DEATH BY LETHAL REJECTION

TAJUANA DAVIDSON'S NEW PARENTS HAD A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE TOWARD CHILDREN. FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE STATE PLACED HER WITH THEM, SHE WAS DEAD.

A A A Comments By Paul Rubin Thursday, Jul 28 1994

...continued from page 7

One of Molnar's missions was to assess whether the Palmers were a threat to Brandon's well-being. Despite what he knew about the family's violent dynamic, caseworker Molnar concluded Joquitta and Cleveland Palmer posed a "low risk" to their son.

"Parents appear to be responsible for the death of TaJuana Davidson, their adoptive daughter," Molnar wrote. "However, there's no indication that Brandon has suffered abusive treatment from his parents other than the ordeal he has experienced with the death of his adoptive sister."
Brandon returned home November 12, ten days after TaJuana died, news of which finally hit the media a few days after that. It came on the heels of 2-year-old China Marie Davis' murder at a foster home in Phoenix.

Sensing the heat, CPS officials quickly reversed themselves. On November 17, they again removed Brandon from his parents. The boy has been living at a foster home in the area ever since, though he is allowed to visit his parents in supervised settings.

Last December 9, a Glendale psychologist met with Brandon Palmer. The boy was talkative, and only seemed reluctant to discuss the form of discipline meted out by his parents. The psychologist asked Brandon to draw a picture of a family. He drew two children on one side of the page, two adults on the other. He identified the adults as a mom and dad, and the children as a brother and sister.

Brandon then drew a double line that separated the children from the adults, and encircled the quartet with what he identified as a flower.

Brandon completed the picture by drawing a heart in the upper-left-hand corner. Inside it, he wrote, "Love, Mom, Dad and sister."

A Case in Limbo
Several people who know Cleveland Palmer say he has aged years since TaJuana Davidson died eight months ago. He is considered by far the weaker of the couple.

"If he know that he gonna do some hard time, he'll come clean," his first wife, Tiny Mae Mitchell, told police after TaJuana's murder.

Joquitta Palmer is said to be out of work, though she has plenty to occupy her days. According to family members, at least one and perhaps more children of her aunt, Phyllis Rutledge, are living at her home on West Tulip Place.

TaJuana Davidson's body remains in cold storage in the morgue of the Pima County medical examiner.