PHOENIX — One year after pregnant teenager Zariah Dodd was shot and killed in a Phoenix park, those who knew and loved her gathered Sunday to honor her life with a remembrance walk and call for more protections for vulnerable teens.
The walk, titled "Her Dreams Still Matter," was held from 7 to 9 a.m. at Marivue Park in west Phoenix. It aimed to bolster support for pregnant and parenting youth.
For Richilyn Fox, Dodd's former foster mother, the pain of losing Zariah is raw.
"I did not birth her, but I loved her as I birthed her," Fox said. "I'm left with like, feeling like I'm on a roller coaster that's gonna fall. So it's hard. I don't wish this on anybody."
Dodd was 16 years old and 22 weeks pregnant when she was killed. She spent most of her life in the child welfare system and was living in a group home when she was killed last July.
Fox described Dodd as someone who overcame significant hardship.
"I would describe her as a child and person who conquered a lot in her life," Fox said.
Two men were charged in Dodd's murder: Jurrell Davis, who investigators say fathered her unborn daughter, and Jechri James-Gillett. Both face trial.
Fox still has questions about the decisions made before Dodd was killed.
"Why that Zariah's phone was not stripped from her, when they found out that she was in contact with a 36-year-old man?" Fox said. "Her location should have been moved from that group home, because he already knew where she was."
"It's heavy, not just on me, but on the sisters that she left, the brother that she left," Fox said. "I don't know how you explain losing a child."
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Dodd's death, along with the deaths of Emily Pike and Rebekah Baptiste — two other young girls with Department of Child Safety cases — prompted Arizona lawmakers to pass 13 child welfare reforms this year.
"When the three girls were killed… it was just very clear that there were gaps in the system that allowed this to happen," said Sen. Carine Werner, R-District 4.
One new law, which Werner says is inspired by Dodd's case, now requires children who report sexual abuse to receive a forensic interview within 72 hours.
"With Zariah Dodd, she was actually in waiting to have that AFIT done, and she was murdered prior to that happening," Werner said.
Shaniqua Hopkins, who founded the nonprofit 7th Dream Helping Hearts, hosted the walk Sunday and said her own experience in foster care drives her work.
"Going through the foster care system, being moved from group home to group home, foster home to foster home, being homeless, not knowing when I was going to eat, not knowing where I was going to sleep — I always said I was going to change it for others like me," Hopkins said.
Fox said the walk is about more than Zariah alone.
"We're walking not just for Zariah but Rebecca, Emily Pike, and those others who have been failed by the system, or vulnerable girls who have been in a situation of the grooming, the exploitation, all of that," Fox said.
Fox added that the pattern of children running away from group homes is a warning sign that demands attention.
"When you have multiple kids running away, you have a problem," Fox said.
The walk will continue next year. Our investigations into issues with DCS and pressing for change will also continue.
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