Cynteria Phillips is back in the news. But the outrage is long gone.
On August 14, 2000, little Cynteria Phillips spent the day at the home of her friend Jacinda Tyler in Miami. She was notified of a party later on that night, then, the pretty little girl was gone. The next day, her tiny, nude body was near Edison High School.
Initially, it didn't get much play in the media. Just one more murder in a city with way too many. After the police identified who she was, they found out that she was a ward of the state. She had been terribly abused as a child and the Department of Children and Families failed to provide help for her.
Now there's a story! News reporters and journalists from around south Florida were discussing Cynteria's life. The headlines screamed: How state failed slain runaway, 13
Then came the real outrage. I'll never forget my telephone ringing the morning the news hit. The public was asking, ''What is this? How could DCF lose a child like that?''
For most of the last seven months of her life, 13-year-old Cynteria Phillips ran loose on Miami's streets.
She was a runaway from the state's child-welfare system. No one was looking for her.
I'll never forget the words used by a news reporter at chanel 7 news: So felt unloved and uncared for, so she ranaway. Now she doesn't have to run anymore.
During the months before her murder, neither the Department of Children and Families nor the police mounted a search for Cynteria.
It's an old story. Those in power don't see these runaways in the same light as their own. Poor teenagers of color are the throwaways, and not worthy of searching for.
Eventually, the ineffective Department of Children and Families realized that a troubled child shouldn't be left out in the wind. Troubled teens deserve help -- even troubled black teens.
State child welfare authorities admitted that the foster-care system was struggling to deal with runaways, and that Cynteria's death had a deep impact on the way they will treat future runaways. Then, there was another news headline: Cynteria's death prompts state change on runaways.
Years passed and the outrage faded.
Today, more than five years after her tragic death, her killer is unknown. Worse off, I don't think enough people care to know who it is. Though there is a reward of $115,000 for information leading to the arrest of Cynteria's killer, there is no public outrage over the case. Jonbenet Ramsey is known by all U.S citizens. Her murder stunned the nation and everybody wants to know who killed her. The killing of Cynteria, though heinous and shocking did not ignite the prominent outrage as the case of Jonbenet Ramsey.
I can't put a price on that. But the least Cynteria deserve is some outrage.
