It’s called Saranac Playground, and when the weather is nice it becomes a magnet for the children who live on the east side of Cleveland.
But in recent days, this small patch of green has been visited by a stream of mourners seeking to pay their respects to two little girls who were found there stuffed inside suitcases and buried in shallow graves.
In the days since the bodies of 8-year-old Mila Chatman and her half-sibling, 10-year-old Amor Wilson, were found on Monday, a shrine of stuffed animals and flowers has grown.
So has the mystery surrounding their deaths.
Their mother, 28-year-old Aliyah Henderson, has been charged with two counts of aggravated murder.
During her first court appearance on Friday in Cleveland Municipal Court, she was not asked about the tragedy that has landed her in handcuffs, shocked her hometown and drawn national attention.
Municipal Court Judge Jeffrey Johnson set Henderson’s bond at $2 million, citing “the nature of the allegations” and his concern for public safety.
Dressed in a blue sweatshirt and surrounded by court officers, Henderson remained impassive.
“Thank you” were the only words she uttered during the brief hearing, in response to the judge wishing her good luck.
Earlier, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kristine Travaglini revealed at the hearing that the bodies of the little girls were “badly decomposed.”
So far, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office has not said how and when the little girls died, but did confirm that a DNA investigation showed they were related as half-siblings.
Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said neither child had been dismembered.
Henderson, who lives near Saranac Playground, had another child living at her home when police took her into custody on Wednesday, Todd said earlier this week.
The Department of Children and Family Services has taken custody of the child, who appears to be in good health, Todd said. But she did not provide any other information about the child.
A man who had been walking his dog reported the grim discovery on Monday at the playground, which is located near an all-boys public school called the Ginn Academy.
Responding to the 911 call, Cleveland homicide detectives confirmed the man’s dog had located the body of a young girl, and they quickly found a second shallow grave with a suitcase that contained another body.
“It was like a pile of dirt, and she stopped to sniff … and she was taking too long,” Phillip Donaldson told WEWS-TV. “So I went back and looked, and it was a suitcase that was half-buried, and I pulled it up and looked in it, and it was a head. Somebody’s head in it.”
Donaldson said that pile of dirt had been there for at least a week.
On Thursday, Deshaun Chatman, who said he was the father of Mila Chatman, visited the spot where the girl had been buried. He told local reporters that he had not had any contact with his daughter for several years. He said Henderson kept “ducking” him and that he’d been in touch with DCFS numerous times about getting custody of Mila.
“I just feel useless,” Chatman said. “I couldn’t save my daughter.”
Asked about Deshaun Chatman’s assertion that he had been trying get custody of his daughter, Cuyahoga County spokesperson Jennifer Ciaccia in a statement called the girls’ deaths “a tragedy for their families and our entire community” and declined to disclose any further information, citing an active criminal investigation and confidentiality obligations under Ohio law.
NBC News has reached out to Henderson’s mother for comment.
Back in 2019, Henderson and her daughters were mentioned in a Cleveland Plain Dealer article about a local hospital’s program to help struggling families.
It featured a photo of a smiling Henderson holding then 3-year-old Amor on her lap and Henderson’s mother holding Mila, who was almost 2 at the time.
“I could really use the help,” Henderson said in the story.
