A tragic turn of events unfolded as a babysitter joined search efforts for a missing 4-year-old boy, all the while concealing the heartbreaking truth that he was already deceased.
On May 29, 33-year-old Quatavia Givens admitted her guilt in a Missouri court, pleading guilty to charges of second-degree murder, child abuse or neglect, and abandonment of a corpse, as reported by court documents reviewed by Oxygen.
Givens will serve a life sentence in prison, plus 15 years. She will be eligible for parole after 30 years, Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Locke Thompson said in a same-day press conference.
The case began on October 25, 2018, when Givens contacted the police to report that Darnell Gray, the child she was babysitting, had vanished from his home. According to the Jefferson City Police Department, Givens was in a relationship with Gray’s father, who was at work when the disappearance occurred, as noted by People.
Givens informed the authorities that she discovered Darnell’s backpack, along with two juice boxes and cookies, missing from the house, according to reports from KRCG.
A large-scale search operation was immediately launched to locate the young boy, with a $10,000 reward offered for any information leading to his whereabouts. Darnell was last seen wearing black-and-white pajamas, a black jacket, red Spider-Man shoes, and had two missing front teeth.
Givens actively participated in the search efforts, joining hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officers as they scoured the neighborhoods, calling out Darnell’s name in hopes of finding him.
“I’m a mom before anything and I’m a mom to him,” Givens said during an emotional interview with KOMU 8 News. “I just want him to be OK and I want y’all to love him.”
Givens later added, “I don’t care what it is, I don’t care what I gotta drop or what I gotta sell to get to where my baby is missing.”
Five days later, Oct. 30, police found Darnell’s dead body in a wooded area of Cole County.
Givens was arrested the following day and charged with first-degree child abuse resulting in death, though prosecutors later upgraded the charge.
An autopsy viewed by KOMU showed that Darnell suffered “multiple injuries caused by blunt force trauma and sharp force trauma to multiple locations of the body inflicted prior to death.” The autopsy also stated that he was smothered, according to KRCG.
One year later, at a 2019 candlelight vigil, search volunteers recalled working alongside Givens.
“Looking back knowing that she was the one that hurt this baby…this is a master manipulator, that she was out there,” one volunteer said, according to KRCG. “She could’ve been on the soap operas because she put on a show.”
Another added, “She had her story, like, planned out, details that—if it was our child—who counts juice boxes? Who? Who checks their cabinet? When their child or someone they’re caring for is gone?
During the investigation, Givens told police, “I may have hit him wrong” and that she knew the location of Gray’s body, according to a probable cause statement obtained by KRCG.
After Givens’ sentencing, Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Locke Thompson said the case represents “one of the most painful tragedies our community has faced” and the loss of “an innocent child whose life was taken far too soon.
