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Her turn: Woman cleared of kidnapping five children shares her side of the story
  
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By VAL CLIFTON
August was a month of upheaval for northwest Houston resident Rhonda Tavey.
After caring for the five children of a Katrina evacuee for three years, an Amber Alert was sent out notifying media of a kidnapping.
The next day, on Aug. 7, the FBI surrounded Tavey’s grandmother’s house, arrested her and turned the children over to CPS custody.
In October, a grand jury cleared her of all charges, but little voices no longer fill her Kleinbrook home. Instead, she’s left with a house that sustained massive damage from Hurricane Ike.
Tavey was working at the Astrodome with the American Red Cross when she befriended the Alphonse family and invited them into her home.
Their mother, Erica, went Champion Forest Drive Shelter and the children, who ranged from five years to three weeks old, stayed at Tavey’s.
Alphonse stayed in Houston until March 2006 when she moved back to New Orleans, leaving her five children in remained in Tavey’s care.
Tavey, who has two daughters of her own, agreed to care for them while Alphonse sought employment and a place for her family to live. But their mother never kept up her end of the deal.
“She was running the streets, doing drugs and doing her thing,” she said. “The only reason I knew that is because (the twins’ grandmother) was keeping me filled in on what was going on.”
In the three years that Tavey had the children, Erica only saw them four times, talking to them on the phone every once in a while, but never showing up to birthdays or Christmas.
Tavey made sure all aspects of the children’s lives, including spiritual, medical and educational, were covered.
Under her care, the children went to church every Sunday, were in the church choir, participated in sports and went to school.
Though ran a trophy business from home and worked in a volleyball club, this created a large financial burden for Tavey.
“I went from a single mom with two kids to a single mom with seven kids,” she said.
In July, Alphonse told friends and family in Louisiana that she was coming to stay with Rhonda and get away from drugs. Two of her best friends had recently been murdered.
But Tavey said Alphonse exhibited erratic behavior during her two-week stay.
“I think she must’ve been coming down off drugs because she never acted like she did when she was here,” Tavey said.
She was mad about how Tavey disciplined the boys, who were put in time out if they were misbehaving.
“She said ‘Boys don’t go to time out or get spanked, they get punched,” she said. “That was one of our biggest fights. She was close fisted and trying to swing at a two-year-old. That wasn’t happening here.”
Tavey said she left when Alphonse pulled a knife on her.
The man Alphonse was dating, twin boys Eric and Erin’s father, was convicted of murder, but was released because of Hurricane Katrina. He’s currently in prison for armed robbery.
Though Tavey made sure she stayed on his good side, he suspected that in 2007 she had reported his whereabouts to authorities when he fled New Olreans police and came to Houston.
After Tavey left following the confrontation with Alphonse, he told her neighbors that he would kill her if he found her.
So she went to a women’s shelter where a woman told her to leave with the children until she could get a restraining order.
But her rights were limited. The only document tying the children to Tavey was a notarized form signed by Alphonse and her boyfriend giving her temporary guardianship.
Tavey fled to Dallas where friends put them in a hotel. The children, who visited the zoo, Six Flags over Texas and a museum, thought they were on vacation. They then went to Mustang Island State Park and camped for five days.
During the “vacation,” Tavey maintained communication with the district attorney’s office and several law offices in Houston.
“The whole time they were telling me it wasn’t kidnapping on my part, it was child abandonment on their part,” she said. “So I never worried.”
A long-time friend of the family and retired police officer set up a meeting with the district attorney’s office, and an arrangement was made to turn over the children.
But while in Dallas, Tavey spoke with the media. Within an hour, kidnapping charges were filed against her.
Working pro bono, famed Houston lawyer Dick DeGuerin and protégé Todd Ward – whom Tavey refers to as her knights in shining armor – won their case. The jury returned a no-bill verdict Oct. 14.
Major damage was sustained to the house during Hurricane Ike, including a knocked down fence and a whole in the roof that caused water damage throughout the house.
“The hurricane kind of took everything,” Tavey said. “So it’s just time to rebuild.”
The children are now back in Louisiana and living with their grandmother, but Tavey has since filed for custody.
She hopes in time, Alphonse can find it in her heart to let her see the children again.
After caring for the five children of a Katrina evacuee for three years, an Amber Alert was sent out notifying media of a kidnapping.
The next day, on Aug. 7, the FBI surrounded Tavey’s grandmother’s house, arrested her and turned the children over to CPS custody.
In October, a grand jury cleared her of all charges, but little voices no longer fill her Kleinbrook home. Instead, she’s left with a house that sustained massive damage from Hurricane Ike.
Tavey was working at the Astrodome with the American Red Cross when she befriended the Alphonse family and invited them into her home.
Their mother, Erica, went Champion Forest Drive Shelter and the children, who ranged from five years to three weeks old, stayed at Tavey’s.
Alphonse stayed in Houston until March 2006 when she moved back to New Orleans, leaving her five children in remained in Tavey’s care.
Tavey, who has two daughters of her own, agreed to care for them while Alphonse sought employment and a place for her family to live. But their mother never kept up her end of the deal.
“She was running the streets, doing drugs and doing her thing,” she said. “The only reason I knew that is because (the twins’ grandmother) was keeping me filled in on what was going on.”
In the three years that Tavey had the children, Erica only saw them four times, talking to them on the phone every once in a while, but never showing up to birthdays or Christmas.
Tavey made sure all aspects of the children’s lives, including spiritual, medical and educational, were covered.
Under her care, the children went to church every Sunday, were in the church choir, participated in sports and went to school.
Though ran a trophy business from home and worked in a volleyball club, this created a large financial burden for Tavey.
“I went from a single mom with two kids to a single mom with seven kids,” she said.
In July, Alphonse told friends and family in Louisiana that she was coming to stay with Rhonda and get away from drugs. Two of her best friends had recently been murdered.
But Tavey said Alphonse exhibited erratic behavior during her two-week stay.
“I think she must’ve been coming down off drugs because she never acted like she did when she was here,” Tavey said.
She was mad about how Tavey disciplined the boys, who were put in time out if they were misbehaving.
“She said ‘Boys don’t go to time out or get spanked, they get punched,” she said. “That was one of our biggest fights. She was close fisted and trying to swing at a two-year-old. That wasn’t happening here.”
Tavey said she left when Alphonse pulled a knife on her.
The man Alphonse was dating, twin boys Eric and Erin’s father, was convicted of murder, but was released because of Hurricane Katrina. He’s currently in prison for armed robbery.
Though Tavey made sure she stayed on his good side, he suspected that in 2007 she had reported his whereabouts to authorities when he fled New Olreans police and came to Houston.
After Tavey left following the confrontation with Alphonse, he told her neighbors that he would kill her if he found her.
So she went to a women’s shelter where a woman told her to leave with the children until she could get a restraining order.
But her rights were limited. The only document tying the children to Tavey was a notarized form signed by Alphonse and her boyfriend giving her temporary guardianship.
Tavey fled to Dallas where friends put them in a hotel. The children, who visited the zoo, Six Flags over Texas and a museum, thought they were on vacation. They then went to Mustang Island State Park and camped for five days.
During the “vacation,” Tavey maintained communication with the district attorney’s office and several law offices in Houston.
“The whole time they were telling me it wasn’t kidnapping on my part, it was child abandonment on their part,” she said. “So I never worried.”
A long-time friend of the family and retired police officer set up a meeting with the district attorney’s office, and an arrangement was made to turn over the children.
But while in Dallas, Tavey spoke with the media. Within an hour, kidnapping charges were filed against her.
Working pro bono, famed Houston lawyer Dick DeGuerin and protégé Todd Ward – whom Tavey refers to as her knights in shining armor – won their case. The jury returned a no-bill verdict Oct. 14.
Major damage was sustained to the house during Hurricane Ike, including a knocked down fence and a whole in the roof that caused water damage throughout the house.
“The hurricane kind of took everything,” Tavey said. “So it’s just time to rebuild.”
The children are now back in Louisiana and living with their grandmother, but Tavey has since filed for custody.
She hopes in time, Alphonse can find it in her heart to let her see the children again.
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