‘Denied all access’: Father of girl found dead with half-sister says he was searching for her for years

CLEVELAND (WOIO/Gray News) - A Cleveland man says one of the two young girls found dead and buried in suitcases this week was his daughter.

DeShaun Chatman said he was overcome with grief and anger as he came to terms with the terrible truth that his little girl, 8-year-old Mila Chatman, was dead.

“I’ve been looking for my daughter for five years. I’ve been calling child protective services, going to the courts, trying to get emergency custody, and calling the police for welfare checks. But they denied all access,” Chatman alleged.

On Monday, she and her half-sister, Amor Wilson, 10, were found dead, partially buried, after a neighbor walking his dog near a field in the Cleveland area called 911 when his dog picked up a scent.

Chatman said he is now working with detectives to prove he is the girl’s father.

“I’m still in contact with the detectives. We’re doing the DNA samples. So I’ll get more details within the next couple of days,” he said.

Cleveland police detained a person of interest in the case on Wednesday. Authorities did not immediately release the person’s name, but records show 28-year-old Aliyah Henderson was booked into the Cuyahoga County Jail for murder and child endangering.

Chatman visited the site where the girls’ bodies were found and was comforted by a friend while visiting what has become a memorial for the girls.

“What I’m feeling is hate. I’m not going to lie, I feel hate ... I just want my daughter,” he said.

According to Chatman, his daughter’s mother had been avoiding him and moving around a lot, with the last time he saw her was to help buy clothes for kindergarten.

“I don’t get how you can hate your kids enough to kill them. To bury them. To do all this, go right to that home, and live there when your kids are right here. Go be a mother to another child, while you just killed your other two,” he said.

Chatman is calling for changes to the system, which he said denied him a chance to be a father.

“Change these laws. Make it better. A man does have a say in their child’s life, married or unmarried,” he said.

Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services has been contacted regarding the case.