July 2, 1996: Detroit police respond to a call and find Keashia Matthews’ 1-year-old daughter home alone, wearing only a diaper, and "in a very distressed condition, wet and crying." The child had a severe diaper rash, bruises and scratches.

July 26, 1996: The girl is placed in the custody of her maternal grandmother, Suzette Edwards.

Nov. 15, 1996: After Matthews puts "little effort" into parenting classes and other options offered by the state, she acknowledges neglecting her daughter, who is made a temporary ward of the court.

Nov. 26, 1996: Matthews gives birth to a second daughter, who is immediately placed with Edwards.

Feb. 19, 1997: The second daughter is also made a temporary ward of the state after a finding that Matthews had no prenatal care, no income, no home and no supplies to care for her daughter. She "made no real effort to ... work toward either child’s return home," the state found.

Feb. 5, 1998: The paternal rights of Matthews and the fathers of the two children are terminated and both girls are made permanent wards of the state. Matthews "continued non-compliance with the case plan" is cited.

March 17, 2003: Matthews drives from Little Rock to Irving and gives birth to a third child, a daughter. The girl is immediately removed from Matthews’ care due to the removal of the two other children in Michigan. The girl’s father, Dezury Ashford of Little Rock, says he was unaware that Matthews had other children until his daughter was removed from her care in Texas. He said he tried to gain custody at that time.

November 2003: Texas returns the girl to Matthews’ custody. "There is no detail concerning the conditions of her return to her mother’s care in the record," according to a Texas document.

July 26, 2004: Matthews gives birth to a fourth child, another daughter. The child’s father is last known to be in Atlanta.

2006: Matthews meets Darrell Singleton Jr. at Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock, Ark. She works in the school’s financial aid office.

March 28, 2008: Matthews gives birth to a fifth child, Darrell Singleton III.

January 2009: Matthews and her three youngest children move to Arlington.

March 31, 2009: Matthews and her children, now 6, 4 and 1, are staying at a family violence shelter in Arlington. Child welfare officials investigate reports that she has been seen hitting the girls within the past month. Two days before, she had been seen hitting the 4-year-old with a shoe, the report says.

May 12, 2009: The 6-year-old tells CPS workers that her mother had left her home alone because she was sick and missed school and her mother had to work. A CPS report says the case was closed after Matthews agreed not to use physical discipline and the children were enrolled in day care.

Sept. 2, 2009: Matthews leaves Darrell in the care of a woman she met at the women’s shelter, who leaves Darrell alone in Matthews’ apartment for an unknown period of time.

Sept. 3, 2009: Matthews drives a Ford Expedition to her temporary job at Daystar Television Network in Bedford, arriving about 7 a.m. She leaves 17-month-old Darrell buckled in the car until 3 p.m., as the outside temperature climbs to 96 degrees. After picking up her daughters from school, she drives her son to Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, where his temperature is measured as 107.5 degrees. He is pronounced dead at 4:23 p.m. Matthews initially denies leaving him in the vehicle.

Sept. 4, 2009: Texas CPS seeks custody of Matthews’ two daughters.

Oct. 1, 2009: Matthews is arrested and booked into the Tarrant County Jail on a charge of injury to a child. She posts $13,000 bond and is released.

Oct. 5, 2009: Darrell’s death is ruled a homicide by the Tarrant County medical examiner. His death was caused by heat stroke due to "being left unattended in a motor vehicle during warm weather," the medical examiner said.

Oct. 6, 2009: Tarrant County prosecutor Kimberly D’Avignon says it will be up to the grand jury whether to upgrade the injury to a child charge to homicide.

Sources: Court documents, police statements, interviews

http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1699908.html

Emphasis added by H4K Editor