Dasha Kelly/Phot courtesy of CNN
Dasha Kelly, the Las Vegas woman who received over $200K in donations after appearing on CNN, admitted that the three children who sat at her side were not her daughters.
Kelly’s tale of being a nearly-evicted mother of three touched the hearts and wallets of people all over the country. She was one of the many people on the verge of homeless due to the eviction moratorium expiring.
However, soon after the media began to report on the successful fundraising campaign, it was alleged that Kelly might not have been the mother.
After dodging attempts to contact her by CNN, Dasha Kelly finally admitted that the allegations were true. She is not the mother of the three girls who appeared with her, CNN reported.
Shadia Hilo is the actual mother of the girls. Kelly said that she is their sitter.
It turned out that Kelly was also the girls’ father’s girlfriend. The father’s name is David Allison. Kelly and Allison do not live together.
Hilo said that her daughters spend a lot of time with Kelly, and at the point of the CNN report, she had dropped them off to stay with Kelly for a week. CNN verified that Hilo is the mother through birth certificates. Both Hilo and Kelly said the girls would be returning to Hilo’s home to prepare for the start of the new school year.
In the meantime, a representative from GoFundMe has said that they have placed Kelly’s campaign on hold until they can verify more of her information. The narrative on the campaign has been changed to state that she is a “mother figure” to the girls.
Those who donated to Dasha Kelly can request a refund through Aug. 23. So far, no withdrawals from the donations have been made.
Giving is always an honorable activity. However, it is never a bad practice to verify first.