CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The jury trial for a woman charged with the 2022 death of her disabled, 13-year-old son began Monday afternoon.
On July 6, 2022, EMS responded to a call on Virginia Terrace, in the Bel-Aire area of Clarksville, where they found the body of 13-year-old Kadaris Maddox. According to previous reports, officers stated that the home was in disarray inside and out. One officer said there was so much trash he could not even touch the floor. The autopsy report states that Kadaris’ death was the result of malnutrition.
On Oct. 9, 2022, Cheyenne Maddox, Kadaris’ mother, turned herself in after being indicted on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child neglect.
State and defense opening arguments
“A parent is responsible for the care of their child,” Assistant District Attorney Mary O’Connor told the jury on Monday. “A mother is responsible for taking care of their child. Cheyenne Maddox, in this case, failed her son. She failed to feed him as mother should.
“You’re going to hear how he couldn’t walk,” O’Connor said. “You’re going to hear how he wore diapers, that someone needed to change them, and that he couldn’t feed himself, that someone needed to feed him.”
Maddox’s attorney, Chase Smith, encouraged the jury to use their wisdom when considering the state’s “proof.”
“Proof will show that Miss Maddox was a single mother of six, taking care of all these children,” Smith told the jury. “She (Maddox) would describe that too, because you’ll hear from Miss Maddox. She’s going to tell you her story, and you have to decide whether she’s guilty of intentionally and knowingly murdering a child that she has taken care of by herself for 13 years.”
Smith said there is a window of aggravated child abuse from December 2020 to July 6, 2022. “So as you’re listening to this proof from all these people that come up, they were involved with (Kadaris) in his life during that time. Pay attention to those (time) windows. Pay attention to the significance of why some of these people are testifying,” Smith said.
Tearful reaction from jurors during autopsy
Dr. Feng Li, chief medical examiner with Davidson County and Metro Nashville, left an emotional impact on a few of the jurors.
Kadaris’ autopsy showed him to be approximately 46 inches tall and 35 pounds at the time of his death. Compared to other 13-year-old boys, Kadaris was “way below the 5th percentile,” with the 5th percentile averaging 65 to 70 pounds. Li described Kadaris as having a “cachexia condition” or “wasting syndrome.” An examination found several abrasions, sores and ulcers on his back, hips and groin area.
When the state presented pictures taken during Kadaris’s autopsy for Li to explain, there was a visible reaction from a few members of the jury, who wiped away tears as the pictures progressed.
Maddox, however, showed no reaction and did not look at any of the pictures as they were displayed.
Police describe cluttered house full of food
Joshua Clegg, a patrol officer at the Clarksville Police Department in 2022, was the first responding officer on scene. Clegg said several children met him at the gate to the property and led him in. After navigating around a dresser that was in the way of the back door, he found the defendant standing in a nearby room holding a child covered in a purple bed comforter.
After Maddox set Kadaris down and pulled off the comforter, Clegg described the boy as “severely emaciated, just skin and bones,” and was wearing only a disposable diaper. “He didn’t have a pulse,” Clegg said. “When I reached down and was checking on his ribs, there, he felt cold.”
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EMS arrived and began CPR. Leading investigator Bryan Hughes arrived and photographed the scene.
According to pictures and testimony, the house was extremely cluttered. The kitchen was crammed with various home goods and even a few tires with rims. The freezer was packed with frozen food, but the fridge could not be accessed due to the clutter. On the floor of the kitchen were cans of food.
Kadaris’ room mostly empty except mattress
The living room was packed with bags of clothing and furniture, and “was impossible to navigate without stepping on something” according to Hughes. The hallway leading to the bedrooms where the other children and Cheyenne stayed was littered with trash and clothing. One child’s bedroom showed clothes and toys strewn around the room.
On the opposite end of the house was Kadaris’ room, Hughes said. In contrast to the other children’s rooms, Hughes testified that Kadaris’ room had only a mattress, a pillow, the purple comforter, a drying rack with disposable diapers hanging on it and a closet with some electronic equipment inside. In comparison to the other children’s rooms, Hughes said the room was bare.
Outside in the yard was a wheelchair that Hughes said appeared to be “weathered” and in a long state of “disuse.”
The trial is set to resume Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. at the Montgomery County Courts Center.
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