'Monsters' Killed Her Kids: The Hart Family Tragedy Continues

HOUSTON — When Sherry Davis lost custody of her kids Baby D, Jeremiah, and Ciara Rose in 2006, she struggled to accept the changes she needed to make in order to get them back. Despite her doubts, Davis fought to beat her cocaine addiction — always dreaming of reuniting her family one day.

After eight years of sobriety those dreams were crushed in late March, when one of Davis' kids was found dead and the other two were reported missing — and presumed dead — following a car crash with their adoptive family.

The Hart family car crash in Mendocino County, California, has fueled news headlines since Jennifer Hart drove herself, her wife Sarah, and at least three of their six adopted kids off a cliff March 26. And as more information is learned about what was really happening within the Hart family household in the days, weeks, months, and years leading up to the crash, the grim picture hidden behind the façade portrayed on social media has been slowly exposed.

What has been revealed has devastated Davis and Clarence Celestine, the father of two of her lost children.

Evidence of neglect, abuse, Child Protective Service investigations, and numerous 911 calls from neighbors of the Harts' Woodland, Washington, home have warped a seemingly blissful narrative created by photos of a smiling family, arm-in-arm, goofing off and having fun — always.

Even a 2014 photo of Devonte Hart, one of Davis' still-missing kids who she previously knew as Baby D, added to the Hart family's mythology.

The now-famous image shot by freelance photographer Johnny Nguyen shows Devonte offering free hugs to everyone at a public demonstration in Portland, Oregon, following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. In the picture shared by news outlets across the country, Devonte hugs Portland police Sgt. Bret Barnum while both are surrounded by chanting protesters.

Tears streaming down his face, Devonte's photo with Barnum was inspirational and gave many Americans hope at the time; hope something productive would come from the conversation about police brutality and seemingly sanctioned violence often against unarmed, mostly black civilians.

The Oregonian/OregonLive dubbed the image of Devonte and Barnum 'The Hug Shared Around The World.' But now that photo is also being reexamined through a different filter.

What if Devonte didn't care as much about the protests as we all originally thought and was instead crying about something more personal — something he was too afraid to tell Barnum?

It's a question Davis is unafraid to ask.

Speaking to the Oregonian/OregonLive, Davis said, "I believe (Devonte) wanted to speak to the officer but was probably too scared."

Davis said the system gave her kids to monsters, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported; and she's heartbroken her dream of reunification will never come true. In the crash, Davis also lost her kids Jeremiah and Sierra Hart, whom she and Celestine named Ciara Rose at birth.

But Davis might never have known about any of this — the abuse, the 'Hug', or the crash — if the family attorney who'd originally fought for the kids to remain in the custody of Celestine's sister hadn't recognized their faces in news reports.

Davis reportedly spoke to police and learned Jennifer Hart was drunk and well over the legal blood-alcohol content limit when she came to a stop on Highway 101 before accelerating over 70 feet and plunging the family's SUV off a cliff and into the Pacific Ocean.

Police recovered the bodies of Jennifer and Sarah, Markis, 19, Jeremiah, 14, and Abigail, 14; police have also said Devonte, 15, Hannah, 16, and Sierra, 12, were likely in the car but may have have been swept out to sea after the SUV landed upside down in the water.

The unidentified body of a black girl was reportedly found in the ocean near the crash site, but police have not confirmed whether she is one of the missing Hart children.

Additionally, Sarah and two of the identified kids tested positive for diphenhydramine, an active ingredient in the antihistamine Benadryl — which can cause drowsiness.

Nothing learned since the crash has brought Davis or Celestine any solace — only more questions, the answers for which appear to only get worse as the investigation continues.

Click here to read the full interview with Davis and Celestine on OregonLive.

Image via Mendocino County Sheriff's Office