Latest / Least of These / 241. “Behind Closed Doors” The Case of Raechyl & Jayla Blackshear - Anchorage, Alaska

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241. “Behind Closed Doors” The Case of Raechyl & Jayla Blackshear - Anchorage, Alaska · Least of These

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[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to least of these, where I cover the cases that need it most because every life matters and everyone deserves justice.
0:07
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host Leah D. Today I'll be covering the case of Rachel and J. Lablaccia in Anchorage, Alaska.
0:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Just a warning.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Today's case involves a sexual assault and murder of a child.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Listener discretion is advised.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And with that said, let's get right to it.
0:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Nestled between the Rugged Chugash Mountains and the icy waters of Cook inlet, Anchorage Alaska is a place of breathtaking beauty.
1:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska and home to nearly 40% of the state's population.
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[SPEAKER_00]: A modern hub often called the Gateway to the last frontier, where most wonder neighborhoods, winter darkness lingers for months, and the wilderness is never far away.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The beauty of anchorage is impossible to ignore.
1:26
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a sense of freedom that comes with living surrounded by such vast, untamed wilderness, quiet, wild, and expansive in a way few cities ever are.
1:36
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe that's why Rachel Blackshier fell in love with the city.
1:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Rachel was raised a world away in Stockton, California, or Sunshine is steady, street-stay busy and life moves at a very different pace.
1:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Rachel's mother Jerry White told the Anchorage Daily News that her daughter was headstrong funny and that she loved to learn.
1:56
[SPEAKER_00]: She was a handful as a teenager.
1:59
[SPEAKER_00]: So when Rachel got pregnant, Jerry was a little tough on her.
2:03
[SPEAKER_00]: She just wanted to make sure she understood the challenges that came with parenthood, and she wanted to set the expectation that though she would help her daughter, Rachel would be the mom for her son.
2:14
[SPEAKER_00]: And Rachel, will she exceeded those expectations?
2:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Being a mom became the most important thing in her life.
2:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Shortly after her son was born, Rachel married a man in the military.
2:27
[SPEAKER_00]: He got stationed in Alaska, and she packed up her
2:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Rachel instantly fell in love with Alaska.
2:37
[SPEAKER_00]: She made friends, found work and took advantage of everything Anchorage had to offer.
2:42
[SPEAKER_00]: She worked as a certified nursing assistant at Providence Transitional Care Center from 2014 to 2016 and left only to go to nursing school.
2:52
[SPEAKER_00]: She returned in 2019, but this time is a registered nurse.
2:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Rachel also worked night shifts at Alaska Native Medical Center.
3:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Her co-workers and patients loved her, she was bubbly and always smiling.
3:06
[SPEAKER_00]: One co-worker at the Medical Center Amanda Jensen stated to encourage daily news, she would take the time to connect with her patients, ask them questions, get to know them, hear about their families.
3:17
[SPEAKER_00]: she was a very caring nurse.
3:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Over the years Rachel had three more children, her marriage to that man in the military ended, but Rachel stayed in Alaska.
3:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Not only did she love life there, she had a career in friends.
3:32
[SPEAKER_00]: According to her family, as her first marriage began to fall apart, Rachel met a man named Jalani Blackshare.
3:38
[SPEAKER_00]: They had some sort of relationship, and he was the father
3:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Initially, things didn't work out between the two of them, and Jolani wasn't in little Jaila's life for the first six years.
3:53
[SPEAKER_00]: But at some point, Rachel and Jolani reunited, and eventually they got married.
3:58
[SPEAKER_00]: From the outside looking in, despite the fact that he hadn't been around, Jolani seemed to take to fatherhood naturally.
4:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And not just with Jaila, according to Rachel's family as they spoke to Anchorage Daily News, Jolani treated all of Rachel's children as if they were his own.
4:14
[SPEAKER_00]: and he seemed to make Rachel happy.
4:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, they were happy to see her happy.
4:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Rachel's mother Jerry said, when we would see them together, she was legitimately happy, joking around with him and the kids just teasing each other.
4:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it just made me feel good to see.
4:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Jalani seemed like a stand-up guy.
4:33
[SPEAKER_00]: He had a great job as a correctional officer at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.
4:38
[SPEAKER_00]: He had kids of his own from previous relationships that he spent time with and it appeared he loved Rachel and all four of her children.
4:46
[SPEAKER_00]: The truth is though that you never truly know what's happening behind closed doors.
4:51
[SPEAKER_00]: From the outside Rachel appeared
4:57
[SPEAKER_00]: But an entirely different reality was about to come to light on a cold spring day in 2022.
5:26
[SPEAKER_00]: According to Anchorage Police on March 30th, 2022, 35-year-old Rachel Blackshare brought her 14-year-old daughter Jaila into the station to report that the little girl had been sexually abused.
5:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Jaila had told Rachel and Rachel had immediately sought help.
5:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Jaila spoke to officials and did disclose that she had been abused, but wouldn't say who had abused her.
5:48
[SPEAKER_00]: She would only say that she had been raped that morning by a male in her household.
5:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, Jailadin come right out and say it, but police would later tell the media that the primary suspect was her father, 39-year-old Jalani Blackshare.
6:03
[SPEAKER_00]: After speaking to police, Jaila was taken to the hospital for a sexual assault exam.
6:08
[SPEAKER_00]: According to court documents, the doctor observed obvious trauma to her body.
6:13
[SPEAKER_00]: It was clear that Jaila had been violently raped.
6:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Jailun Rachel's youngest daughter, who was 10 at the time, will they were both interviewed at Alaska Cares, a child advocacy center that focuses on children who have experienced abuse.
6:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Jailun didn't disclose any more details.
6:31
[SPEAKER_00]: According to court documents, the 10-year-old didn't either, but the little girl made several statements that considering the circumstances were concerning.
6:40
[SPEAKER_00]: She told the interviewer that her dad has a sign that says family is everything, and that that sign meant that no matter what you put your family first.
6:49
[SPEAKER_00]: She went on to say that her dad says, you need to be loyal to your family.
6:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Your best friend should be your family.
6:56
[SPEAKER_00]: The little girl did recall that Jayla was sick earlier that morning.
7:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators called Jolani Blackshare and asked him to bring his sons up to Alaska cares for interviews.
7:07
[SPEAKER_00]: He told Detective Falvo that he didn't know what was going on, and that his wife wasn't talking to him, but he would have the boys there within 45 minutes.
7:16
[SPEAKER_00]: 45 minutes came and went with no sign of Jolani at the boys, so investigators called him again.
7:21
[SPEAKER_00]: This time he told them that he was not coming, and that his children didn't want to come in either.
7:27
[SPEAKER_00]: After some pressure from police, Jolani agreed to have his friend bring the children.
7:32
[SPEAKER_00]: When asked why he wouldn't just bring them in himself, he stated,
7:39
[SPEAKER_00]: There were three boys at the house that morning, two 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old.
7:44
[SPEAKER_00]: All of the boys told the interviewer that that morning their mother was at work, Jalani was home with all of the kids.
7:50
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the 16-year-olds went on to say that he was pretty sure that the night before his two sisters were in their dad's bedroom and the bed watching forensic files, and that was where they had slept.
8:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Earlier that morning he recalled that Jalani was in the bed with Jalani watching
8:06
[SPEAKER_00]: He explained that Jaila was the last one to leave for school.
8:10
[SPEAKER_00]: She left about an hour after they did, so that would have put her alone with Jailani.
8:16
[SPEAKER_00]: He went on to say that that morning while he was at school Jaila had texted him and told him that she wasn't feeling well, and later that afternoon Jailani message to him and said Jaila wasn't in school and he didn't know where she was.
8:28
[SPEAKER_00]: He denied that his father would sexually abuse his sister.
8:33
[SPEAKER_00]: But all of the children were afraid to speak to the interviewers at the advocacy center.
8:37
[SPEAKER_00]: They were scared that if they talked, they'd be placed in foster homes.
8:42
[SPEAKER_00]: As it turns out, they had good reasons to believe that, since they had previously been taken out of their home and placed an emergency custody.
8:50
[SPEAKER_00]: The state office of children's services had launched an investigation into the family back in 2019.
8:57
[SPEAKER_00]: That summer, police were called to the black-share home in Eagle River and referenced to a child with a gunshot wound.
9:03
[SPEAKER_00]: When officers arrived, they found Jelani's four-year-old daughter, one of his children from a previous relationship.
9:10
[SPEAKER_00]: They found the four-year-old with a gunshot wound to her chest.
9:13
[SPEAKER_00]: The bullet entered her chest and exited through her back.
9:17
[SPEAKER_00]: She was taken to the hospital where she underwent emergency surgery and thankfully survived.
9:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Jalani Blacksier told police that the shooting was an accident, explaining that his four-year-old was visiting for the summer from Oklahoma.
9:31
[SPEAKER_00]: He had worked the night shift in the night previous and left the gun on the counter when he went upstairs to sleep.
9:36
[SPEAKER_00]: He woke up to the sound of a gunshot and found his daughter bleeding in the dining room.
9:41
[SPEAKER_00]: The other children told him that she must have shot herself after she saw a bear outside and tried to shoot it.
9:47
[SPEAKER_00]: He went on to explain that he normally kept around chambered because of the bears around the house and that the older children in the house knew not to touch the gun, but since the little girl was just visiting, she didn't know about the gun safety rules.
10:00
[SPEAKER_00]: The children were taken and placed in a protective custody and an investigation was launched.
10:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Jolani was ultimately charged with four counts of misdemeanor reckless endangerment.
10:12
[SPEAKER_00]: After the shooting Rachel's mother Jerry flew to Alaska and stayed with the kids along with Rachel's father so the children could return home and the investigation continued.
10:21
[SPEAKER_00]: an OCS investigator wrote in her report that she believed the kids were in danger, but not solely because they'd been given access to a gun.
10:30
[SPEAKER_00]: The OCS investigator wrote in her report that the kids were, quote, and danger, and that Rachel was under Jalanis control and would not be able to make wise decisions because of that.
10:41
[SPEAKER_00]: there was also a reference to domestic violence.
10:45
[SPEAKER_00]: This investigator appeared to be the only one who felt that way at the time.
10:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Even Rachel's family believed that what had happened was an honest mistake.
10:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Though it was reckless and careless, they didn't believe there was any ill and ten on Jolani's part.
10:59
[SPEAKER_00]: And it seemed officials that the Office of Children's Services minus that one investigator agreed.
11:05
[SPEAKER_00]: The children were ultimately allowed to return back home to Rachel and Jalani, all of the children that was except for Jala.
11:13
[SPEAKER_00]: According to Jerry, she spoke to the Anchorage Daily News, Rachel asked if Jala could come and spend some time in California.
11:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Jaila went to California for a year with her grandmother, and they had the best time.
11:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Jaila was playful and goofy, and they just loved having her around.
11:31
[SPEAKER_00]: She told Jerry that she wanted to follow in her footsteps and become a therapist when she grew up.
11:36
[SPEAKER_00]: They got to spend that year together and then Jaila returned to Alaska.
11:41
[SPEAKER_00]: When she returned, according to Jerry, things seem normal.
11:45
[SPEAKER_00]: But as we know, things aren't always as they seem.
11:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, Rachel and Jala were sitting in an interview room talking to officials about a violent sexual assault.
11:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Police revealed that immediately after that report was made, Jalani Blackshire called Rachel and convinced her to take Jala back to the police station to recant her story.
12:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Rachel did take her back and attempted to have her statement recount it, but you can't unring a bell.
12:13
[SPEAKER_00]: According to a police affidavit, the following day on April 1st, investigators obtained a warrant for Jalani's DNA.
12:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Children's services filed for emergency custody.
12:24
[SPEAKER_00]: The boys replaced him foster care immediately, but the same wasn't done for Jala or Rachel's youngest daughter.
12:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't tell you why, and I'm not sure anyone else could either.
12:34
[SPEAKER_00]: It didn't make a lick of sense, but that's what happened.
12:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Rachel's youngest daughter went to stay with her grandparents in California.
12:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Jolani told the grandparents that Jaila had retracted her allegation, and that his DNA wasn't a match.
12:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Jaila remains in Alaska with Rachel.
12:52
[SPEAKER_00]: From that day forward, no one in law enforcement saw Rachel or Jela.
12:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Rachel never returned to work, and Jela never returned to school.
13:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Jerry White last spoke to Rachel sometime over those first few days in April.
13:06
[SPEAKER_00]: She told her mom that she was on her way to meet with Jelani, but never said what they were meeting to discuss.
13:13
[SPEAKER_00]: After that phone call, Jerry never heard Rachel's voice again.
13:17
[SPEAKER_00]: On April 6th, 2022, Jolani Blacksier resigned from his job at the Anchorage Department of Corrections.
13:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Over the next couple weeks, according to Anchorage Police, text messages were sent from both Rachel and Jaila's phones.
13:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Messages from Rachel to her other children saying that mommy missed them and one message wishing one of the kids a happy birthday.
13:40
[SPEAKER_00]: The details of the messages sent from J-Lisphone have never been made public.
13:45
[SPEAKER_00]: But there was something off about those messages, for starters, Rachel wouldn't have just wished her child a happy birthday in a text, and also the grammar.
13:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Jerry White told ABC10 that Rachel and J-Lis were both meticulous about grammar.
14:00
[SPEAKER_00]: However, the text coming in from their phones showed absolutely no regard for anything grammatical.
14:07
[SPEAKER_00]: And further, Rachel would text, but she wouldn't answer a phone call, and that wasn't like her.
14:13
[SPEAKER_00]: The text, Rachel missing shifts it were, Jerry White started to sense that something was very wrong.
14:20
[SPEAKER_00]: And then there was a call from federal investigators.
14:23
[SPEAKER_00]: The feds were calling to ask if the whites were hiding the girls.
14:28
[SPEAKER_00]: They said girls, meaning Rachel and Jaila, and that's when the family realized that Jaila was also missing.
14:36
[SPEAKER_00]: The whites knew something was wrong, but at that point, police believed Rachel had fled the state with Jailani, and that Jaila was probably with them.
14:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators began tracking Jailani's movements.
14:49
[SPEAKER_00]: They learned that the same day Jelani Sinan is resignation letter to the Alaska DOC, he had blown out of Anchorage Airport headed for the lower 48.
14:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Rachel and Jelas phones were tracked of Virginia and Maryland, and according to police it appeared that Rachel and Jela were still communicating with friends and family via text and social media.
15:09
[SPEAKER_00]: On April 13, DNA test results were back, according to a police affidavit, the samples taken from jailed during that same exam matched her father, Jolani Blackshier, charges in the sexual abuse case were filed against him in Alaska, and police ramped up the investigation.
15:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, prior to that DNA coming back, the sexual assault claim was just that, an allegation.
15:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Jela had never disclosed the name of the person that had assaulted her.
15:37
[SPEAKER_00]: He hadn't been charged yet, and investigators were unable to get in touch with Jela or Rachel to gain any further information.
15:45
[SPEAKER_00]: But now, they had solid proof, investigators went to the house in Anchorage, but it didn't appear anyone was home, and cell phone data was showing Jalani, Rachel, and Jala were out of the state.
15:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Two days later, on April 15, Rachel failed to show up for a scheduled doctor's appointment.
16:02
[SPEAKER_00]: A family member called the Anchorage Police Department for a welfare check.
16:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And it appears this wasn't the first time the family had called, and that police had stopped by several times prior, but noted nothing suspicious.
16:15
[SPEAKER_00]: But at 108 pm on April 15, 2022, Anchorage Police forced entry into the home on Resurrection Drive and Northeast Anchorage.
16:25
[SPEAKER_00]: In an upstairs bedroom, officers found both 35-year-old Rachel and 14-year-old Jaila Blackshire dead from gunshot wounds to the head.
16:34
[SPEAKER_00]: It was clear that the two had been deceased for some time.
16:39
[SPEAKER_00]: At first police released very few details.
16:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Four days after officers made that awful discovery on April 19, encouraged police to the media that a 35-year-old female and a 14-year-old female had been discovered inside the home, and that Jolani Blacksier had been identified as a person of interest.
16:58
[SPEAKER_00]: They went on to say that the victim's names were not being released due to this being a domestic violence related crime.
17:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was the first time it had ever been set out loud.
17:09
[SPEAKER_00]: The first time it had ever been said that Rachel and Jela were victims of domestic violence.
17:15
[SPEAKER_00]: This shocked absolutely everyone that knew them.
17:18
[SPEAKER_00]: They always seemed so happy.
17:20
[SPEAKER_00]: How was it possible that they were victims of domestic violence?
17:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators also revealed that they were looking for Jalani, and they believed he had fled the state and was armed and dangerous.
17:33
[SPEAKER_00]: But he wouldn't be armed or dangerous for long.
17:58
[SPEAKER_00]: The day after police announced they were looking for Jolani Blackshare, so that brings us to April 20.
18:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Jolani was captured in New York State.
18:06
[SPEAKER_00]: NBC for New York reported that Blackshare was seen being led away from a home on Harold Street in Staten Island and into a police vehicle.
18:15
[SPEAKER_00]: As it turned out, Anchorage police had traced cell phoneings to a house there.
18:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Law enforcement officers spotted him at the home wearing the same heavy gold chain he had
18:28
[SPEAKER_00]: A homeland security agent took him into custody on federal charges of fleeing to avoid prosecution.
18:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Blacksiers spontaneously confessed at Agent Alex Pina that he was one of the charges in Anchorage, so he was taken into custody and ultimately extradited back to Alaska.
18:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators pieced together digital evidence from electronic devices and physical evidence at the scene.
18:52
[SPEAKER_00]: That evidence was presented to an Anchorage grand jury in early May.
18:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators believe that after Jaila told officials that she'd been sexually assaulted, black sure pressured Rachel to get Jaila to re-can't her story.
19:05
[SPEAKER_00]: The investigation into the sexual assault revealed Jailani was abusive and more ways than just one.
19:11
[SPEAKER_00]: For years, he had been abusing his family physically, mentally and sexually.
19:17
[SPEAKER_00]: He had exerted total control over Rachel and the kids.
19:20
[SPEAKER_00]: When Jayla got the courage to break the cycle and come forward, the walls were quickly closing in.
19:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone was going to learn what a monster he truly was.
19:30
[SPEAKER_00]: So he tried to get Jayla to recant the story, but recanting the story didn't work.
19:34
[SPEAKER_00]: The investigation had continued.
19:37
[SPEAKER_00]: His DNA had been taken, and it was only a matter of time before it came back as a match.
19:42
[SPEAKER_00]: And he knew that.
19:43
[SPEAKER_00]: So, in the early morning hours of April 4, Jolani entered the family home and shot his wife and daughter.
19:49
[SPEAKER_00]: He then used their devices and shared Apple iCloud to communicate with family and friends, so that no one would suspect anything was wrong.
19:58
[SPEAKER_00]: He sent those birthday messages, and I miss you messages, pretending to be his dead wife to her children.
20:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Two days after he murdered Rachel and Jaila, he resigned from his position as a corrections officer, hopped to flight and ran, all the while still keeping up their rules with Rachel and Jaila's phones.
20:16
[SPEAKER_00]: The problem was he couldn't string together as sentence to save his life, and the family knew something was wrong.
20:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Jailani had left a trail of evidence of myolide, all investigators had to do was follow it.
20:29
[SPEAKER_00]: So it came as no surprise that on May 5th, 2022, that Anchorage Grandjury indicted blackshare on a slew of charges.
20:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Two counts of first-degree murder, four counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, two counts of incest, two counts of tampering with evidence, and one count of first-degree forjury.
20:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And of course he was already facing federal charges for the unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
20:58
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it really wasn't looking good for Jolani Blackshare.
21:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Fortunately for him, Alaska isn't a death penalty state, because if ever there was a case, I feel like this would be it.
21:11
[SPEAKER_00]: To save everyone the trauma that comes with a trial, prosecutors alongside Rachel's family worked out a plea deal.
21:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Blackshare would plea guilty to murder in the first degree for Rachel and second degree murder for Jaila.
21:23
[SPEAKER_00]: He would be sentenced to 75 years for each murder to be circumcisecatively, which would total 150 years in prison.
21:31
[SPEAKER_00]: And that wasn't all.
21:33
[SPEAKER_00]: He'd also have to sign an affidavit, admitting he knew he was the prime suspect in the sexual abuse of 14-year-old Jaila, and that the shooting was unprovoked.
21:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Jolani agreed, probably because he didn't want to rape an incest conviction on his record.
21:50
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just guessing here, but really other than that, what did he get out of it?
21:55
[SPEAKER_00]: He's never getting out of prison, but he won't be a pedophile on paper.
22:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyhow, on January 27th, 1226, Jolanti Blackshare pled guilty to two counts of murder.
22:07
[SPEAKER_00]: And on June 2nd, he was officially sentenced to 150 years in prison.
22:12
[SPEAKER_00]: He's currently being held at the Pre-Trial Detention Center in Palmer, Alaska.
22:17
[SPEAKER_00]: But soon enough, he'll be shipped off to a corrections center for the rest of ever.
22:21
[SPEAKER_00]: If I had to guess, I'd say they'd send him to spring creek, but I'd just be guessing.
22:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Blackshare is now and will forever be in the custody of his former employer, the Alaska Department of Corrections.
22:35
[SPEAKER_00]: His projected release date is the year 2,173.
22:40
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not even sure if I'm saying that right, but I don't think any of us will have to worry about learning how to pronounce it and neither will
22:49
[SPEAKER_00]: At sentencing, Superior Court Judge Garten addressed the court and said that Blackshare had murdered his wife and daughter to cover up years of physical and sexual violence against his wife and daughters.
23:00
[SPEAKER_00]: The judge went on to say that Blackshare had terrorized his family into silence, and his control over them depended on that silence.
23:08
[SPEAKER_00]: When Jaila didn't comply, Blackshare killed her and her mother.
23:12
[SPEAKER_00]: He addressed the messages sent after the murders, and said that the fact that Blackshire had pretended to be his dead wife and daughter was depraved, cruel, and calculated.
23:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Judge Garten then remanded him into the custody of the state.
23:26
[SPEAKER_00]: For years, the Blackshire family suffered in silence, no one outside of that home knew the depths of the depravity that is Jolani Blackshire.
23:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Even Rachel's closest friends and family had no idea that she was suffering from domestic
23:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Rachel had so many friends.
23:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Her mother recalled to Anchorage Daily News that at her memorial service, she heard from dozens of her daughter's friends, all of them telling her that Rachel was their best friend, yet none of them knew she was being abused.
23:57
[SPEAKER_00]: The few that had suspicions that something wasn't right in the marriage had been cut out of Rachel's life by Jalani.
24:04
[SPEAKER_00]: They'd been cut out the
24:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Rachel had learned to hide the abuse in order to not end up completely isolated and alone with no route for an escape.
24:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Like so many women, Rachel suffered in silence, the children suffered in silence, the fear of what would happen if they spoke up, what would happen if they tried to escape, it kept them gripped and terror.
24:30
[SPEAKER_00]: In that fear, it's very real.
24:33
[SPEAKER_00]: We've all heard it before.
24:34
[SPEAKER_00]: The most dangerous time in violent relationships is when the victim of the abuse attempts to leave or in the relationship.
24:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And the danger stretches beyond the victim to the children in the home and other family members, just as it did in this case.
24:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Rachel's family believes of course that the assault on Jala was the final straw, and that she was leaving Jalani for good, but he took their lives before they could walk out that door.
25:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Jalani couldn't handle not being in control anymore.
25:04
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't want the world to know what kind of monster he truly was, so he silenced the two people who knew more than anyone,
25:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Leaving might be the most dangerous time, but eventually that danger does end.
25:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Staying in an abusive relationship is a never-ending cycle of violence danger in abuse.
25:25
[SPEAKER_00]: That cycle doesn't end until it's broken.
25:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Unfortunately, Rachel and Jaila's story isn't rare.
25:32
[SPEAKER_00]: So many women and men suffer silently trapped in abusive relationships.
25:37
[SPEAKER_00]: And it isn't always black eyes and bruises.
25:44
[SPEAKER_00]: According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, over one and three women and one and four men in the U.S. have experienced rape, physical violence and or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
25:57
[SPEAKER_00]: If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you're not alone.
26:03
[SPEAKER_00]: After losing Rachel and Jaila, Rachel's mom Jerry urges those suffering to reach out for help.
26:08
[SPEAKER_00]: She hopes that others see what happened to Rachel and take it as a sign to leave for their children, their parents and themselves.
26:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Jerry stated to Anchorage Daily News, if you're that person that's in a situation and you think that it will get better or things will change or you could just write it out, I'm standing here to tell you.
26:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't think that it can't happen.
26:29
[SPEAKER_00]: If you know someone or you are someone, it ends today, it has to end today.
26:35
[SPEAKER_00]: 35-year-old Rachel Blacksyear was a nurse who loved her patients, a woman who loved Alaska and was learning to snowboard.
26:45
[SPEAKER_00]: A mother who loved her four children, and according to those that knew her would eat lunch at school with her kids to keep the bullies away.
26:52
[SPEAKER_00]: A mother who in the end tried to leave an abusive relationship to protect her children,
26:58
[SPEAKER_00]: 14-year-old Jaila attended Buggage Medal School.
27:02
[SPEAKER_00]: She was a bright student who was looking forward to high school.
27:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Jaila was a fun and outgoing person remembered for her infectious smile.
27:10
[SPEAKER_00]: A smile she tried to pass along to everyone she came into contact with.
27:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Jaila took part in a club at school dedicated to making sure no one felt lonely.
27:19
[SPEAKER_00]: She ran track and was remarkably fast.
27:23
[SPEAKER_00]: After her death, two of her friends, 14-year-old twin sisters, Jalissa and Janice put together a memorial service at the middle school.
27:31
[SPEAKER_00]: The two girls wanted not only to honor Jala, but to raise awareness about domestic violence.
27:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Jalissa said, Jala, what happened to her was unfair and I want people to know that domestic violence should be stopped.
27:46
[SPEAKER_00]: If you are someone you love is suffering from domestic violence, there is a way out.
27:51
[SPEAKER_00]: That cycle can be broken, and you could be the one to break it.
27:56
[SPEAKER_00]: There are resources available to get you started on your path to freedom.
28:00
[SPEAKER_00]: In the US, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-799-Safe, or visit thehotline.org.
28:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Please hear me when I say, you deserve to be free.
28:21
[SPEAKER_00]: and that my friends is all I've got for this week.
28:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Be sure to join me next Thursday for an all-new episode.
28:27
[SPEAKER_00]: In the meantime, you can buy me on Instagram at least under score of these, or my Facebook at least of these podcast.
28:33
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you're sick of that interruptions, I've got good news for you.
28:36
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28:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And as a member of Patreon, you'll be the first to be notified when new tiers will launch with exclusive episodes and a few bonus surprises.
28:48
[SPEAKER_00]: head on over to patreon.com slash least of these to support the show today.
28:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening.
28:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for caring.
28:56
[SPEAKER_00]: If you know something, say something.
28:58
[SPEAKER_00]: And until next time, be go to each other.
29:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Man, y'all, I am losing my voice quickly in case you didn't notice, I have a cold, but, you know, the show must go on.
29:51
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not missing this hot take.
29:53
[SPEAKER_00]: This is such an absolutely devastating story.
29:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So many lives were impacted at the hands of just one monster.
30:01
[SPEAKER_00]: The ripple effect stretches beyond what probably any of us can comprehend.
30:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Jaila was such a bright little soul, looking at the photos of her in Rachel, it's like the light just radiates from within both of them, it's hard to fathom that they were suffering through so much, it's just another prime example of you really don't know what a person is going through.
30:23
[SPEAKER_00]: From the lady who makes your coffee at the Starbucks to your very best friend, you just never really know.
30:30
[SPEAKER_00]: There was just so much promise ripped away in an instant.
30:35
[SPEAKER_00]: As far as Jolani goes, he's as evil as they come, and in my opinion the only reason he took that plea deal is because he knows how pedophiles are treated in prison.
30:44
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he does know better than anyone because he was a damn corrections officer.
30:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Which former corrections officer, plus pedophile, I don't really think you can put a larger target on your back.
30:57
[SPEAKER_00]: If he took that little plea deal to save himself the embarrassment of being put in the Pito pod, now he's just a pedophile out there in general population, unless they put a member tech of custody.
31:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm really not sure because he's still in pre-trial detention at the moment, they're probably working on sending him wherever he's going to wind up as we speak.
31:17
[SPEAKER_00]: But if they put his ass in general pop, he's going to have a rough time, and it couldn't be more deserved.
31:24
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the part that's hard to talk about.
31:27
[SPEAKER_00]: The sexual assault on Jala was so very violent.
31:30
[SPEAKER_00]: There weren't many details in the court records.
31:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Much of it was redacted, and that's good because we've really got to consider Jala.
31:38
[SPEAKER_00]: But in two sentences, there was enough to tell you that her assault had been violent.
31:44
[SPEAKER_00]: And it sure ain't very nice of me to hope that Jalani has to feel one ounce of the pain in horror he inflicted on his daughter in prison.
31:52
[SPEAKER_00]: But I do hope he does.
31:54
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope more than anything that Old Bubba gets old of him.
31:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Listen, don't get mad.
32:00
[SPEAKER_00]: I already said it wasn't right, but I never told y'all a lie, and that's how I feel about it.
32:05
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you reap what you sow, and I just hope that's a specially true for Jalani.
32:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Prisoners are nosy.
32:12
[SPEAKER_00]: They're gonna figure out what he did.
32:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Somebody's gonna come through there that knows if they haven't already.
32:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And then the whole damn cell block is gonna know and I really hope they do.
32:23
[SPEAKER_00]: The betrayal of being assaulted by your father, your biological father.
32:28
[SPEAKER_00]: This wasn't her stepdad, mom's boyfriend, uncle, which is all bad enough.
32:32
[SPEAKER_00]: But her dad, the one who was supposed to protect her above anyone, I just don't think there are words for that kind of betrayal.
32:40
[SPEAKER_00]: The betrayal, the violence of it all, she was just 14, just a baby.
32:46
[SPEAKER_00]: She deserves so much better.
32:48
[SPEAKER_00]: and Jolani Blacks here deserves whatever the boys on the block have in store for him.
32:53
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's about all I got to say about that.
32:56
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to go find a coftra.
32:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Y'all know I love you more in my luggage and I can't wait to talk at you next week, but until then, bye, Boo thing!