ANGEL DOE – REVISITED: A TIMELINE IN THE SHORT LIFE OF RAYSATE KNIGHT

BABY GRACE CASE HAS RETIRED COP LOOKING BACK AT ANGEL DOE MURDER:

02:29 PM CST on Sunday, November 4, 2007

By Leigh Frillici / 11 News Click to watch video 

Six years later, there is one case that still touches retired HPD Sergeant Clarence Douglas to the core.

KHOU – TV

A retired HPD officer can’t help but cry as he remembers the case of Angel Doe.

Angel Doe, as she was called, had Douglas working overtime to solve.

She was the unidentified 5-year-old girl whose body was found in 2001.

“The way she was left, nobody come forth to claim her,” said Douglas.

Now a similar case, Baby Grace, out of Galveston is sparking old memories for Douglas. “Somebody has to know this child it’s going to take a relative to see a composite.”

In the case of Angel Doe, her grandmother recognized the sketch and said the little girl was Rayset Knight.

“The father had kicked her and she hit her head on an object on the floor and that’s what killed her,” said Douglas.

But it took months to crack that case.

That little girl was found two days before the September 11 attacks.

“Once that happened it was very difficult for us to get TV exposure,” said Douglas.

Baby Grace’s sketch has received a lot of media attention and already, dozens of tips have been called into authorities.

GCSO

This is a composite sketch of Baby Grace.

Douglas says there’s clues in how both children’s bodies were left.

Baby Grace was found inside a plastic container.

Angel Doe was wrapped in a blanket.

“It’s like Angel Doe. They wanted her to be found after death and for someone to take care of her,” said Douglas.

Douglas did in the case of Angel Doe.

He collected money for a gravestone. “She had a birthday May 20 and I went by.”

Though Douglas says he was taught to leave his cases at work, something about this one hit home.

In fact, Douglas says he feels like Rayset is family.

As for the child’s real parents, they were both convicted of harming her. 

Rayset’s mother is serving 50 years in prison and her stepfather received a life sentence.

In the Baby Grace case, It’s still not clear how she died.

At 2 p.m. Sunday, near Fat Boy’s Bait Camp at 601 Jones Lake Road, a vigil will be held.

 http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou071104_jj_babygracecasehpdsergeant.1da33b7d9.html

(Article courtesy of Channel 11 News-KHOU)

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CHILDREN FIND GIRL’S BODY IN DITCH

NO REPORTS OF MISSING GIRL BAFFLES POLICE

SEPTEMEBR 11, 2001

 HOUSTON — An autopsy is being performed on a little girl’s body, which was found in a muddy ditch by some children.

Child's Body Found

Her body was found at about 3 p.m. Sunday in a water-filled ditch in the 5100 block of Groveton in southeast Houston in an area known for illegal trash dumping.

Houston police investigators said that her body was found by two boys riding their bikes, who told their parents to call authorities. “She is a light-skinned (girl) and (she) had curly hair,” 10-year-old Dvoughn Freeman said.

Police said that the girl appears to be about 4 to 8 years old and that her body was wrapped in a blanket. “The child is not completely submerged (and) does not appear at this time to be a drowning,” Sgt. C.B. Douglas said. She is described as being black, 45 inches tall, weighing about 47 pounds and wearing a blue and white button-up blouse, dark green warm-up cotton long pants and a pair of white socks, police said. “There is some decomposition in the face area and that could be from not necessarily because of the length of time it’s been here, (but) it could be from the animals that are in the area or something like that,” Douglas said.

Investigators said that they are not sure how the little girl died and that there were no visible signs of trauma on her body. Police are also wondering why they have not received any reports of a missing girl from her parents, especially since she is so young.

Investigators said that they are checking with the HPD Missing Persons Unit and other agencies in the area in an attempt to identify her. The autopsy results are expected back as early as Tuesday afternoon. Anyone with information about the case is asked to the Houston Police Department Homicide Division at (713) 308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.

POSTED: 9:30 p.m. CDT October 12, 2001

HOUSTON — A young girl found in the 5100 block of Groveton Sept. 9 has still not been identified, and now police are asking for the public’s help.

Girl Who Has Not Been Identified Police have not been able to find out the name and age of the girl or who her parents are. Two young boys found the girl’s body in a ditch while riding their bikes. Sgt. C.B. Douglas of the Houston Police Department said that the girl is between 4 and 8 years old and is either black, Hispanic or of mixed race. She is 45 inches tall and weighs about 47 pounds.

When the body was found, the victim was wearing a blue and white button-up “ST” Gap blouse, dark green cotton warm-up pants — size 4T — and a pair of white socks. Douglas said that they believe the suspect was familiar with the area where the body was found.

“We believe the suspect wanted the body to be found because they could have dumped the body in a nearby bayou or heavy-wooded brush,” Douglas said. Officer D.R. Shorten said that the girl was wrapped in a blue and white blanket with a winter theme of polar bears, pine trees, deer and snowflake designs on it. Shorten said that the child was wrapped neatly in the blanket with her face and head exposed.

 “We are in the process of trying to identify who carries this line of blanket in hopes it leads us to the child’s family,” Shorten said. “We’re also asking anyone who recognizes this blanket to give us a call.”

Several of the victim’s front teeth were missing, according to police. Investigators said that the cause of the child’s death was blunt trauma to the head. Anyone with information about this case is urged to call the Houston Police Department Homicide Division at (713) 308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS. For more information, log onto www.ci.houston.tx.us/departme/police/nr101201-2.htm.

POSTED: 9:00 am CST March 22, 2002

UPDATED: 5:43 pm CST March 22, 2002

 HOUSTON — Houston police announced Friday that they have identified and arrested a suspect in the death a young girl whose body was found in a ditch more than six months ago.

Girl Who Has Not Been Identified

Investigators told News2Houston that the girl, known as “Angel Doe” has been identified as 6-year-old Raysate Knight.

Her mother, Connie Knight, 40, was arrested Thursday in Lafayette, La. after a phone tip led police to her, investigators said. Police said that Knight has admitted that she and she alone caused the death of her daughter. She has been charged with injury to a child and is expected to be extradited to Houston, where she is scheduled to be in court on Monday, authorities said. Raysate’s body was found about 3 p.m. on Sept. 9 in the 5100 block of Groveton in southeast Houston.

The discovery was near where Raysate lived with her mother. Neighbors said the little girl was rarely seen. Audrey Moshay lived next door. Her son played with Knight’s other children so she was shocked to hear her neighbor was linked with the death of Angel Doe. “I said, ‘It’s a shame that she did that.’ Why? I don’t know,” Moshay said. “But what you do — you pay for it if you (did) it.”

Investigators said that two young boys riding their bikes found her body wrapped in a blanket in a ditch. Charles Clickman, with Child Watch of North America, headed up the search to find Raysate’s identity. “You look at this child’s life over a six-year period — horrible amounts of abuse had happened to her, from her head to her toe. And then, to have her found dead with no identity just seems so cruel,” Clickman said. Medical examiners said that Raysate was extremely malnourished and had suffered years of physical abuse, and that she died of blunt trauma. Renee Ware had been friends with Knight for 10 years. She said Raysate was taken away at birth while Knightproof fought drug addiction.

Ware said that when Raysate would visit the home, her mother called her a problem child. “I mean, it shocked me. I’m trying to figure out when she could have done it. When? I don’t know — it shocked me because I didn’t think she would do nothing like that,” Ware said. Investigators said they hope to learn more about how Raysate’s body ended up in the ditch.

POSTED: 9:55 am CST March 25, 2002

HOUSTON — The grandmother of a 6-year-old girl whose bruised and malnourished body was found in a ditch last September helped identify her granddaughter after spotting a police artist’s rendering of the child on television, police said.

Girl Who Has Not Been Identified

The grandmother, whose name is not being released, called police after catching a glimpse of her granddaughter, Raysate Knight, while flipping through the channels.

“When she saw the sketch, she knew immediately that it was Raysate,” Houston Police Sgt. C.B. Douglas told the Houston Chronicle for its Sunday editions. The call led to Thursday’s arrest of the girl’s mother, Connie Knight, in Lafayette, La.

She was charged with injury to a child and will be returned to Houston. Raysate’s body was found on Sept. 9 in the 5100 block of Groveton in southeast Houston by two boys riding their bicycles in the area. Detectives learned Raysate, known as “Angel Doe” during the initial six-month investigation, spent her last days living with her parents at a house less than two miles from where her body was later dumped. Knight, 40, admitted causing the child’s death, police said.

They said the mother said she acted alone. Her husband, Raymond Jefferson Jr., also the girl’s father, has denied any knowledge of the incident, detectives said. “According to him, he was told the child was with the grandmother or an aunt,” Douglas said. “He knew the child had been with the aunt in Georgia and also that the grandmother had legal custody of the child. He didn’t push it any further.” Children’s Protective Services had transferred custody of the child from Connie Knight to the maternal grandmother in November 1996 after Knight declined to attend drug treatment. The grandmother eventually became the girl’s legal guardian.

She soon went to live with another relative in Georgia, however, when the grandmother became seriously ill, police said. Connie Knight then called family members in Georgia, telling them she wanted her daughter back. “The mother went to Georgia and brought the child back on her own, on the understanding that she was going to place her with the grandmother,” Douglas said. Although the grandmother said she made several visits to the family’s southeast Houston home, the final time she saw Raysate was in late March 2000.

“There was always a reason for Raysate not to be there,” Douglas said. “She was either with her aunt on her father’s side or with her father. She (the grandmother) never got an opportunity to see her.” The family moved to Lafayette in early November, a couple of months after Raysate’s body was discovered in the rubble-filled ditch. Detectives finally located Connie Knight in Louisiana last week. Knight’s other children, girls ages 16, 13, and 8, and a 4-year-old boy, were taken into custody by Louisiana child welfare authorities after their mother’s arrest.

In 1998, CPS took custody of Knight’s firstborn, who is now 19, but no abuse or negligence was ever indicated.

POSTED: 11:21 a.m. CDT August 8, 2002

UPDATED: 11:42 a.m. CDT August 8, 2002

 HOUSTON — The father of a 6-year-old girl whose bludgeoned body was found in a southeast Houston ditch almost a year ago has been arrested. Girl Who Has Not Been Identified

Raymond Jefferson Jr., 48, was arrested early Wednesday and was charged in the assault that led to the death of Raysate Chain Knight, whose body went unidentified for six months.

Raysate’s body was found on Sept. 9 in the 5100 block of Groveton in southeast Houston by two boys riding their bicycles in the area. Her body was left wrapped in a blanket in a trash-filled ditch just blocks from her family’s residence. Her body showed signs of abuse, but investigators said she died from blunt trauma to the head.

The child’s mother, Connie Gazette Knight, 40, has been in the Harris County Jail since her arrest 4 1/2 months ago. The two are not married. She previously accepted all the blame for the death of the girl, who became known as “Angel Doe” during the initial six-month investigation. Tuesday, Knight changed her mind and implicated Jefferson. Police quickly arrested him, and both now are charged with injury to a child.

“We knew there was more to the puzzle than just what the mother had told us,” Houston Police Department investigator Darcus Shorten told the Houston Chronicle. “Having Raymond arrested was definitely some closure, not only for us, but also for Raysate herself. She did not have a name, she was thrown away like a piece a of trash, and when we interviewed her father about her, he denied her,” Shorten said.

“It’s a true relief, not only just for investigative purposes, but closure in putting the puzzle together in how this child suffered.” Jefferson, who has a history of arrests for DWI and other misdemeanors, is accused of beating the child because he was angry that a TV was too loud, said Houston police Sgt. Clarence Douglas.

The assault occurred in front of the child’s mother and several of the girl’s siblings in the family home, officials say. The girl immediately became unresponsive after the beating, Douglas said. The latest break came from police interviews with two of Knight’s children, as well as cooperation from Knight, Douglas said. It is believed that the girl’s mother and father acted together in dumping her body, Douglas said. The girl was identified six months after her body was found.

Her grandmother, who lives in Houston, called police, saying she recognized a drawing of the child’s face on TV. Knight and Jefferson had abruptly moved from Houston without telling anyone. Police traced the child’s parents to Lafayette, La., where Knight was arrested in March. At the time, Jefferson denied any knowledge of the girl’s death. Jefferson was arrested early Wednesday at his sister’s home in Missouri City, a southwest Houston suburb.

For now, the injury to a child charge against Knight stands, police said. Hans Nielsen, a Harris County assistant district attorney, said he could not immediately say what will become of the case against her. Knight’s four other children, ranging in age from 4 to 17, remain in the custody of Louisiana protective officials, where they have been since their mother’s arrest. Jefferson, who fathered Raysate and two of the other children, had a short temper with the slain child, police said. “He became very angry very easily with this particular child _ not the others. This child ticked him off,” Douglas said.

CONNIE KNIGHT TESTIFIES WHY RAYSATE’S BODY WAS DUMPED IN DITCH

POSTED: 1:58 pm CDT May 23, 2003

 HOUSTON — A mother took the stand in a Houston courtroom Friday, testifying against her husband in the murder case of “Angel Doe,” a girl so named because it took police six months to identify her body, which was found thrown in a ditch.

Connie Knight

Raymond Jefferson Jr., 49, is accused of killing his stepdaughter, Raysate Chain Knight, 6, by hitting and kicking her and failing to stop her mother, Connie Knight, 41, from abusing her.

Jefferson has pleaded not guilty to charges of injury to a child and blamed Connie Knight for Raysate’s death. Raysate was born addicted to crack cocaine, put into foster care, but returned to her mother when she was 4 years old, News2Houston reported. Prosecutors said that for the next 18 months, Raysate was beaten, starved and kept locked in a closet. Connie Knight testified that she and Jefferson beat Raysate as punishment, because she had numerous behavioral problems and was difficult to control. She admitted to beating Raysate with a thorn-imbedded switch taken from a palm tree outside the family’s house.

Those blows drew blood and left scars that were clearly visible in autopsy photos, News2Houston reported. Connie Knight also said that Jefferson sometimes kicked Raysate — hard enough to move her across a room. Raymond Jefferson Jr. Initially Raysate slept with one of her older sisters, but Connie Knight testified that she stopped that after catching the girls in what she described as “a compromising position.”

After that, Raysate slept in a bedroom closet — sometimes sent there as punishment — and spent her nights on a urine-soaked carpet that eventually had to be pulled up and replaced with a comforter, News2Houston reported. Prosecutor Casey O’Brien asked Connie Knight how she could put Raysate in the foul-smelling closet.

“Why did I put her in the closet?” Connie Knight asked. “Just for different things she would do — the behavior. Different things she would do (that) I didn’t know to deal with.” Connie Knight said that Raysate died one night after Jefferson kicked her and said that they didn’t call an ambulance because they were afraid scars from previous abuse would be discovered. Connie Knight also testified that when she and her husband went to dump Raysate’s body, they chose a drainage ditch because it was dark.

Investigators said that Jefferson fatally beat Raysate because the television was too loud. Connie Knight, who is also charged with injury to child, has been behind bars for the last 14 months, awaiting her own trial. Raysate’s body was found on Sept. 9, 2001, in the 5100 block of Groveton in southeast Houston by two boys riding their bicycles in the area. Angel Doe Connie Knight previously accepted all the blame for Raysate’s death during the initial six-month investigation, but later she changed her mind and implicated Jefferson.

At the time her body was discovered, Raysate was only known as a black girl who was 45 inches tall and weighed 47 pounds. In March 2002, the child’s identity was known after her grandmother called police after seeing on television a composite drawing of the child who at the time was known only as “Angel Doe.” Raysate’s mother was subsequently arrested and charged in the killing. Following Connie Knight’s arrest, investigators made several trips to Lafayette, La., where she was living, to interview two of her children.

The information received in those interviews with the children and Connie Knight helped investigators file charges of injury to a child against Jefferson.

POSTED: 1:49 pm CDT May 30, 2003

UPDATED: 6:01 pm CDT May 30, 2003HOUSTON — A Houston judge declared a mistrial Friday afternoon in the murder case of “Angel Doe,” a girl so-named because it took police six months to identify her body, which was found thrown in a ditch.

Raymond Jefferson Jr.

The jury said that it was hopelessly deadlocked. The panel began deliberations Wednesday.

 

Raymond Jefferson Jr., 49, was accused of killing his stepdaughter, Raysate Chain Knight, 6, by hitting and kicking her and failing to stop her mother, Connie Knight, 41, from abusing her. After an hour of deliberating Friday morning, the jury sent out a message that the deliberations have become very emotional and so heated that they needed to take a break — and took one even before the judge gave them permission, News2Houston reported. Jefferson has pleaded not guilty to charges of injury to a child and blamed Connie Knight for Raysate’s death.

If convicted, Jefferson could have faced up to 99 years behind bars. Raysate was born addicted to crack cocaine, put into foster care, but returned to her mother when she was 4 years old, News2Houston reported.

Prosecutors said that for the next 18 months, Raysate was beaten, starved and kept locked in a closet. Last week, Connie Knight testified that Raysate died one night after Jefferson kicked her and said that they didn’t call an ambulance because they were afraid scars from previous abuse would be discovered. Investigators said that Jefferson fatally beat Raysate because the television was too loud. Connie Knight, who is also charged with injury to child, has been behind bars for the last 14 months, awaiting her own trial. Raysate Knight

Raysate’s body was found on Sept. 9, 2001, in the 5100 block of Groveton in southeast Houston by two boys riding their bicycles in the area. Connie Knight previously accepted all the blame for Raysate’s death during the initial six-month investigation, but later she changed her mind and implicated Jefferson. At the time her body was discovered, Raysate was only known as a black girl who was 45 inches tall and weighed 47 pounds.

In March 2002, the child’s identity was known after her grandmother called police after seeing on television a composite drawing of the child who at the time was known only as “Angel Doe.”

http://www.click2houston.com/news/2238919/detail.html

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STEPFATHER ON TRIAL IN ‘ANGEL DOE’ MURDER CASE

MISTRIAL DECCLARED IN STEPFATHER’S FIRST TRIAL

 

POSTED: 4:57 pm CDT August 21, 2003

UPDATED: 5:07 pm CDT August 21, 2003

HOUSTON — A police videotape was shown in a downtown Houston courtroom Thursday of a man denying he knew about the death of his 6-year-old stepdaughter, whose body was found in a ditch, News2Houston reported.

Raymond Jefferson Jr.

Raymond Jefferson Jr., 49, is on trial on charges of injury to a child in the death of his stepdaughter, Raysate Chain Knight. Raysate’s body was found on Sept. 9, 2001, in the 5100 block of Groveton in southeast Houston by two boys riding their bicycles in the area. The murder case was called “Angel Doe” since it took police six months to identify her body. Raysate’s mother, Connie Knight, previously accepted all the blame for Raysate’s death during the initial six-month investigation, but later she changed her mind and implicated Jefferson.

 

Defense attorneys said Jefferson was trying to protect his wife and not to deceive law enforcement officers. “I believe what Raymond Jefferson’s tape shows is that he was in love with Connie Knight. You saw on the tape where he said, ‘Connie never lied to me and Connie never hurt the children.’ He was in love with her,” said Keith Rose, Jefferson’s defense attorney.

On Wednesday, Jefferson’s other stepdaughter, a 14-year-old sister to Raysete, testified, “He (Jefferson) kicked her. He knows he kicked her and he needs to stop lying.” Investigators said that Jefferson fatally beat Raysate because the television was too loud. Raysate Knight Raysate was born addicted to crack cocaine, put into foster care, but returned to her mother when she was 4 years old, News2Houston reported.

Prosecutors said that for the next 18 months, Raysate was beaten, starved and kept locked in a closet. Connie Knight, 41, who is also charged with injury to child, has been behind bars, awaiting her own trial. She is expected to testify in Jefferson’s trial. Jefferson has pleaded not guilty and blamed Connie Knight for Raysate’s death. On May 30, a mistrial was declared in Jefferson’s first trial when jurors could not reach a verdict.

POSTED: 5:06 p.m. CDT August 22, 2003

UPDATED: 5:09 p.m. CDT August 22, 2003HOUSTON — A Houston-area man was found guilty Friday of injuring his 6-year-old stepdaughter, who police knew only as “Angel Doe” for six months, News2Houston reported. Raymond Jefferson Jr. Raymond Jefferson Jr., 49, was charged with injury to a child in the case of his stepdaughter, Raysate Chain Knight.

Raysate’s body was found on Sept. 9, 2001, in the 5100 block of Groveton in southeast Houston by two boys riding their bicycles in the area. The murder case was called “Angel Doe” since it took police six months to identify her body. Jefferson faces between five and 99 years in prison. The punishment phase of the trial began Friday afternoon.

Raysate’s mother, Connie Knight, previously accepted all the blame for Raysate’s death during the initial six-month investigation, but later she changed her mind and implicated Jefferson. On Wednesday, Jefferson’s other stepdaughter, a 14-year-old sister to Raysete, testified, “He (Jefferson) kicked her. He knows he kicked her and he needs to stop lying.” Investigators said that Jefferson fatally beat Raysate because the television was too loud. Raysate Knight Raysate was born addicted to crack cocaine, put into foster care, but returned to her mother when she was 4 years old, News2Houston reported.

Prosecutors said that for the next 18 months, Raysate was beaten, starved and kept locked in a closet. Connie Knight, 41, who is also charged with injury to child, has been behind bars, awaiting her own trial. On May 30, a mistrial was declared in Jefferson’s first trial when jurors could not reach a verdict.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/2428226/detail.html

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7 responses to “ANGEL DOE – REVISITED: A TIMELINE IN THE SHORT LIFE OF RAYSATE KNIGHT

  1. alhaimy

    HI FREIND

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  2. doombaby

    google.com and listen that is sad okay saaaaad

  3. Kimberley

    I was incarcerated with this woman, she is cold, calculating, manipulative, and violent!! I believe she was the main abuser of this poor innocent baby girl!! She is scary and only thinks of one person, herself!!

  4. iva guidry

    I followed this case for ten yrs. Connie Knight calls herself “Ebonie in prison and is a low life for having anything to do with such a beautiful baby’s murder. I hope she never gets out.

    • The exact same thing, I said,Connie Knight should never experience freedom again. The HPD did an outstanding job finding her, and CPS really dropped the ball on this case regarding this baby. That child never should have went back into that woman’s custody. Who completed home visits, obviously no one. I have tried several times to get employed by them, I guess they only hire those who could care less about human life.

  5. We just happened to be discussing bullying today at work, when I, I mentioned that I was bullied by, your’s truly (Connie Knight). I followed this story from the beginning, hoping the Police would find Angel Doe’s parent(s). little did I know it would be this evil, vial, disturbed woman. Connie Knight and I went to elementary and junior high school together. She would fight also everyday, some girls knew how to fight I didn’t, that was until my mother said : come home one more time with a button lost, zipper broke, hair messed up and I going to whip you” I did not want that, so as usually the next day walking from school here comes this monster Connie Knight. When she grabbed the front of my blouse I grabbed her’s and on Scott St in Houston, TX, I learned to fight on that day. Afterwards,She would look at me while at school, but she never touched me again.The day that channel 13 aired her photo, I was shocked to see her face, it was the same scarred up, cold, mean spirited individual from Sunnyside, and attended Carnegie elementary and Woodson Jr high school who remembered. It’s hard to even fathom her as a mother. This woman possesses no type of nurturing or maternal qualities, I have wanted to comment on this since day one of revealing who Raysate”s mother was, just hadn’t taken the time to do so, but today I just had to let other’s know this insane woman should have been assessed for psychotic/ mental issues, just straight craziness a very long time ago, perhaps that baby would be a young lady in college now instead of in the grave yard. Both of those individuals should be locked away for life.

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