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December 28, 2023

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Unhoused mom says she begged for housing months before 1-year-old died near LAX

Mom begged for housing before toddler’s death

Amantha Van Cleave is the mother of 1-year-old Yayra Rutherford, who was found dead at an LAX bus stop on Dec. 22. Van Cleave said she’d been begging for housing help from the city of Los Angeles and other organizations for months before her baby’s death.

Amantha Van Cleave, 26, moved to Los Angeles eight months ago to escape a bad relationship.

“This was supposed to be a fresh start. I was with my children’s father, but that wasn’t a situation they needed to be in,” said Van Cleave.

“Housing and stuff fell through because the county building actually promised housing and whatnot, because they made it seem like people with children are a priority, but we ended up sleeping in my car when I had my car,” Van Cleave said. “When my car died, that’s when everything went downhill. We ended up outside, sleeping at LAX for a good two weeks, during all that raining, we were outside.”

“It’s possible that her father may have had some type of heart condition, and I wasn’t told about it, and it’s very possible that she did freeze to death. It’s possible because she was fine the night before. She was fussy, but she had six teeth coming in as well. How does a teething baby go to sleep and just not wake back up,” asked Van Cleave.

Infant found dead near LAX

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating after an infant was found dead on a bus stop near Los Angeles International Airport.

“I’m like let me wake Yayra up, so she can eat breakfast too, because Judah was already awake and when I went to touch her, she didn’t move,” Van Cleave said. “And that’s when we picked her up and she went forward, and she had some kind of black vomit come out of her mouth and I just remember running towards the intersection and there was a pilot there, and I tapped on his chest to call somebody, call somebody, and I don’t know what happened after that. They said after she was pronounced dead that I tried to run out into traffic twice. I don’t remember it, but it’s believable because that was my baby.”

“I used to be a pharmacy tech. I have a degree. I’ve never been on drugs. I take being a mother very seriously and I know there’s things being said about me that’s not true. I made sure they (her kids) ate three times a day. Some days I didn’t eat. I made sure they ate and they were clean,” said Van Cleave.

“Three days before my baby passed away, I remember calling 211, LA Family Housing along with homeless shelters, Volunteers of America, PATH, and they would all say ‘You’re on the waitlist,’ or ‘We just got started on these applications,’ and ‘they (a different family) applied in 2017, and you applied this year, so it’s gonna be a 10-year wait,'” Van Cleave said. “We got the run around the whole time, but I have a call log to this day of calling around and nobody had answers for me or anywhere for us to go. I feel like they should be ashamed because I know we aren’t the only ones going through this.”

“The only reason why we are in a hotel right now is because of the media,” Bethel said. “The media has been the one that is putting the pressure and shining the light, asking the questions. Mayor (Karen) Bass has not reached out. She sent over a couple people from the Mayor’s Office, but they came here rudely. They treated us as if we didn’t matter. The first thing they said was, ‘What are you gonna do,’” said Bethel.

“This is why Yayra is dead. Mayor Bass, these are the people you send out. They do nothing but play with people,” said Bethel.

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Bethel is also homeless, and said she has tried to receive help for one year.

“They would not give me any help because I don’t have any dependents. My son is 24. If I go and ask for help, I’m met with, ‘You don’t have any dependents, you’re able-bodied,’ and I understand that, but if someone needs help, they need help,” said Bethel.

“She was sassy, feisty. She loved makeup. She got her red lipstick and red toenail polish. She loved red, that was her color. She was a real girly girl,” said Van Cleave.

FOX 11 has reached out to Mayor Bass’ office for comment, but has not yet received a reply.

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December 28, 2023

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