Transition Likely to Confuse Boy, 6
By Corey Lyons
Contra Costa Newspapers
Dec. 15, 2002
VALLEJO -- Little Shea Brown is just beginning to peel back the layers of his fabricated life, to retrace the footprints of an invisible boy.
He will learn to unmask himself as a recovering kidnap victim. He will learn that his name is Le-Zhan Williams.
He will learn about his teenage mother, who was shot and her corpse and Vallejo bungalow set ablaze -- a homicide that puzzled police for years. He will learn about his father, a 1990s rap artist serving hard time for armed robbery in a state prison 236 miles away.
He will learn that he was whisked away from his biological family when he was only 25 days old.
Finally, Le-Zhan, 6, will learn to sort through his own tangled emotional knots and start a new life from scratch in a city he never left.
It's the beginning of a particularly tough healing process that could last a lifetime, therapists and specialists on traumatized children said. "You can't just find a kid, go through a complete identity change and not expect some issues to manifest over some time," said Georgia Hilgeman-Hammond, founder of the Vanished Children's Alliance in San Jose.
Le-Zhan disappeared in May 1996, an 8-pound infant swept up by a young woman he grew to regard as his mother.
But Latasha Brown, 22, now stands accused of conceiving a plot to kill the boy's biological mother, Daphne Boyden, and swipe her child. The boy grew up only a few miles from where his mother was slain.
He is now in protective custody while authorities try to figure out how to reintroduce him to unfamiliar faces: his own family. Riva Lee Boyden, the boy's great-grandmother, is delighted to have Le-Zhan resurface after so many frustrating years but is guarded about what lies ahead. "I haven't seen him.
"I don't want to comment about where we're going into all of this," she said. "Right now it's all speculation. And I don't like to speculate."
Strict confidentiality rules prohibit Child Protective Services from discussing specific cases, said Laura Fowler, deputy director of the agency in Fairfield. "We're concerned with a child's best interests," she said. "Any child we take in we want to place with family members who have the first priority for placement. The closer the relationship, the higher the priority."
It's certainly going to be complicated for Le-Zhan. His father, Lathan "Young Lay" Williams, once a promising rapper, is serving a 12-year sentence for robbery. Williams, 27, narrowly avoided death before his son was born when he was shot in the head in August 1995.
Adding to Le-Zhan's troubles, the women who reared him are behind bars. Experts say abducted children often forge tight bonds with their captors, even in abuse cases.
"I think his bigger issue is abandonment, losing the only family he's ever known," said Cecilia Mullaney, program coordinator for the Solano Parent Network in Fairfield.
Recovery will require cooperation from the whole family, allowing the boy room to ask questions and build trust.
"A lot of his (recovery) has to do with his upbringing," said Dr. Kiran Koka, medical director of adolescent services at Mt. Diablo Medical Pavilion in Concord. "He grew up not knowing his real mother. If he were really nurtured and raised like normal kids, he may go through a lot of depression, anxiety and confusion."
At 6, he may also exhibit more infantile behavioral problems, experts said, or act out when he gets upset. Nonetheless, most experts say the youngster can recuperate strongly with good therapy and a family that doesn't overwhelm him.
"People can heal," said Hilgeman-Hammond, who was reunited with her missing daughter in 1981 after a four-year ordeal. "Are they damaged forever? I always say to people, 'Don't underestimate the resiliency of the human spirit.'"
Contra Costa Newspapers
Dec. 15, 2002
VALLEJO -- Little Shea Brown is just beginning to peel back the layers of his fabricated life, to retrace the footprints of an invisible boy.
He will learn to unmask himself as a recovering kidnap victim. He will learn that his name is Le-Zhan Williams.
He will learn about his teenage mother, who was shot and her corpse and Vallejo bungalow set ablaze -- a homicide that puzzled police for years. He will learn about his father, a 1990s rap artist serving hard time for armed robbery in a state prison 236 miles away.
He will learn that he was whisked away from his biological family when he was only 25 days old.
Finally, Le-Zhan, 6, will learn to sort through his own tangled emotional knots and start a new life from scratch in a city he never left.
It's the beginning of a particularly tough healing process that could last a lifetime, therapists and specialists on traumatized children said. "You can't just find a kid, go through a complete identity change and not expect some issues to manifest over some time," said Georgia Hilgeman-Hammond, founder of the Vanished Children's Alliance in San Jose.
Le-Zhan disappeared in May 1996, an 8-pound infant swept up by a young woman he grew to regard as his mother.
But Latasha Brown, 22, now stands accused of conceiving a plot to kill the boy's biological mother, Daphne Boyden, and swipe her child. The boy grew up only a few miles from where his mother was slain.
He is now in protective custody while authorities try to figure out how to reintroduce him to unfamiliar faces: his own family. Riva Lee Boyden, the boy's great-grandmother, is delighted to have Le-Zhan resurface after so many frustrating years but is guarded about what lies ahead. "I haven't seen him.
"I don't want to comment about where we're going into all of this," she said. "Right now it's all speculation. And I don't like to speculate."
Strict confidentiality rules prohibit Child Protective Services from discussing specific cases, said Laura Fowler, deputy director of the agency in Fairfield. "We're concerned with a child's best interests," she said. "Any child we take in we want to place with family members who have the first priority for placement. The closer the relationship, the higher the priority."
It's certainly going to be complicated for Le-Zhan. His father, Lathan "Young Lay" Williams, once a promising rapper, is serving a 12-year sentence for robbery. Williams, 27, narrowly avoided death before his son was born when he was shot in the head in August 1995.
Adding to Le-Zhan's troubles, the women who reared him are behind bars. Experts say abducted children often forge tight bonds with their captors, even in abuse cases.
"I think his bigger issue is abandonment, losing the only family he's ever known," said Cecilia Mullaney, program coordinator for the Solano Parent Network in Fairfield.
Recovery will require cooperation from the whole family, allowing the boy room to ask questions and build trust.
"A lot of his (recovery) has to do with his upbringing," said Dr. Kiran Koka, medical director of adolescent services at Mt. Diablo Medical Pavilion in Concord. "He grew up not knowing his real mother. If he were really nurtured and raised like normal kids, he may go through a lot of depression, anxiety and confusion."
At 6, he may also exhibit more infantile behavioral problems, experts said, or act out when he gets upset. Nonetheless, most experts say the youngster can recuperate strongly with good therapy and a family that doesn't overwhelm him.
"People can heal," said Hilgeman-Hammond, who was reunited with her missing daughter in 1981 after a four-year ordeal. "Are they damaged forever? I always say to people, 'Don't underestimate the resiliency of the human spirit.'"
posted by Corey at 10:22 AM
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