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Thomas James Desharnais and Stephanie Marie Davis (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office).
An attorney representing the family of a young boy, who allegedly died from abuse in Arizona at the hands of his grandparents, has criticized the state’s child protection agency for failing in its duty to safeguard him.
Chaksa Davis Smith, an 11-year-old, passed away in 2022 after being discovered unresponsive at a long-term stay motel in Scottsdale. Authorities later revealed that both Chaksa and his younger half-brother Liam exhibited signs of abuse, allegedly inflicted by their grandmother, 55-year-old Stephanie Davis, and her husband, 37-year-old Thomas Desharnais. A lawsuit, filed on February 4 in Maricopa County on behalf of Chaksa’s mother, accuses the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) of neglecting its responsibility to protect the children, according to attorney Matthew Boatman.
Boatman asserts that despite seven reports being made to the agency, Chaksa and his brother endured “horrific torture” over several years.
Boatman, representing the law firm Gallagher & Kennedy, has spoken with various media outlets regarding the lawsuit against the DCS, including CBS affiliate KPHO. In his conversation with KPHO, Boatman explained that seven reports of concern were filed by multiple individuals who noticed signs of abuse on both Chaksa and Liam as far back as 2017. According to Boatman, these reports came from school staff, hotel employees where the family resided, and even law enforcement officers, all urging the DCS to intervene.
While the DCS did conduct interviews with the boys, as well as with Davis and Desharnais on three occasions, Boatman highlighted that “[t]here were four more [calls] that they declined to follow up on or interview.”
When it came to the nature of the abuse, Boatman described it as “[s]ome of the most horrific torture that I’ve ever seen or heard of.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, Chaksa was determined to have died of “significant injuries” that were sustained during the years leading up to his death on Jan. 30, 2022. According to a notice of claim filed before the lawsuit, Chaksa had “30 to 40 fresh contusions and lacerations.” Desharnais allegedly told police that he hit the boy in the head with a metal ratchet four or five times the day before he died. He told police that Davis would hit the boys with a broom handle and make them sleep in the bathtub so they would not get blood on the furniture.
Desharnais also described the alleged torture Davis would inflict on the boys using needle-nosed pliers, pinching their skin and bending their fingers. Police said a pair of pliers, a broom handle, and a wrench were all found in the motel room, all with blood on them.
Boatman told KPHO, “These boys were beaten with wrenches, knives, forced to live in bathtubs, they wore shock collars, they were starved, forced to panhandle, and robbed of an education.”
Every time DCS was contacted, Boatman said, the agency deemed the reports “unsubstantiated.”
In an interview with local radio station KTAR, Boatman said that there were “several opportunities to save these children.” He added, “I think there’s a problem with the call center. I think there’s a problem with transitioning files, and when there’s multiple reports about the same instance, it doesn’t seem like their people are connecting the dots, and too many signs and red flags are being missed, in my opinion.”
Arizona DCS is also under fire for its handling of three more cases of children who died after reports of abuse, including the case of 10-year-old Rebekah Baptiste. Boatman also represents the surviving members of her family.
Davis and Desharnais were charged with first-degree murder, child abuse, and tampering with evidence. They are scheduled to appear in court on March 20 before their trial on April 6. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Jerry Lambe contributed to this story.