BY ROXANNA ASGARIAN AND SHANE DIXON KAVANAUGH

HOUSTON — Priscilla Celestine prayed through tears the day her nephew Devonte and his siblings were taken from her in 2006.

She later found solace in the belief that a higher power, acting through the state of Texas, had ordained the decision.

"I thought it must be in God's plan," Celestine, 68, told The Oregonian/OregonLive inside her home Thursday. "After some years I told myself they must be in a better place."

Her belief's been shattered.

Celestine received a late-night call this week from a lawyer who once helped her fight to maintain custody of the children — then known as Dontay Davis, 9; Devonte Davis, 4; Jeremiah Davis, 3; and Ciera Davis, 2.

The lawyer delivered news Celestine still can hardly fathom.

One of the women who ultimately adopted three of the siblings apparently drove their family's SUV off a California cliff late last month, with all six of her adopted children, plus her spouse, inside.

Jeremiah's body was found among the wreckage at the bottom of the 100-foot embankment in Mendocino County. Devonte and Sierra remain missing but are presumed dead.

Investigators believe one of the mothers, Jennifer Hart, intentionally sped off a pullout overlooking the Pacific Ocean along Highway 1.

"I had to block it all out of my mind," Celestine said. "I don't want to hear any details."

The horrific crash came days after a visit to the family's Woodland, Washington, home by child protective services. And the moms had been accused of abusing their six adopted children in all three states where they lived, records show.

One abuse investigation, which led to the conviction of Sarah Hart, in November 2010 — came just four months after a Texas appeals court turned down Celestine's attempt to adopt Devonte and his three siblings.

The reason for the court's ruling? Celestine had violated an order barring the children's biological mother from seeing them.

"We see no reason why Celestine should be allowed to have yet another bite at the proverbial apple," the July 2010 opinion read.

The decision still stuns the aunt.

"They got it all backwards," she said. "You have people here, loved ones, to take them in. Instead you take them away."

Celestine, a paternal aunt, had no criminal record and had raised a daughter of her own. She had a steady job as a hospital clerk in Houston.

The children came to stay with her after their mother, a habitual drug user, lost custody of them in 2006 and the state Department of Family and Protective Services terminated her parental rights.

Though the children had three different biological fathers among them, Celestine said she stepped up because she had wanted to keep them all together.

The kids loved to play hide and seek, she recalled. Fish sticks and chicken nuggets were among their favorite foods.

A few months after they came to live with her, Celestine moved into a five-bedroom apartment in Houston to better accommodate the growing household, she said.

The trouble started less than a week later.

Celestine had to stop by work one evening in December. Her daughter had to run an errand. So the aunt asked the children's mother, who was not permitted in the house, to come over and fix them dinner.

Their mother had been at the new apartment only 45 minutes when a social worker showed up unannounced, Celestine said.

All four children were removed from her home immediately.

"Snatching people's children for nothing — for their rules," Celestine said.

Celestine filed a petition in May 2007 to adopt all four children while they were being cared for by the state. The petition was denied in Harris County District Court the next year.

In 2008, Jennifer and Sarah Hart, who had previously adopted three different biological siblings in Texas, moved to adopt Devonte, Jeremiah and Sierra.

Celestine said the women had no interest in Dontay, the eldest, because he'd been acting out. Now 21, he's in prison for robbery, his mother's boyfriend says. He doesn't know about the crash.

After her final appeal failed, Celestine said she was able to see all four children one last time.

"They cried," she said. "They knew they were leaving people that they cared about, too."

Celestine struggled with the outcome — and tried to remain optimistic.

"I realized back then that I probably wasn't going to see them again, but they were alive," she said.



Celestine said she remembered seeing a viral photo captured in 2014 that showed a young black child hugging a white Portland police officer.

She had no idea that the boy in the picture was her nephew Devonte.

After learning of the crash that killed Jeremiah — and likely Devonte and Sierra — Celestine had to do the unimaginable.

She called the children's biological mother, who broke down over the phone.

"It's all too hard," Celestine said. "It's just devastating."

Roxanna Asgarian reported from Houston.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh

skavanaugh@oregonian.com

503-294-7632 || @shanedkavanaugh