Intern and volunteer Meghan Beard, 22, far left, screened patients for the Rainbow Connects program at UH Rainbow Center for Women and Children on Tuesday, March 19, 2019. From left was mother Aliyah Henderson, of Cleveland, holding daughter Amor Wilson, 3. Henderson’s mother, Lei Branic, held her granddaughter Mila Chatman, almost 2 in this Plain Dealer file photo. (Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer)Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio — On Thursday, when the name emerged of the mother arrested in the deaths of two girls whose bodies were discovered inside suitcases, we checked our archives.
We found a cleveland.com story posted seven years ago mentioning Aliyah Henderson and her daughters, Amor Wilson, then 3, and Mila Chatman, almost 2.
The story by reporter Brie Zeltner, with photos by Lisa DeJong, was part of our regular, ongoing healthcare coverage.
The feature focused on a University Hospitals program called Rainbow Connects, which aims to identify and meet families’ basic needs, including food, clothing, diapers, utilities, transportation, emotional support and other resources. The goal is to help care for a family’s full range of needs.
At a pediatric visit, which the children attended with their mother and grandmother, Henderson told a Rainbow Connects volunteer that she needed help with baby clothes, furniture and diapers.
DeJong captured the family at the visit.
Henderson, 28, is now charged with two counts of aggravated murder.
The discovery of their bodies Monday on Cleveland’s East Side has horrified Northeast Ohio.
Their bodies were found in partially buried suitcases about 6 p.m. Monday by a man walking his dog near East 162nd Street and Midland Avenue, police said. Officers located another suitcase nearby containing the body of her half-sister. The medical examiner used DNA testing to help identify both victims, the office said.
It is unknown how long the bodies were in the area.
Authorities executed a search warrant Wednesday at a residence in the 700 block of East 162nd Street. A child present at the home was placed in the custody of the Department of Children & Family Services.
