakota's private areas was something that he did frequently. Even daily in the last weeks of his life, according to Ebert, he had called it one of his parenting tools. Still not satisfied that Dakota was sufficiently compliant. McClain threw him around some more, grabbed him by the ears, and dragged him down the steps. He took Dakota into the bathroom and told him to clean his shorts. When Dakota again did not move fast enough, he was told to move faster or he was going to drown. Ebert from the living room, then heard splashing and Dakota gasping for air.

McLean took Dakota back upstairs and from the monitor, Ebert could see him laying on the lawn chair in the fetal position as McLean stood behind him. While McLean was standing behind Dakota, Ebert could see him making a repetitive motion with his hands. Maclean's arm was going back and forth by Dakota's rear ends, and Ebert thought McLean could have been using the hot sauce. But when he came back downstairs, he tossed the chair leg that he apparently used on Dakota behind the dresser.

McLean admitted during his interviews that the chair leg had damaged Dakota's insides, but he denied that he was the one that shoved it in there. He tried to explain the injury was, self-inflicted by telling detectives that he saw Dakota stick it inside himself. He went on to describe asking Dakota to pull it out. Maclean later told detectives, quote, that's the kind of stuff he was into, end quote, before quickly assuring detectives without them asking any questions about this, that McLean himself was very straight.

Finally, McLean changed the story to Dakota fighting to keep the chair leg inside of him and that he had arreesome him to get it out. McLean claimed that he had took him to the tub to clean him up, but saw the injury was not too bad, which was wholly inconsistent with the actual injury inflicted to Dakota per his autopsy. After McLean came back downstairs and discarded the chair leg, Dakota never made another sound. He no longer would have to incur the wrath of his caretaker.

All adults in the home were arrested and charged in Dakota's death on December 14th. While in the police cruiser, McLean again only seemed concerned for himself and the conviction he was likely to receive, not about the death of his son. McLean asked the officer, quote, you can get the death penalty though, right? End quote. To which the officer responded that that's up to the prosecutors, that's not up to us. McLean's concerns about the death penalty did not end up playing a role in his case. Prosecutors said they charged McLean with all possible charges, including homicide. However, surprisingly, none of the charges carried death penalty specifications.

Dakota's father, Almudahan McLean pled guilty to M.A. and endangering the welfare of a minor. He was sentenced to 51 years to life in prison and will need to register as a Tier 3 offender. McLean's girlfriend, Amanda Hines, was then sentenced to 22 to 27 and a half years in prison for her role in Dakota's death. Hines and her sister Jennifer Ebert pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter. and multiple counts of endangering the welfare of a minor. Ebert was sentenced to eight years in prison for her role. All three defendants received credit for time served, which is more than 600 days for each of them.

McLean will be in his 80s before he is eligible for parole. One might be asking, where was Dakota's mother when all of this was happening? Well, in 2008, his biological mother, Robin Collins, lost custody of him in a Dane County family court after harming him when he was still a baby and went to jail on additional charges. After spending some time in foster care, Dakota was eventually awarded to his father, McLean, with full custody in 2013.

In 2014, McLean got permission from the judge to leave the state for Pennsylvania. Instead of doing so, he went to Dayton, purchased a house, and Tacoda's mother and grandmother were unable to track him down. But McLean already had a criminal history. At the time, he had pled guilty to a misdemeanor for beating and choking a man. Three days after the custody decision, he was charged with beating Heinz with a metal pole. Those charges were dismissed when Heinz decided to not cooperate with the police. Allegedly, family court judges who are constantly processing custody and divorce cases aren't required to check the addresses or follow up on moves in most instances. It's not legally part of a court's role to follow.

follow-up on address changes out of state. If CPS was involved, where records would be off-limits to the public, it would be CPS that would be responsible for checking on those cases and ensuring the right case information was passed to the state where the family moved. But privacy laws mean it's not known if CPS was playing a role in Dakota's case at the time of the move. When reached for comment, Wisconsin's DCF office said they couldn't confirm or deny whether Dakota had ever been in the system. If you appreciate this video, know that we have put a lot of time and effort into it. We put in the amount of time that one would spend at their full-time job every week on one episode. All I'm asking in return is if you appreciate what we're doing, to please

hit that subscribe button if you're listening on YouTube. We've a lot of new viewers here, and it would mean a lot to me if you hit that subscribe button to make sure you never miss one of the of our future episodes. We also have a very wonderful group of people going that extra step to support us on Patreon. I will put their names up right now. We have quite a few new patrons that I want to say welcome to. So welcome to Robin, Kylin, Chelsea, Michelle with two L's, Michelle with one L, Kiki, Leslie, Terran, WC, and Christina. Welcome and thank you so much for joining. Also special shout out to Levi, Holly, Melissa, and Chaka, our highest tier Patreon supporters. There's their lovely picture right now.

There's halls and dolls, Holly's mask store. If you want access to the best masks we've ever worn, please go to Holly's Etsy. The link is down below. Also, shout out to Ken and Hannah for making contributions directly to our PayPal this month. If you two would like to support us on Patreon, help keep this show going, as well as get access to all of our secret episodes, you can do so at patreon.com slash the misery machine. The link for that will be down below. One last thank you to Anna Louisa who sponsored this episode.

Again, if you want 20% off their entire inventory, shop.ana Luisa.com slash misery to get 20% off. Also, for those that did not see the community post on our YouTube, we did lose kite in this past week. His health had been rapidly declining over the past couple of days. And yesterday, I think we're recording this on the 10th, he made it very clear that it was time. So I want to say thank you to everybody that has been there for us, that has been supporting us, that gave us well wishes, and gave us suggestions for Kighton's care.

Yes, thank you so much. If he even had an idea just how many people out there were rooting for him, he would have loved you all. And I'm sure he does somewhere out there. Please enjoy these pictures of Little Kiten in the prime of his life during this outro. The Kiten by outro always felt like a victory every week because it symbolized another week that we could have Kiten with us when our vet told us that he wasn't going to make it to Thanksgiving of 2021. But this week will be the last weekend we have the Kiten by outro. I don't know if anything will be replacing it, but it doesn't feel right doing it now that he's gone.

Again, thank you all for the support and thank you all for the condolences that you left on the community post. Until next week. We love you. We love you. Bye. Bye. I don't know if hers is still there.

Kytan. I don't know if hers is still there. Kytan. I don't know if her... You might need to just pick him up for a second.