Sacramento father questions suspect plea after teen daughter's death
SACRAMENTO -- A father has unanswered questions about his 15-year-old daughter's death in 2020 -- most of all, how could the suspect linked with her death face only a felony child endangerment charge?
Kamaria Evans attended a sleepover at a friend's house in July 2020, her father, Jef Dawkins explained to CBS13, and he never believed when they said goodbye for the night that would be the last time.
He said he got a phone call late on the night his teen daughter died, from her friend's mother, Stephanie Buggs. Dawkins said the mother told him Kamaria had menstrual cramps and she was given a pain reliever. Shortly after, he was told, Kamaria laid down and stopped breathing.
That was July 2020. Months and weeks went by without any update in the case, he said, until February 2023: Buggs was arrested by Sacramento Police for one felony charge of child endangerment.
SPD was notified of a suspicious death, according to the department's spokesperson, of a juvenile female, Kamaria, by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office. From there, detectives began their investigation starting at Buggs' home on Oakmont St. in Sacramento.
Buggs was identified as a suspect, according to SPD, and a warrant was issued for her arrest. She has been in custody ever since, now housed at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center.
"I just don't really think the punishment fits the crime," said Dawkins.
He has a week to rally support in strangers, family and Kamaria's friends, he said, to be present at Buggs' sentencing. According to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office spokesperson, Buggs pled to the child endangerment charge.
"I don't feel there was malice, but that doesn't change the results of what happened, when a child is your care, they're responsible," said Dawkins.
CBS13 took Dawkins' concerns to a legal expert, Attorney Justin Ward, who said more severe charges, like 1st or 2nd Degree Murder, even Manslaughter, are linked to premeditation or intent.
"The woman definitely endangered the well-being of this child which unfortunately led to death," said Ward.
Buggs will be sentenced in Sacramento County next week.
