A homicide defendant’s best friend testified about the alleged abuse and neglect the suspect’s children endured during a trial in DC Superior Court Judge Jason Park’s courtroom on June 5.
Faneshia Scott, 38, is charged with seven counts of first-degree cruelty to children and two counts of first-degree felony murder while the victim was especially vulnerable due to age. The charges stem from her suspected involvement in the death of her 16-month-old daughter, Rhythm Fields, and assault of her two and four-year-old children on the 5400 block of C Street, SE, on March 21, 2017.
Prosecutors called on the defendant’s friend, who frequently visited and took care of Scott’s kids, and had been named Field’s godmother. She was accompanied by her daughter who was present in the apartment the day Fields died. However, the witness stopped short of saying that she directly observed Scott physically assault Rhythm.
“I love her kids,” said Scott’s best friend when prosecutors asked how she felt about the children. The witness responded that she would see them a lot on the weekends and was close to them.
Fields would frequently stay at the best friend’s house, and she would feed, bathe, and clothe her, according to the witness. She reported that Fields would cry for the first 24 hours whenever she would come over to the friend’s house and would exhibit drowsiness and tired behavior.
At Scott’s house, the witness claimed that Fields would always be in her playpen which had metal railings. Fields would allegedly sleep there as well.
“I hated that playpen,” said the friend when asked about it. She further added that she had offered to buy Scott a new one, which Scott refused.
Around New Year’s, the witness testified, Scott and Fields moved in with the witness and her two other children. The witness stated that she had strict rules in the house such as feeding your own children, bathing them, and getting them dressed. When asked by the prosecutor if Scott adhered to the rules, the witness promptly said no. She recalled she was the one to take care of the other children and that there would be times when Scott would unexpectedly be gone.
Scott only stayed at her friend’s apartment for two weeks on the grounds that she could not be herself around the friend, according to the witness. Scott moved to a new apartment on C Street, with Fields and her two other children. She was also accompanied by her boyfriend, the witness claimed.
The prosecution then shifted focus to the abuse the witness claimed to have stopped and observed on multiple occasions. In addition to calling DC Family and Child Services (FCS) anonymously, the witness testified she witnessed Scott allegedly hitting her other kids while Scott was living in the witness’ apartment.
The first incident in January 2017 occurred when Scott’s son had opened the witness’ fridge. The witness allegedly told Scott to go check on him because it seemed as if he were hungry. Instead, Scott grabbed a belt and started shaking and beating the child with the belt, the witness stated.
The friend immediately told Scott to stop beating him, taking and hiding the belt to stop any further abuse, she said in court. A similar event occurred later that month when Scott’s older daughter was drawing on the walls with crayons. Scott allegedly took her to the bathroom and started beating her with her hands and fists, said the witness. The witness interferred again telling Scott to stop beating her children.
When the prosecution asked about Scott’s response, the witness stated Scott would say “My kids get on my f****** nerves.”
Describing another event the witness said she heard Scott allegedly beating Fields in the car. When the witness pressed Scott about the reason, Scott claimed that Fields had been putting hands on her so in return she beat Fields.
Additional signs of physical violence prosecution allegedly occurred on March 11, 2017. Scott and the best friend had just come back from buying clothes when the friend went to go check on Fields, and saw that she had a cut on her lip. When she asked Scott about it, Scott allegedly dismissed it as something her older daughter must have done, stating that she might have thrown a toy at Fields.
The best friend reported seeing no battery-operated toys or a toy large enough to have indavertently caused that injury during play. She later gave Fields a bath and took pictures of the injury to send as proof to FCS. She testified she wanted to gain custody of Fields and Scott’s other children if possible. She also said that Scott would frequently give Fields cough syrup which she also tried stopping.
On March 19, 2017, Scott’s best friend planned a birthday dinner honoring her deceased mother. The defendant was invited, however she could not attend because her best friend was unable to pick her up.
Later on, Scott and her best friend met up and “did a link”, clarified by the witness as being “when a friend had a friend.” Scott went inside of her apartment with her male friend, while the witness and the other male stayed in the car. Scott’s best friend then joined Scott in her apartment when the man she was with suggested they go inside.
Later on the witness described what happened when she encountered Scott and the male friend inside of Scott’s apartment. Scott then yelled at the witness, blamed her for waking Fields up, and told the witness to take care of her.
The witness stated she picked Fields up and and was concerned about her condition. The witness added that Fields looked tired, smelled like feces, and had a swollen hand. She also stated that Fields was crying disturbingly. The witness told Scott that they needed to take Fields to the emergency room; however Scott brushed it off and said she would take her the next day. However, that never happened, according to the witness.
On the day of the incident, the witness testified, she went to Scott’s house three times and she recalled Fields sleeping in the playpen, her hands over her chest. However, the witness reported that when she went over for the first time at 10:30 a. m. she noticed that Fields was clean and that her hair had been done.
“She let me do her hair this morning,” the witness said Scott told her when the witness asked. Scott also told her friend she had fed Fields in the morning before Fields fell asleep. Subsequently, the friend went asked why Fields was still asleep and urged Scott to check on her. Scott allegedly told her that Fields was fine and that it was probably because of the Robitussin cough syrup she had given Fields earlier in the day. Taking too much of the drug can make you sleepy.
The witness was upset and had told Scott earlier to stop giving Fields medicine. The last time the witness went over was around 12:30 p. m. to drop her daughter off. The prosecution asked why she felt comfortable leaving her daughter in Scott’s care, to which she responded that Scott “knew better than to mess” with her kids. The prosecution also asked why the witness did not take initiative and pick up Fields herself, she said she didn’t want to start something again.
Later Scott’s next door neighbor called the witness and informed her that a child died in Scott’s apartment, however did not specify who. When the witness got back to the apartment, she asked Scott where her daughter was and Scott was apologizing profusely while sobbing.
The witness stated she assumed her own daughter was dead and started physically assaulting Scott. Once the witness saw her daughter was okay and found out Fields was the dead child, she assaulted Scott once more. Scott allegedly blamed the death of Fields on her other daughter.
When asked if she felt guilt towards this case, the witness replied, “It’s been haunting me for years.”
In cross-examination the defense confirmed that the witness had told Scott to take Fields to the hospital but Scott decided against it. The witness also mentioned that she never saw Scott assault Fields, but claimed that Scott admitted to her that she had assaulted the child.
The trial is set to resume on June 9.
