Nancy Kasera was looking for work

Source: Winston Salem Journal

By Michael Hewlett

JOURNAL REPORTER

A Thomasville woman charged in the death of her 11-year-old daughter told investigators that she was on her way to a job interview when authorities in Georgia found the dead girl in the back seat of her car, Sheriff Donny Turner of the Troup County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia said yesterday.

Nancy Akinyi Kasera’s daughter was found dead Sunday night at the LaGrange Travel Center after Kasera called 911.

On Tuesday, Davidson County sheriff’s deputies charged Kasera, 38, with first-degree child cruelty in the death of her daughter.

The crime lab of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has declared the death a homicide, but no additional charges have been filed against Kasera, who was being transported to North Carolina yesterday by Davidson County deputies.

Kasera called 911 at 9:13 p.m. Sunday, saying that she was giving her child CPR, Turner said. Deputies arrived about three minutes later, checked for a pulse and tried to move the girl’s head, but it wouldn’t move, he said. She was declared dead at the scene. An autopsy showed that she had been dead 12 to 24 hours before Nancy Kasera had called for help, authorities said.

Officials would not release the dead girl’s name, but according to court records that were filed related to 2006 misdemeanor child-abuse charges against Nancy Kasera, the daughter is Nicole Kasera.

Nicole Kasera’s body “had a horrendous amount of injuries that ranged from healed and healing wounds to recent injuries that had been inflicted upon her,” according to a news release from the Troup County Sheriff’s Office. The girl had injuries indicating that severe abuse had been going on for a long time.

Davidson County deputies searched Kasera’s home in Thomasville and found evidence indicating that Nicole was killed at the house, authorities said Tuesday. Prosecutors and the sheriff’s office asked that the search warrant be sealed. Judge Mark Klass of Davidson Superior Court signed the order sealing the warrant Tuesday, said Brian Shipwash, the Davidson County clerk of court.

Kasera’s 8-year-old daughter, Natalie, was also in the car. She told investigators that her mother was headed to a job interview at a large college but did not know which one, Turner said. Copies of Kasera’s resume were found in the car, he said.

The girl is now in the custody of the Troup County Division of Family and Children Services in Georgia, but the sheriff of Davidson County, David Grice, said that she will be put into the custody of the Davidson County Department of Social Services.

Nicole Kasera hadn’t been enrolled in either Davidson County Schools or Thomasville City Schools, school officials said.

Natalie Kasera was enrolled for a short time in the fourth grade at Hasty Elementary School but withdrew Sept. 27, said Meredith Palmer, the spokeswoman for Davidson County Schools.

Nancy Kasera told investigators that her husband had died, Turner said. He said he did not know any details about the husband’s death.

Kasera is originally from Kenya and has been in the United States on a visa, authorities said.

Last summer, a Kenyan woman living in Charlotte posted a letter on the Web asking for donations for Kasera to send her husband’s body back to Kenya for burial. According to the letter, written by Millicent Atieno Malit, the husband died in July while jogging in Greensboro. The letter spells his name two ways: Dominic Kipkosgei and Dominic Kipkoskei. Malit said yesterday that she did not know Kasera well, having spoken to her only a few times.

Turner said that receipts found in the car show that Nancy Kasera bought gas at 5:28 a.m. Sunday in Thomasville and stopped at a McDonald’s restaurant in Buford, Ga., at 11:31 a.m. Later that day, at 3:22 p.m., she stopped at another McDonald’s restaurant in Auburn, Ala., Turner said.

She was back in Georgia by Sunday night, when she called 911, he said.

Nancy Kasera was arrested April 15, 2006, and charged with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse involving her two daughters. According to court documents in Davidson County, she left Nicole, then 9, and Natalie, then 6, alone at home, and they were found wandering the neighborhood naked.

Her attorney, Michael D. Lea, asked for a prayer for judgment and to have her case continued. In March 2007, he requested that the charge be dismissed because she had paid court costs and not committed a criminal violation. Judge Wayne Michael of Davidson District Court signed an order dismissing the charge in October, court records show.

• Michael Hewlett can be reached at 727-7326 or at mhewlett@wsjournal.com.