Thread by @SarahisCensored

🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨: DALLAS COUNTY - Little girl tortured and left to d*e in suitcase by foster parent. Complete coverup by authorities and Texas DFPS: K*ller is walking free on lowered bail.

The following is one of the most egregious and obvious coverups that I have ever covered in my journalistic career. This investigation has been difficult. But it is time that the public knows the full story of what happened to Destiny Pope. Before you read this story, I encourage you to quickly search for any public media reports, obituaries, public announcements, or even m*rder charges pertaining to this event. You will not find it.

The only mention of Destiny Pope can be found on an obscure website called "When Home Is the Danger", a legit Texas Public Radio (TPR) investigation about Texas child-abuse fatalities. And “Lives Cut Short” website. TPR's Pulitzer-Center-funded project When Home Is the Danger, a database built from Texas DFPS (state child-welfare) records child fatalities. However, her k*ller is not mentioned, and after we did a thorough search through Texas DFPS database for 2023 and 2024, seven year-old Destiny Pope is NOWHERE to be found. Without the k*llers name, we never would have been able to connect the dots on this story. Thank you in advance to the source who was brave enough to came forward.

I started this investigation with just a name and an address given to me by a “fact-checking” whistleblower that wishes to remain anonymous. But also wishes for justice for this little girl. The following is what we uncovered.

According to the data site, which obtained information through an open record request, an investigation began in 2023 after a fatal event when law enforcement officials responded to a 911 call and discovered the deceased child with signs of burn marks on different parts of her body and vomit on the floor of the home.

However, the site never mentioned the name of her attacker. Why? Because the m*rderer’s name and charge is being hidden unless you know the exact name to search for and you are able to dig into Dallas County Records. Until today, her attacker was not known to media. That changes now.

What happened to Destiny is difficult to read. Proceed with caution…

According to readily public info, IF you know the name to search, an individual named Lori Shepherd was charged with 1. child abandonment causing bodily injury and 2. injury to a child, and was arrested on 1/31/2023. There was no media, no coverage, not even an obituary for little Destiny Pope.

Lori, with no accountability to the public, quickly slipped through the cracks. And Destiny Pope’s name was never mentioned. Lori Shepherd was was given $300,000 bond. Her bond was the modified a month later and lowered to $200,000 with conditions. Lori made bond on March 1, 2023 and walked free. A third charge of capitol m*rder was quietly added in 2024. However, this was never added to her charges publicly (not even on the CheckPeople background search website) and she is STILL walking free. We were only able to find the m*rder charge by manually inputting her personal information to the Dallas county court website. We have also found an order which allows Lori to attend church.

We have requested information from Cedar Hill PD, Dallas PD, the medical examiner and Duncanville PD. We are patiently waiting for responses. However, Dallas PD has responded with “no records found”. This response is a clear inaccuracy, considering we KNOW that a subpoena has been sent to Dallas PD from the defense.

What happened to Destiny? - According to the “when home is in danger” database, which obtains info through open record requests, the Department’s investigation determined that Destiny Pope was being physically abused at the hands of her foster parent. Four of the deceased child’s cousins in the home were forensically interviewed and made outcries of witnessing physical abuse the deceased child endured while in the home. The guardian removed Destiny from school and started to homeschool her in the weeks leading up to her demise. The cousins reported the child would often get in trouble for things such as stealing candy in the home. As a result, the child would receive excessive punishment such as having to drink hot sauce, sitting in a bathtub of bleach, and being locked inside a suitcase located in a closet. The deceased child was also observed in the home with marks on her face. While locked in the suitcase, one of the cousins reported in the hours leading up to the child’s passing, the child was screaming she could not breathe and threw up in the suitcase while being hit with a belt by the guardian. The deceased child’s older sibling did not make an outcry of abuse or neglect and he declined to speak about his home life while in foster care. The mother of the cousins in the home disclosed being told stories regarding the treatment the deceased child would receive. The child was taken to a local hospital where she was later pronounced deceased. The injuries noted include widespread blunt force injuries in multiple stages of healing including open wounds, subcutaneous hemorrhage in multiple areas, and subcutaneous and muscle hemorrhage in her left arm. She had a linear abrasion to her lower back, a patterned scar to her left upper back and left upper arm, open wounds/scar to the left side of her face, and abrasions to the right side of her face.

According to medical, not all the injuries occurred within the three days leading up to the child’s death.

The medical examiner completed an autopsy and listed the cause of death as asphyxia in the setting of confinement, compounded by blunt force injuries and early acute bronchopneumonia and the manner of d*ath as homicide.

The Department consulted child abuse medical professionals with Forensic Assessment Center Networks which concluded the medical findings are consistent with repeated blunt force trauma and fatal child physical abuse.

Back to Lori shepherd, now Lori Shepherd Debose. Lori is on social media. She has numerous photos of Destiny Pope on her multiple Facebook pages. This is incredibly strange, considering foster parents are usually NOT allowed to post photos of foster children.

Her social media shows that she was the director of a “home base child care and development” and the former lead teacher of TL walker child care. The day before Destiny Pope was found mul*rdered, Lori posted to her social media “Fresh Start” with the Bible verse “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.”

Why is this being hidden? Hidden no longer, me and my team found multiple angles to this story as to why this may be hidden from the mainstream media.

After conducting exhausted searches, we discovered that the mother of Destiny Pope, Danielle Jennings, has filed a wrongful d*ath lawsuit. We discovered that there are not one, but two defendants in the case; Lori Shepherd and a man by the name of Byron C. Bailey. Byron owns a law firm in Dallas called Byron C. Bailey & Associates. PLLC is a personal injury law firm. Byron is also the Vice President for JLTLA (JL Turner legal association). He also chairs the Black Male Initiative. We searched for Byron’s connection to the case, and it was determined that Destiny Pope was found deceased in the very home that Byron Bailey owned. It is unclear whether he was residing in the home at the time or not. However, according to the lawsuit,

“Defendant Bailey knew or should have known about the neglect and abuse occurring yet did nothing to prevent this senseless death of D.P., a seven-year-old child.”

In 2015, JL Turner Legal Association provided John Creuzot, the Dallas County Criminal District Attorney and former judge, an award for “Outstanding Jurist”. I have previously and exclusively reported on John Creuzot, who was the DA in 2023 when Lori was arrested. (I will include a link to a previous story)

As I stated previously, we sent an open record request for all records to Dallas PD, they responded with “no records found”. However, we have obtained evidence that a subpoena was sent to Dallas PD involving this case. In fact, we found a dozen subpoenas. All asking for the medical information for Lori Shepherd.

According to the DFPS website, Texas foster parents are not allowed to post photos of foster children online, even on private accounts. However, Lori was posting photos regularly. As a foster parent through the state, it is natural to assume that because DFPS would not want their department to come under scrutiny, it could be yet another reason that this case, and justice for Destiny, was swept under the rug.

Yet another reason that this was possibly swept under the rug is the fact that both Lori Shepherd and Byron Bailey have criminal backgrounds. Why was Lori Shepherd allowed to foster children with multiple convictions on her record?

Shepherd has multiple convictions which include DWI, theft and Resisting arrest.

Bailey’s convictions include as*ault and multiple traffic violations.

The lack of enforcement and transparency surrounding her case raises deep concerns about how Texas manages foster care oversight and public accountability.

Destiny Pope’s story — absent from public databases, the media, and even obituary archives — underscores a chilling truth: when the system fails, it can bury a child twice — once in life, and again in silence.

Why was this suppressed by the media? Why are top law enforcement individuals in this case silent?

Lori has a hearing today. As this case progresses, we are dedicated to providing you with updates.

John Creuzot is the DA responsible for releasing a confessed k*ller and Mexican illegal alien who k*lled a man in Dallas County in 2022 by st*bbing him seven times and setting his corpse on fire. The individual received no prison time despite pleading guilty to manslaughter.

I want to deeply thank @TheLoneWolfonX and @FFAFamily for working hard with me on this case. Please give them both a follow.

@TheLoneWolfonX @FFAFamily @threadreaderapp unroll

FYI- This is @JasmineForUS’s district.

Thank you so much to everyone who has liked and shared this so far. I prayed over this story all night. I know the algorithm has been horrible for large accounts lately, and I’m so grateful to everyone for working to get this story exposed and viewed by thousands. ❤️

MASSIVE UPDATE: Open record request responses from DFPS reveal that they knew of abuse in the home.