LAURYN DICKENS - 9 Months (2010) - Memphis TN

MOTHER CHARGED WITH NEGLECT AND ENDANGERMENT

Memphis police officers have charged Shakara Dickens, 19, with aggravated child neglect and endangerment and false reporting in connection with the disappearance of her 9-month-old daughter, Lauryn Dickens.The young girl remains missing, however, more than two weeks after she disappeared.Dickens reported her daughter missing on Sept. 15, telling police that she had given the child on Sept. 7 to a woman she did not know.However, police determined that her account of events was untrue.Homicide investigators used cadaver dogs Tuesday to aid in a search of Dickens’ residence at the Raleigh Village Apartments, 4992 Yale.The dogs turned up a scent of human remains, MPD spokesman Karen Rudolph said. However, when police dug in that spot, nothing was found.Source: The Commercial Appeal
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/sep/23/police-expect-file-char...

Memphis police search warrants presume missing baby is dead

Posted September 24, 2010 at 5:26 p.m.

As her mother appeared in court today facing a charge that could earn her 15 to 60 years in prison, the central question remained: Where is 10-month-old Lauryn Dickens?Search warrants make it clear that the working theory for Memphis police is that the toddler is dead.Outlining the evidence police targeted in searches of two homes, investigators wrote in warrants that they were seeking “human remains of Lauryn Dickens and trace, DNA, and biological evidence.”The child’s 19-year-old mother, Shakara Dickens, appeared briefly today in General Sessions Criminal Court. Dickens has been held in Shelby County’s Jail East for women since Tuesday.Policed charged Dickens on Thursday with aggravated child abuse, with the victim under 6 years old, and with false reporting.General Sessions Criminal Court Judge Karen L. Massey told Dickens, who was dressed in orange jail garb, that she faces 15 to 60 years in prison without parole on the aggravated child abuse charge alone.Dickens’ next court date will concern securing an attorney.Dickens reported her daughter missing on Sept. 15, telling police that she gave the child on Sept. 7 to an unknown woman who arrived at her Raleigh apartment unannounced at the behest of the child’s jailed father.Dickens told police that she had told the father, Benjamin Norfleet, 19 — in Shelby County Jail on a number of vehicle burglary, weapon and other charges — that she could no longer care for Lauryn. He sent the woman, she claimed.However, police said in court documents that their investigation showed that Norfleet had not spoken with Dickens since late August. Furthermore, calls from the jail to her phone had been permanently blocked.The inconsistent stories Dickens gave police included that she had given the child to the father’s parents, police said in a court affidavit.“Other than Shakara Dickens, no one acknowledges having seen Lauryn Dickens since Sept. 6,” investigators said in the court document.Until Sept. 2, Dickens and the child lived in a Raleigh home in the 2700 block of West Hickory Bluff with her mother, Traci Dickens, according to a search warrant.Shakara Dickens was in the process of moving to an apartment in the Raleigh Village complex at 4992 Yale. A baby bed was the only piece of furniture in the apartment, a witness told police.During a search of the Raleigh apartment complex on Tuesday, a rescue and recovery dog trained to detect the odor of decomposing human remains indicated finding the odor at Dickens’ apartment, a search warrant said.Police collected as evidence at the apartment Blackberry and Motorola cell phones and two chargers, store and pizza receipts, a baby car seat, a baby jumper, a white shirt, pink and white blanket and a Winnie the Pooh blanket, the warrant said.Police searched Dickens’ mother’s home on Wednesday. They collected 108 items as evidence, ranging from baby clothing, blankets, diapers and a play pen to a stuffed purple dinosaur and brown bunny toys.The 19-year-old’s family includes a 3-year-old boy, who is in the care of a family member, officials said.http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/sep/24/memphis-police-search-warrants-presume-baby-dead/

OMG I've got chills down my spine Don't like reading about a missing baby, cadaver dogs making a hit, pizza, and Winnie the Pooh blanket.

kiwimom wrote:OMG I've got chills down my spine Don't like reading about a missing baby, cadaver dogs making a hit, pizza, and Winnie the Pooh blanket.

---The similarities seem to go beyond happenstance.

The mother of a missing 10-month-old made her first appearance in court this morning where her bond was set at $2 million. FOX13 spoke with a cousin of Shakara Dickens Friday, who said she felt the need to talk on behalf of the missing baby. 19-year old Shakara Dickens is charged with Aggravated Child Abuse and False Reporting and one of her relatives is talking about little Lauryn's disappearance. She also said she feels other members of the Dickens family know more than they're letting on. Shakara Dickens stoically listened to her charges read in court Friday morning. The 19-year old was arrested Tuesday night and charged in her 10-month-old baby's disappearance. Lauryn Dickens was reported missing on September 15th, although the child's mother said she hadn't seen her baby since the September 7th. Kayla Davidson, Dickens' cousin, said the jailed-young mother's actions don't reflect those of a concerned parent. "Just Sunday she was out at the club," said Davidson. Davidson, also the mother of a 10-month-old, can't understand why her cousin let so much time pass before reporting her daughter's disappearance to police. "I think she's disturbed honestly, just a simple word. She's disturbed."
Read the rest: http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/local/092410-relative-of-missing-baby-frustrated-with-mother%27s-behavior

The mother of a missing baby remains in jail on $2 million bond.

Shakara Dickens made her first court appearance Friday, September 24, 2010 on charges of aggravated child abuse and filing a false report.

Ten-month-old Lauryn Dickens was last seen alive on Labor Day. Nine days later she was reported missing to police. Dickens told police she gave the baby to an unknown white woman.

“We can’t confirm anything the way she is saying it is. She has been all over the board with different stories,” said Memphis Police Director, Larry Godwin. “I really believe and feel the child has suffered bodily harm.”

Read more: http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story/2-Million-Bond-Set-For-Mother-Of-Missing-Baby/i2msjYCz4EaqBhvTObARyA.cspx

Posted on September 26th, 2010
by Jan Barrett in All News, Society and Culture, crime
Read 215 times.
On September 15th, 2010 a 10 month old baby girl, Lauryn Dickens was reported missing yet the mother claims she hadn’t seen the child since September 7th according to myfoxmemphis.com.Shakara Dickens, 19, was arrested and charged with Aggravated Child Abuse and False Reporting. She appeared in court Friday morning and was placed on a $2 Million bond. She is expected to be back in court on October 1, 2010.Dickson’s cousin, Kayla Davidson claims that Dickson’s actions just doesn’t reflect those of a concerned mother as she spoke up about her cousin and she says she feels that other members of the Dickens family knows a lot more about what happened to little Lauryn than they are telling the police.Davidson, who also is the mother of a 10 month old, says she grew up with her cousin. She admits she is a bit frustrated with the way the family is handling the disappearance of little Lauryn. She says, “They don’t want to give any statements. They don’t want to talk to the news but why not if it’s anybody in my family or anything like that, I’m going to want answers. I would want to say something and let it be known.”Dickens explanation about her daughter missing kept changing. At first she said she gave her baby to a stranger. Then she said her parents had her at their home on West Hickory Bluff. Investigators found nothing at the parent’s home when they searched it. Shakara’s mother, Traci Dickson’s home was searched and they collected 108 items as evidence, ranging from baby clothing, blankets, diapers and a play pen to a stuffed purple dinosaur and bunny toys.Davidson says Shakara has another child, a little boy around 2 years old. Davidson seems to think that Dickens resented little Lauryn since she was born. “She treated Lauryn different because the baby’s father, Benjamin Norfleet, is in jail and he can’t help her, so I guess she blamed Lauryn for it,” said Davidson.Davidson claims she is pleading with Lauryn’s family to please speak up if they know anything about where the baby is so she can be found. She said, “If she did something, she did. If she didn’t, she didn’t. I mean they should want to get to the bottom of it.”Davidson also says she can’t understand why her cousin waited so long after her daughter disappeared to report it to the police. “I think she’s disturbed honestly, just a simple word. She’s disturbed.”A neighbor, Phyllis Davenport says that Shakara apparently didn’t want the baby. “She need to be checked out,” said Davenport. “Maybe going through depression or just couldn’t handle it.”Lauryn Dickens is described as a black female who is about 1’9’ and weighs about 17 lbs. Her hair is black and she has brown eyes. She was last seen on Sept. 7th, 2010 in Memphis Tennessee. She was last seen wearing a brown onesie with a pink flower and pink dots and she reportedly had a skin rash on both her forearms and he inner knees.
Anyone that has any information about this child and her whereabouts please contact
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST) or they can contact the Memphis Police Department (Tennessee) at 1-901-545-2677. The Case Number is: NCMC1156424.This baby is precious. She is out there somewhere and someone needs to find her and bring her home. I pray that someone who knows something will come forward with what they know.So please keep Lauryn in your prayers and also I ask that everyone also keep their prayers going for little Haleigh Cummings, from Florida to be found as well. These children need the public’s help to bring them home. God bless each and every one of them.

Grandmother Of Missing Baby Eggs Reporter

Sources say relatives not cooperating in search for baby

Stephanie Scurlock
5:55 PM CDT, September 24, 201019-year-old Shakara Dickens is being held on a $2 million bond.

Police say she's sticking to her story that she gave the baby to a stranger on September 7th even though she didn't report her missing until a week later.

Sign Up For ALERTS From Us

While authorities search for the baby, who would have turned 10 months old today, sources say they wish little Lauryn's family was cooperating more.

For the second day in a row we've obtained a search warrant in the case.

This one details a search of the maternal grandmother's home and what police found there.

Sources say she isn't being as helpful as she could in the search so we went to find out why.

She didn't give News Channel 3 an interview but she did send a message.

Tracey Dickens is Shakara's mother, a Memphis City School teacher and the grandmother of 10-month-old, Lauryn.

Tracey Dickens has the baby's picture as her Facebook profile.

There are other photos of the baby and Shakara and Shakara's other child on the page. They're listed under the heading "People I love."

Sources say Tracey Dickens isn't cooperating in the search for her missing grandaughter.

Dickens isn't saying where Shakara's other child is or if she knows anything about the missing baby. She rushed passed our camera and ignored the my questions as she left her Raleigh home.

Dickens didn't answer my questions but she or a friend did send a message to me just minutes before. Eggs were thrown at photographer Tyler Chow and me. They missed their mark.

However, the grandmother did pass along another message. While we were sitting outside her home she posted a new Facebook status. It said, "Thinkn (sic) abt (sic) throwing eggs at the news reporters in front of my house. Be sure to quote me while u (sic) run b----."

Police went to the school where Tracey Dickens teaches to search her car.

She refused to meet them in the principal's office. No word what they eventually found in the car, but in her house they took baby clothes, blankets and a baby stroller.

An earlier search warrant at Shakara's apartment revealed a dog trained to sniff out human remains did make a positive hit inside the apartment.

Shakara is charged with aggravated child neglect and endangerment along with filing a false police report.
http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-missing-baby-grandmother-story,0,1292799.story

Officials say missing baby's mother could be charged with murder
Posted: Sep 28, 2010 10:20 AM Updated: Sep 28, 2010 10:20 AM
News
Officials say missing baby's mother could be charged with murder
MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - The mother of a missing baby was charged with abuse last week, but officials said a murder charge is still possible.

Shakara Dickens, 19, remains locked up at Jail East on a $2 million. She faces decades behind bars if convicted on her current charge.

The Shelby County District Attorney's office has prosecuted defendants for murder in the past when a victim's body was never located. In this case, police continue to process evidence collected from two residences and a car connected to Dickens.

Shakara Dickens' 10-month-old daughter Lauryn Dickens remains missing.

According to court records, police already believe Lauryn Dickens may have met a tragic end. So far, neither her mother nor her family are providing information on her possible whereabouts.
http://www.wmctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13225584

This makes no sense at all, how can you not, look for a missing child, especially if it's your grandchild?? These people are ignorant and there's no other way to describe them. If any of the family members know where Lauryn is or, what happened to her and don't tell, they need to spend their loser lives in prison too. They could be charged with obstruction.

alwaysbelieve wrote:This makes no sense at all, how can you not, look for a missing child, especially if it's your grandchild?? These people are ignorant and there's no other way to describe them. If any of the family members know where Lauryn is or, what happened to her and don't tell, they need to spend their loser lives in prison too. They could be charged with obstruction.

Totally agree Always! The grandmother's behaviour is just like Cindy's. Innocent people don't get offside with LE and the media when a child is missing.

With baby still missing, Memphis mother appears in court
Posted: Oct 02, 2010 10:48 AM Updated: Oct 02, 2010 10:49 AM

By Anna Marie Hartman - bio | email

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - Nearly a month after 10-month-old Lauryn Dickens disappeared, her mother appeared in court Friday on charges in connection with her disappearance.

Even as Shakara Dickens appeared in court, investigators were no closer to finding the location of her baby. Dickens reported Lauryn missing on September 17, one week after she allegedly gave the child to a stranger.

Dickens has hired attorney Murray Wells.

"Obviously the concern is for everyone is for the child, and for our client, and we're going to try to take care of everything the best we can," Wells said.

Dickens is in jail on a $2 million bond for aggravated child neglect and filing a false report. Her attorneys will ask that her bond be reduced at her next hearing later this month.

A crowd of Dickens's family and friends showed up for the hearing.

"The family is still really in a state of shock," Wells said. I think they're very concerned about the child and they're very concerned about Miss Dickens."

But they continue to avoid making a public statement about Dickens and her missing baby.

"They're coming together and sort of closed themselves up and taking this time," Wells said. "It's really almost a mourning time for them to kind of understand what's happened to this family."

Dickens will be back in court October 21st for a preliminary hearing, where the state will have to show probable cause.
http://www.wmctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13254703

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=1156424&orgPrefix=NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

Endangered Missing

LAURYN DICKENS DOB: Nov 24, 2009 Missing: Sep 7, 2010 Height: 1'9" (53 cm) Eyes: Brown Race: Black Age Now: 10 Month(s) Sex: Female Weight: 17 lbs (8 kg) Hair: Black Missing From: MEMPHIS TN United States Lauryn was last seen September 7, 2010. She may be in the company of an adult female. Lauryn was last seen wearing a brown onesie with a pink flower and pink dots. She has a skin rash on both forearms and inner knees.

ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST) Memphis Police Department (Tennessee) 1-901-545-2677

Lauryn Dickens case: Baby remains missing, mother makes court appearance



Posted on October 5th, 2010 by Valhall
October 1st Shakara Dickens, mother of missing 10-month-old Lauryn Dickens, made her first court appearance for charges of aggravated child neglect and filing a false report to law enforcement concerning the disappearance of the missing little girl. Shakara is in jail with a $2 million bond for the charges. As previously reported this case is very reminiscent of the Casey Anthony case in that the baby was missing for a week or more before Shakara reported her missing. After the report was filed it was learned that just the weekend before finally reporting her baby missing, Shakara had been partying at a local club. Shakara told law enforcement a story of handing Lauryn off to a middle-aged white woman who allegedly had been sent by Lauryn’s father, Benjamin Norfleet.

Norfleet, who has been incarcerated since before the baby went missing has stated he has had no contact with Shakara for some time now and has no idea where the baby could be. He denies any connection to whatever has happened to Lauryn.

Search warrants issued by investigators working the missing child report have indicated authorities presume Lauryn to be dead. A search of the apartment Shakara and Lauryn had been living in, one that Shakara was in the process of moving out of, have been reported to have included a cadaver dog hitting within the apartment. Curiously the reports of the contents of the apartment state that the only piece of furniture remaining in the apartment was Lauryn’s crib. Which begs two questions: Did the dog hit on the crib? And did Shakara ever intend to move the crib, or had she just left it behind for good?

Shakara Dickens’ attorney, Murray Wells, stated after the hearing last Friday that Shakara’s family is in a state of shock and that they are concerned for both Lauryn and Shakara. He went on to state they have “come together and sort of closed themselves up”. He described it as “almost a mourning time” for the family. Shakara’s family has refused to make any public statements as of yet.

However, Shakara’s mother, Tracy Dickens, who is reported to be a local school teacher, appears to have chosen to include particularly bad behavior in her “grieving process”. She decided to throw eggs at a Channel 3 News crew out of Memphis, TN. 3 News had shown up at Dickens’ home to discuss the search law enforcement had performed on her home; a search in which they took several items apparently related to Lauryn such as baby clothes and a blanket. Just before the childish egging of the news crew Tracy posted the following message on her Facebook page:

thinkn abt throwing eggs at the news reporters in front my house. Be sure to quote me while u run bitch.

Classy.
Law enforcement has reported that Tracy Dickens has not been cooperative in their investigation. This case is just becoming more and more like the Caylee Anthony case.
Valhall.

Mother Indicted for Missing Baby


MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A Memphis mother that reported her child missing last September has been indicted by a grand jury.
19-year old Shakara Dickens has already been charged with the murder of her baby girl Lauryn.
Dickens reported the disappearance of her daughter September 15th. She claimed Lauryn's father, Benjamin Norfleet, sent someone to pick up the child, but Norfleet denies that claim.
Lauryn's body still hasn't been found.




http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/crime/012411-mother-indicted-for-missing-baby#

An infant believed dead at the hands of her mother is remembered.

The Memphis Child Advocacy Center held a service in honor of Lauryn Dickens this morning.

The child was 9 months-old when she was reported missing in September.

This week a grand jury indicted her mother on first degree murder charges.

Prosecutors will have to seek justice in the case with some key evidence missing. Lauryn's body has never been found.

"We learned this week that her mother, Lauryn's mother was indicted. We
want to remember her as we do other children who have died at the hands
of an adult," said Nancy Williams, Memphis Child Advocacy Center.

Her mother, Shakara Dickens, faces first degree murder charges even though Lauryn's body has never been found.

Dickens told police she gave the baby to a stranger under orders from
the child's father. The child's father, who is in jail, says he had no
conversations with Dickens during this time because she blocked his
calls from prison.

A cadaver dog also sniffed out human remains that provided further
evidence to the police that the child is no longer alive. A grand jury
indicted Dickens this week.

"It won't be the first time, a no body case has been tried in Shelby
County I can think of at least two prior to this and those were
prosecuted successfully," said Jennifer Nichols, Chief prosecutor Shelby
County Victims Unit.

Michael Rimmer is on Tennessee's death row for the 1997 murder of motel clerk, Ricci Ellsworth.

Blood was found at the crime scene but her body was never recovered. In
1996, 4-year- old Ashley Jones' body was never found, yet her aunt is
serving a 33 year sentence for second degree murder.

On the website for Missing and Exploited Children there's still a
picture of Ashley showing what she'd look like now at 18 years-old.

"Our focus is to do justice and in this case that is to prosecute this
defendant. Yes, she is a mother and yes, this is tragic. We're talking
about a baby who was never found but we still have our job to do." said
Amy Weirich, Shelby County District Attorney General.

Homicide investigators say there's been little cooperation from
Shakara's family in finding the child. Weirich says that won't be a
barrier either.

She said, "Probably in those cases where the cooperation is not as
strong, it makes our focus a little more intense and drives us a little
bit more to make sure that we are the last and best voice for the lost
member of our community."

Dickens' lawyer was not available for comment today. She will be in court Monday.

She's being held on a $2 million dollar bond at the Shelby County Jail.

http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-shakara-dickens-prosecution-story,0,1747048.story

Exclusive: What Happened To Baby Lauryn?


FAST FACTS:

• Tracey Dickens Speaks Only To News Channel 3
  
• Opens Up About What Her Daughter Says Happened To 9-Month Old Lauryn Dickens
  
• Dickens Believes Her Granddaughter Is Alive
  

(Memphis 3/22/2011) It's been six long months since little Lauryn Dickens first disappeared. Her mother told Memphis Police she gave away the nine month old baby girl. Until now the rest of the Dickens family has been silent.

For the first time, Lauryn's grandmother opens up about what her daughter says happened to Lauryn and why she believes her granddaughter is alive.

The disappearance of nine month old Lauryn Dickens quickly grabbed the attention of the mid-south and even the nation. The beautiful baby girl vanished in September.

"When I saw Lauryn last she was 9 months old and she was a big girl. She was recognizing us and clinging to us and communicating with us," said her Grandmother Tracey Dickens.

Police say her daughter, Shakara, murdered her baby girl. She agreed to speak with us in the presence of her daughter's attorneys, Arthur Horne and Murray Wells, in her first public statements.

"The situation was so shocking. We didn't want to talk to the media. We didn't want to be on camera in all of our devastation and our grief," Dickens said.

Tracey says that grief is still being felt by her family.

"Our family has been enduring unimaginable pain. There's no greater torture than when an infant is missing. You just don't know what's going on or what she may be suffering."

Police reports say 9-month old Lauryn was last seen alive around the sixth of September. Dickens says her daughter and grandchild lived with her. But, when the grandmother went on a Labor Day weekend trip, she returned to find her daughter had suddenly moved out of her home and into a Raleigh Apartment Complex. The move caused a rift between Tracey and Shakara Dickens. She says she didn't realize Lauryn was missing until a week later.

"She told us the same thing she told everybody else. That's the reason why we went to the police. I know the story sounds amazing but Shakara was in a very difficult place at that time, having full responsibility for both children and trying to live on her own."

On September 15th, Tracey says she took her daughter Shakara to the police. Shakara reported her daughter missing, telling investigators she gave her baby to a woman she didn't know at the direction of Lauryn's incarcerated father, Benjamin Norfleet.

"After that it was just hard to communicate with Shakara. She cried a lot. She never said any more."

According to police reports, Shakara says she told Norfleet she couldn't take care of baby Lauryn.

Tracey said Shakara also told her she was having a hard time raising both of her children.

"Those were personal discussions but mostly she was asking for help because being a teenager with limited income and a toddler, it's a lot to be responsible for," she explained.

Investigators didn't believe Shakara's story. Records show Shakara hadn't spoken to Benjamin Norfleet since late August. In fact, police say Shakara blocked all his calls from the jail. We were there September 21st, as police searched Shakara's Raleigh apartment and brought out evidence. A copy of the search warrant says a cadaver dog found the odor of decomposing human remains inside.

"I don't know how the dog works. Shakara had been in the apartment for a little over a week, anything could have died in there as far as I'm concerned," said Tracey.

read more>
http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-lauryn-dickens-interview,0,3021852.story

Trial set for Memphis mother accused of killing infant daughter
Posted August 1, 2011 at 11:20 a.m.
A November trial date was set this morning for a mother charged with killing her baby daughter who has not been seen since last September.

Shakara Dickens, 20, told police she had turned over her 10-month-old daughter Lauryn to an unknown woman, but the report was false, authorities said.

She initially told police the baby’s biological father sent the woman to pick up the child after she told him she could no longer care for the girl, but eight days later reported the baby missing.

The father, who was in jail at the time, said he never sent anyone to pick up the child.

Records showed Dickens had blocked his calls from jail to her phone.

The trial is set for Nov. 7 before Criminal Court Judge Bobby Carter.

Dickens, whose charges include first-degree murder, faces life in prison if convicted as charged.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/aug/01/trial-set-memphis-mother-accused-killing-infant-da/?partner=RSS

Lauryn Dickens murder: Mother indicted, dogs hit in the apartment


This is an older case, but it needs a lot of attention. The mother, Shakara
Dickens claims that she gave her child, Lauryn to an unknown woman.

Apparently and a lie, Dickens says that she was told to do so on the
word of the babies father, another jail inmate Benjamin Norfleet. She
said that Norfleet sent the lady to get the child and she gave the child
to her on 7 September 2010. Of course this is a lie as the father of
the child had not talked to Dickens for weeks. On 15 September 2010,
Dickens filed a missing child report with LE.

On 19 September 2010, Dickens was seen out at a bar in the area partying.
Dickens cousin, Kayla Davidson said. She also wants answers and beleive
that member of the family knows then they are letting on to.

According to information, a cadaver dog had hit on spots in the apartment where
Lauryn was last seen, detecting decomposition in the apartment. [We
know that means nothing anymore] Dickens has been indicted on murder
charges.

Also the grandmother of the missing child, Tracey
Dickens is NOT cooperating with Law enforcement. [I guess I will never
figure these people out who claim to be GRANDPARENTS]

Dickens was also charged with theft of a vehicle in 2009.

Dickens also has another child, a little boy.Lauryn has yet to be found! She is believed to be deceased.

Shakara Dickens is behind bars charged with aggravated child neglect,
endangerment and false reporting, and first degree murder. She is held
on $2,000,000.00 bond.

http://humbleopinionforum.net/tag/shakara-dickens/

SET T 03/12/2012 03

http://jssi.shelbycountytn.gov/

Trial begins Monday for a Memphis mother accused of killing her baby
girl. Investigators arrested 21 year old Shakara Dickens a couple weeks
after she reported her 9 month old daughter missing in September of
2010.

Dickens faces a slew of charges including first degree murder and aggravated child neglect and endangerment.

It's been 18 months, since little Lauryn Dickens disappeared.

"Our
family has endured unimaginable pain. There's no greater torture than
when an infant is missing. You just don't know what's going on, what she
may be suffering." said Tracey Dickens.

This time a year ago,
the baby's grandmother, Tracey Dickens sat down with News Channel 3.
The infant and her mother, Shakara Dickens, lived with the grandmother.
But one day Tracey returned home from an out of town trip and found
Shakara had moved out and into a Raleigh apartment.

Dickens
says, her daughter told her she gave Lauryn to a woman she didn't know,
because the infant's father who was in jail told her to do so.

"I
know it sounds amazing but she was in a very difficult place at that
time, having full responsibility for both children and trying to live on
her own." said Dickens.

Police reports show, the two parents
hadn't spoken in weeks, but before they stopped talking, Shakara told
the father she couldn't care for the baby.

"She was asking for
help because being a teenager with limited income and a toddler. It's a
lot to be repsonsible for." said Dickens.

Within weeks of
Lauryn's disappearance, a search warrant showed a cadaver dog sniffed
out decomposing human remains at Tracey's apartment.

Despite no clues leading to a smiling little girl, Dickens is faithful, Lauryn is still alive.

"My hope is that someone knows where the baby is and they'll show up with her soon." said Dickens. If convicted, Shakara Dickens faces life in prison.
http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-mom-accused-of-killing-her-baby-heads-to-court-20120318,0,3389383.story

There was emotional testimony in court Wednesday in the case of a Mid-South mom on trial for murdering her own child.

Prosecutors displayed 59 pages of text messages.

They say the texts prove Shakara Dickens was not worried about her daughter while everyone else around her was.

With her mother, Tracey, on the witness stand, Shakara Dickens looked on solemnly.

Tracey
testified about a series of text messages she shared with Shakara. In
those texts Shakara gave different explanations for her daughter
Lauryn's whereabouts before finally settling on one.

"She told me she gave the baby to a lady Ben had sent to take care of the baby until he got out," Tracey said.

"I
said, ‘Why would you trust a complete stranger and give your child to a
complete stranger,'" said Lt. Cindy Capps, of the Memphis Police
Department's Missing Persons Bureau. "She said, ‘Because of those words
she said that I came from Ben. So that meant, obviously, she knew my
child's father, Benjamin Norfleet. So I felt at ease and gave her my
child.'"

Norfleet was in jail at the time and investigators say he never instructed Shakara Dickens to give away the child.

"Over the course of 12 days he made 7 attempts to call her and each time her phone number was blocked," said Capps.

On cross-examination, Tracey Dickens explained that she's not happy.

She testified that she thought police were more interested in charging her daughter quickly rather than finding little Lauryn.

Shakara Dickens paid close attention when Norfleet took the stand.

"Me and Shakara had a little girl named Lauryn," said Norfleet.

Norfleet
was in jail with Lauryn Dickens disappeared. At the time, Shakara
Dickens told police Norfleet sent an older woman to take the baby away.

"I'd never do that, period," said Norfleet. "Never would do that."

Prosecutors
allege Shakara Dickens killed her daughter and disposed of the body.
They relied heavily upon circumstantial evidence that includes the
testimony of Ed Apple, whose search dog detected the scent of decomposed
human remains both on the doorstep and near the crib during a search of
Shakara Dickens' apartment.

Defense attorneys argued the dog never found human remains and cannot determine which person the scent came from.

Although serving a six-year prison term on a car break-in conviction, Norfleet said he misses his daughter.

"I loved her, man, like I never loved anybody else," he said. "She was my heart."

http://www.wmctv.com/story/17213886/grandmother-of-murdered-girl-testifies-in-trial

A specially trained black Labrador named Sam detected the scent of
human remains in the apartment and on the automobile of a young mother
accused of killing her 9-month-old daughter, jurors were told Wednesday.

Ed Apple has trained search-and-rescue dogs for more than 15 years
and his canines are veterans of body-recovery efforts at the Oklahoma
City bombing in 1995, the Pentagon on 9/11, the Columbia Space Shuttle
disaster over Texas in 2003, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and numerous
floods and other natural disasters around the Mid-South.

This week, in the murder trial of Shakara Dickens, Apple testified
that his Lab, trained to detect the scent of human remains, "alerted" on
the woman's Raleigh apartment and on the trunk of a car she drove.


If the dog detects or "alerts" on such a scent, he turns around and
sits. "Sam was trained to alert when I'm not around and stay there,"
Apple said, adding that he has trained more than 400 dogs since 1964,
initially for hunting. "He will sit there for as long as 20 minutes and
wait for me."


Although a scent was detected, no human remains were found, he said. The child's body still has not been found.


Apple's testimony came on the second day of testimony in the first-degree murder trial.


Dickens, 21, aroused suspicion in September 2010 when baby Lauryn
went missing and the mother gave family and police at least three
different accounts of what happened, all of which proved to be untrue,
authorities said.


She said she gave the baby to the father's parents, then said she
gave the baby up for adoption and finally said she gave the baby to an
unknown woman at the direction of the baby's father who was in jail at
the time.


"She said Ben (the baby's father) had sent a white lady to pick up
the baby because she could no longer take care of the baby," the
defendant's mother, Traci Dickens, told the Criminal Court jury. "She
didn't have any contact information (for the woman.)"


A scowling Traci Dickens added, however, that she does not believe
police did all they could to find the baby and that authorities were too
quick to charge her daughter with a crime.


Defense attorney Arthur Horne: "You seem a little angry, correct?"


Dickens: "Yes."


Horne: "You felt there was a rush to judge your daughter?"


Dickens: "Yes."


The baby's father, Benjamin Norfleet, who was in jail at the time on
burglary charges, said Wednesday he never told Shakara Dickens to give
their baby away to anyone and that he was unable to reach her by
telephone during the time baby Lauryn first went missing.


Phone records indicate Norfleet tried to call her on a jail phone
seven times between Sept. 1 and 12, but that she had blocked incoming
calls from him.


Among a series of text message exchanges shown to the jury, Shakara
Dickens told her mother on Sept. 13: "Would you be mad if I let some
people adopt Lauryn I didn't even know?"


And later, the defendant messaged: "Don't tell, mama. I'm so ashamed
and heart broke. I'm scared yall gonna look at me different."


Dickens, who has been held on $2 million bond since her arrest, faces life in prison if convicted as charged.


The trial before Judge Bobby Carter continues today.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/mar/21/memphis-police-too-quick-blame-daughter-death-miss/?CID=happeningnow