MONTVERDE, Fla.—Horrifying details have been released in the murder 9-year-old Jamaria Sessions.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Tyshael Martin, the girlfriend of Jamaria’s father Lojuan Sessions, ordered a 103-pound rottweiler to attack the girl, and savagely dragged and kicked her-and it was all caught on video.
Shortly before 5 a.m. June 17, Lake EMS responded to 16017 Harbar Oaks Drive, Montverde on a report of an unresponsive child. She was pronounced deceased by Lake EMS.
Martin told EMS she woke up that morning to catch a flight to California with Jamaria and several other children to meet up with Jamaria’s father, Lojuan, who had already left for California a few days earlier—a statement that was later determined to be a lie, when Lojuan Sessions arrived on the scene a short time later, according to the affidavit.
After waking up, Martin said she attempted to wake Jamaria up and she found her unresponsive and cold to the touch. Lake EMS observed multiple injuries to Jamaria including a “significant” number of abrasions, small punctures, burns, possible bite marks and bruising covering her body, all in various stages of healing. Lake EMS requested the Lake County Sheriff’s Office respond after noting rigor mortis in Jamaria’s jaw. According to Florida State University, if a body feels cold and stiff, death likely occurred between 8 and 36 hours prior.
After arriving on scene, Lojuan Sessions “appeared to be in disbelief” that his daughter had been at the residence since June 9 because he believed she was in California.
He told detectives he and Martin had been arguing lately, leading to the demise of their relationship and he moved in with his mother in Ocoee. On May 31, Martin, along with Jamaria, her daughters, and her mother, Torcha Martin left for Miami to stay there until June 2 when they were scheduled to leave for a cruise that would return on June 9. Lojuan Sessions did not go on the cruise because he was on felony probation.
On June 10, Martin texted Lojuan Sessions and told him Torcha Martin had taken Jamaria back to California with her. This was also determined to be a lie. Lojuan Sessions went to the home in Montverde that evening and throughout the next few days he never saw his daughter at the home or heard her and he believed she was in California with Torcha Martin. On June 12, Lojuan and Tyshael Martin were arguing and Tyshael Martin sprayed him with bug spray while he was sleeping. He moved out of the home the following day, he told detectives.
Detectives later found out Lojuan was having an affair with another woman while Tyshael Martin was on the cruise with his daughter. The woman subsequently became pregnant with Lojuan Sessions’ child, but it is unknown if Tyshael Martin knew about the affair, according to the affidavit.
After interviewing Tyshael Martin’s daughters, detectives learned after returning from the cruise, that on June 16, Tyshael Martin drove Jamaria to the airport, along with others whose names are redacted, to catch a flight to California. They stopped at a store on the drive and Tyshael gave Jamaria a Gatorade and a banana because she was not feeling well. Jamaria vomited after eating the banana and when they arrived at the airport, Jamaria “expressed discomfort” while walking through the parking lot. Tyshael Martin attempted to locate a wheelchair, and it caused them to miss the flight. The flight was rescheduled for June 25, and they returned home to Montverde. A person whose name is redacted from the affidavit, was “doing” Jamaria’s hair, using boiling water from a pink electric kettle. That person saturated Jamaria’s hair with boiling water in an effort to straighten it and boiling water landed on Jamaria’s right foot. That person told detectives Jamaria did not complain of pain and was wearing a compression sock due to a prior ankle injury she allegedly suffered from tripping over a bag of dog food. No one took Jamaria for medical treatment for the burn or the ankle injury. On June 16, the sock was taken off Jamaria’s foot and it removed the skin from the top of her foot where the boiling water landed.
Video from June 15 later showed Tyshael Martin kicking Jamaria in the hip/lower back area, causing her to fall over a bag of dog food and detectives believe this is how Jamaria truly injured her ankle.
Dashara King, 17 years old at the time of the murder, and the biological daughter of Tyshael Martin, told detectives she, her mother and Lojuan Sessions often physically punished Jamaria, but two other people whose names are redacted also had permission to punish Jamaria. During interviews with the Department of Children and Families (DCF,) it was revealed that physical punishment consisted of “wall-sits,” running in place, running on the treadmill, being struck with an object both above and below the waist and depriving Jamaria of toys and electronics. Every child in the home had their own room with furniture and a bed, but Jamaria was made to sleep on the couch or on a crib mattress in another child’s room, according to the affidavit.
Detectives also learned Tyshael Martin was alone in a room with Jamaria throughout the night of June 16, until she was discovered deceased. Tyshael Martin claimed she was asleep from 6 p.m. June 16 until 4 a.m. June 17, with the exception of a brief midnight phone call from her mother, Torcha Martin. Evidence later showed that was another lie.
During an on-scene preliminary exam of Jamaria by the medical examiner, injuries were noted all over her small body, consistent with abuse. These injuries included superficial lacerations consistent with being pinched with significant force, her face was swollen, she had broken teeth, blood in her left ear, along with a penetration wound behind her ear, in addition to contusions all over her body.
In an interview about Jamaria’s injuries, Tyshael Martin said Jamaria suffered the injuries while falling off of a treadmill and falling downstairs and her lacerations were blamed on “having a reaction to something,” the affidavit states.
“Bluestar Forensic” a blood developer that allows the detection of blood traces invisible to the naked eye, was used on the treadmill and surrounding areas and showed no traces of blood. However, blood was detected on the stairs, master bathtub, a downstairs hallway leading to a closet and within that closet.
On June 17, Tyshael Martin consented to a search of her cell phone and images were extracted showing possible abuse of Jamaria, in addition to screenshots between “BD” and Tyshael, where “BD” accuses Tyshael Martin of abuse. “BD” is believed to be an acronym for “Baby Daddy” and is believed to be Lojuan Sessions. Other cell phone extractions showed Tyshael Martin often bragged about the “creative ways” she disciplined Jamaria.
On June 18, during Jamaria’s autopsy, the medial examiner noted the number of superficial injuries covering the majority of her body, advised it appeared to be torture inflicted by fingernails and injuries consistent with being struck by something, possibly wire.
On June 20, DCF filed a Dependency Shelter Hearing and on June 25, Lake Circuit Judge Jason Nimeth ruled Tyshael Martin was to have “no contact” with the children. The following day, the caretaker reported Tyshael Martin was contacting the children via cellphones and other electronic devices. The devices were seized, and a search warrant was executed on the children’s devices.
Vivint home security provided detectives with 2,828 videos from both the interior and exterior of the home in Montverde. Six video files dated June 15 between 11:50 p.m. and 11:57 p.m. showed this information, taken directly from the affidavit.
(Videos show) “Jamaira Sessions being viciously attacked by the family pet, a 103-pound male rottweiler as Jamaria was just out of frame, however, Tyshael Martin could be seen holding the leash of the dog, and is heard encouraging the dog to bite Jamaria Sessions as Jamaria laid on the floor, ending with Jamaria Sessions attempting to stand up in the doorway coming into frame. The next clips show Jamaria Sessions staggering, nude and disheveled. Jamaria’s hair, previously in a partial bun, was now messy, and her extensions were falling out of her hair. It appeared that the dog had bitten the child’s head, pulling at her hair, at the command of Tyshael Martin. Following this clip, Jamaria Sessions is commanded to stand in the room with her arms up by Tyshael Martin. Jamaria Sessions exhibited an orbital sway, appearing to be disorientated, similar to being intoxicated, and leaned forward to pick up a blanket to cover herself. This prompted Tyshael Martin to deliver a kick to the rear of the child causing her to collapse to the floor. The child lay motionless, moaning in pain, as Tyshael Martin continued to kick her hip and eventually her stomach area at full force. When the child did not get up, Tyshael Martin then grabbed the child by her hair, pulling her across the floor, with minimal resistance by Jamaria Sessions, who appeared to be disorientated and motionless. The child was dragged near the stairs, which is where the dog attack occurred, which was just out of frame. Tyshael Martin continued to command the child, Jamaria Sessions, to stand up, and as Jamaria physically could not comply, Jamaria was repeatedly struck and shaken by Tyshael Martin. The next video clip begins with Tyshael Martin stating what sounds like, ‘I’m fixing to kill her.’”
At least one of Tyshael Martin’s daughters apparently witnessed the attack on Jamaria.
On Aug. 27, an LCSO detective received a 26-page autopsy report from the medical examiner’s office. Jamaria’s cause of death was “complications of multiple blunt injuries of the head, torso and extremities and thermal injury of the right foot.” Her manner of death was homicide and the “stated, multiple blunt injuries (abrasions, contusions, and lacerations,) recent and healing, of head, torso and extremities. Probable rhabdomyolysis and partial thickness burns of right foot.”
According to the National Library of Medicine, rhabdomyolysis is a complex medical condition involving the rapid dissolution of damaged or injured skeletal muscle. It can range from an asymptomatic illness to a life-threatening condition.
Medical records obtained by the detective showed Jamaria had not received any medical attention since March 2024 when her father took her to South Lake Hospital for a severe dog bite. Tyshael Martin was arrested Wednesday in Montverde for first degree murder, aggravated child abuse and child neglect. She is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond.
Jamaria and her younger sister, who Inside Lake is not naming, began living with their father in October 2023 after he was released from prison. Jamaria’s sister then went to live with Lojuan Sessions’ mother in December 2023 because she was “causing strain” in the relationship between Lojuan Sessions and Tyshael Martin.
Before that, they lived with their maternal grandmother, Althea Chenault, following the death of their mother. Tadrina Dort. Dort died in 2022 from congestive heart failure in 2022, after beating cancer. According to Chenault, Sessions picked the girls up from an Orange County school in October 2023 without permission. Chenault, who does not have an attorney, had been fighting to get the girls back ever since. She had not seen her granddaughters since the day their father picked them up, she told Inside Lake.
Chenault continues to fight for custody of Jamaria’s little sister who is currently living with Dort’s father.
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