Beatings with a belt. Round, quarter- inch burns in various stages of healing. A court order requiring the children be sent to school.
Those allegations and more about the history of Shelley Lowe’s children were found in court records obtained by The Denver Post and illustrate life in the household Aaroné Thompson entered when her father began dating Lowe in 2001.
“If somebody had been there, followed through, put together the picture – clearly, there’s a pattern there,” said Cathy Phelps, executive director of the Denver Center for Crime Victims, when told of conditions of the children’s lives. “Was it disinterest? It’s mind-boggling.”
The children reportedly told authorities they were beaten. One of them, who is developmentally delayed, had small, round marks on her chest and arms that appeared to be old burns, the court record states.
A document filed as part of the state’s effort to remove the children from the Lowe-Thompson household alleged a history of neglect and abuse of Lowe’s children that began in Michigan in December 1997.
At that time, Lowe was referred to social services for leaving three small children alone in a motel room.
The next month, one of Lowe’s children was taken to the hospital by Eric Williams, Lowe’s boyfriend at the time, for a fever.
A bump and cut were noticed on the child, and further inquiry found that seven people lived in a motel room with two beds, in conditions described as “deplorable.” That worker felt that the “mother was overwhelmed and did not have the skills necessary to manage a household of 5 children,” the document states.
In March 1998, allegations of physical abuse of two children were investigated.
“The report stated that mother became angry after she left the children home alone. … They were allegedly hit with a belt,” the record states.
“Per the Wayne County (Mich.) worker, the children were fearful to talk about what went on in the home.”
One of the children, a 6-year-old boy, was worried about his sister, then 5, “saying that she was ‘beaten’ worse that (sic) him.”
That same boy missed a “great deal” of school because he was babysitting, the report says.
In Colorado, four referrals were found regarding Lowe, although information on two reports, from March 1996 and July 1999, could not be found, the records state.
But a referral from 2001 shows neglect of the developmentally delayed child, who was 4 or 5, including clothes that were too small, no proof of immunizations and labored breathing, the report states.
Lowe, according to the document, did not respond to the concerns. The Department of Human Services did not investigate the referral.
There were also two reports of sexual abuse to two of Lowe’s children noted in the report, with one finding Williams to be the cause of the “minor sexual abuse” and another being closed as “unfounded.”
A Denver court had ordered Lowe to send her daughters to school, the records show.
The details saddened Mildred Johnson, Aaroné’s maternal grandmother.
“Only God knows what’s happened to Aaroné, then,” Johnson said. And she had a question. “How could anybody sit there and not say anything?”
Staff writer Elizabeth Aguilera contributed to this report.
Staff writer Amy Herdy can be reached at 303-820-1752 or aherdy@denverpost.com.
Timeline of events in the Aaroné Thompson case
11:30 a.m. -12:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14: A nun from Catholic Charities inspects the Thomp son/Lowe home at 16551 E. Kepner Place for a routine housing review and says only Aaron Thompson Sr., Shelley Lowe and 9-year-old Kaila Williams are in the house. Police say parents give them no plausible explanation for Aaroné’s absence at that time.
1:37 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14: Aaron Thompson calls the Aurora Police Department’s main desk to report that his daughter had run away. The call is routed to dispatchers, who tell him they will send a car to the house. Instead, Thompson goes to the station.
3 p.m., Monday, Nov. 14: Police begin search for Aaroné. A bloodhound and FBI reconnaissance plane are later used. Thompson is interviewed by police about the disappearance and agrees to take a lie detector test the following day but doesn’t show up, police say.
Tuesday, Nov. 15: Detectives interview inmate Eric Williams, Lowe’s former common-law husband. He says Aaroné died in the home and was buried in a field by Lowe and Thompson.
4:40 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 17: Police obtain a search warrant for the home and a custody order to remove the remaining seven children from the house. Authorities announce Aaroné was likely killed and that Lowe and Thompson are persons of interest.
Friday, Nov. 18: Interviews begin with children removed from the residence.
Saturday, Nov. 19: A neighbor tells police about seeing a hole in the yard. Grandparents Jessie and Earia Cloman talk to The Denver Post, ask the police to continue searching for the girl and say they last talked with the girl in the summer.
Sunday, Nov. 20: Scientists from NecroSearch International use ground-penetrating radar to look for changes in the soil of the property at the Kepner Place home.
Monday, Nov. 21: Police say children haven’t seen Aaroné “in a while.” First custody hearing occurs, in which Aaron Thompson subpoenas the detective’s notes in the case, including interviews with the children.
Tuesday, Nov. 22: Aaroné’s grandfathers hold a news conference that is interrupted by a detective who asks for Aaron Thomp son and Shelley Lowe to come in for interviews.
Friday, Nov. 25, and Saturday, Nov. 26: Grandfathers participate in search around the neighborhood where Aaroné was reported missing. Tanisha Thompson is born on Friday and immediately taken into custody by Arapahoe County Human Services.
Tuesday, Nov. 29: Procedural error quashes Aaron Thompson’s request for investigator notes.
Thursday, Dec. 1: Aaron Thompson and Shelley Lowe, along with their spokesman, Sam Riddle, appear on television for an interview. They deny killing the girl.
Friday, Dec. 2: Lowe’s attorney Leta Holden announces her resignation from the case, citing a conflict with Riddle. Police again ask for the family’s cooperation.
