NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — I’ijayah Johnson’s short, 9-day life seemed to be a tumultuous one.
Born April 25 at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, her grandfather, worried that his son or daughter-in-law were not fit to be parents, said he warned hospital staff that he feared for the infant’s life.
His pleas, he said, were ignored.
And instead of celebrating the birth of his first grandchild, Hilary Johnson Sr. is planning her funeral.
“I told them I fear for her life,” Johnson Sr. said. “Not only me, but my dad even said the same thing. So how is it that you still let that baby leave? She was never supposed to leave that hospital.”
Norfolk police say nine days after the infant’s birth, she was brought to Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. She was unresponsive and showed signs of abuse.
That’s where I’ijayah died.
Her parents were later charged with second-degree murder.
Johnson Sr. said at the time I’ijayah was born, her parents, 23-year-old Hilary Johnson II and 21-year-old Z’ibreyea Parker, were homeless and struggled with their mental health. The two were arraigned in court Wednesday.
“They was bright kids that I don’t know what in the world snapped into them to live the way they were living,” Johnson Sr. said. “I don’t know. I prayed to myself before she [I’ijayah] came here and I said, ‘Lord, please let her maternal instincts kick in that she wants to protect that baby, that she don’t want to live the way she was living, that she wants more for her and her child.”
He said detectives told his family when the baby was discharged from the hospital that her parents were offered a place to stay, but they declined that option. He said his son and daughter-in-law were living in a tent outside when they left the hospital.
“How was she able to leave,” Johnson Sr. said, “when accusations were made that her life was in danger and she had no shelter?”
Johnson Sr. said he has not spoken to his son since his granddaughter’s birth.
Sentara could not comment on Johnson Sr.’s claims. 10 On Your Side is waiting on further explanation of hospital policy regarding infant safety.
However the hospital would not have had the power to intervene, according to Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. He told WAVY Thursday that children, by default, go to the custody of their parents, despite opposition from other family members.
Johnson Sr. has started a GoFundMe to help with his granddaughter’s funeral expenses.