Photo courtesy of CBS NY.
Jamie Moore, the mother of missing teen Jashyah Moore, was arrested after her daughter was found in Harlem and told authorities that her mother stabbed her. Jashyah was reported missing on Oct. 14 from East Orange, N.J.
Police said that the 14-year-old had run away due to the child abuse inflicted on her by her mother. The teen denied her identity when she was first found but eventually admitted to being Jashyah Moore and accused Jamie Moore, 39, of spraying bleach in her eyes, beating her with a frying pan, pulling her braids out and stabbing her in the shoulder.
She also told authorities that she had to cook for her brother, who is 3-years-old, or they wouldn’t eat. Her mother also failed to enroll her in school this fall and forced her to panhandle.
Jashyah was found on Nov. 11 in Harem after a good samaritan saw her around West 111th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem and called 911.
The New Jersey Division of Children and Families could not speak about whether they’ve investigated Jamie Moore in the past for child abuse due to confidentiality rules.
The acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens III told the press that the teenager ran away to escape her mother’s abuse.
“The young lady appears to have run away,” Stephens said. “And she did not want to make herself known to anyone as to where she was. She seemed to be … more so at ease where she was.
Jashyah had been staying in a Brooklyn shelter when she was found. She told the police that she ran away after her mother beat her for losing their EBT card after visiting a deli.
Jamie Moore went on the news to beg for her daughter’s return and organized search parties to find Jamie.
“I feel like somebody may have her against her will,” she said. “I love you. If you see this, I’m looking for you.”
She was arrested and charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, including abuse and neglect. Moore’s three-year-old son and Jashyah have been placed into protective custody.