Phlicia Simone Barnes: The murdered little girl's case may re-script the State of Maryland's Code on missing and exploited children.
Although the murder mystery of who killed Monroe, N.C. honors student Phylicia Barnes remains unsolved, the pretty little girl’s case appears to be re-writing the State of Maryland’s code for missing and exploited children. State Delegates are now lobbying to pass Bill 1120 dubbed “Phylicia’s Law”, an effort to re-script the manner in which State Law Enforcement agencies are required to react at the onset of reports related to missing children cases. The bill derived in the wake of the disturbing details surrounding how the Baltimore Police handled the Barnes teen case when she was first reported missing on December 28, 2010 while staying with her half-sister in Baltimore over the Christmas Holiday. Baltimore City Police were led to believe that the studious kid had left to get something to eat and probably would return a short time later. It’s very unclear who provided the primary officer with that information, but the investigation into that account proved to be unsubstantiated after Police gathered video footage from surveillance cameras atop local businesses in the Reisterstown Road area where the child was known to frequent. Consequently, it wasn’t until 5 days later when Phylicia missed her January 6, 2010 flight back to Monroe when cops became alarmed and began treating her case as an actual missing child case. Phylicia’s moher, Janice Mustafa has always been disturbed by the fact it took 5 days to get the police interested in trying to locate her daughter. One element of this case that maybe the direct cause for the delayed Police response is the fact that Phylicia’s Biological Father had his half-brother, a Baltimore Police Sergeant, go by Deena Barnes apartment when news first broke that the child had gone missing. According to at least one of the persons interviewed by police about Phylicia’s disappearance, Sgt, Jackson used intimidation tactics and other inappropriate measures while conducting interviews with some of the people who were around the apartment during the days and hours when the child was last seen alive. Baltimore City Police Commissioner, F.H. Bealefeld III has always held that no wrong doing was discovered in Sgt. Jackson’s intervention in a un-official capacity during the initial stages of the Barnes case, but his presence was problematic because as a working supervisor for the city police, he should have known that a conflict of interest existed by his mere presence alone, and that such conflict could potentially impact the eventual outcome of the entire investigation. Not just that though, Jackson’s presence and intervention related to his half-brother’s daughter disappearance place him in a prime advantage to field, direct, divert, and influence culpable information that could have directly implicated members of his family who may have been involved in the child’s disappearance. Moreover, Jackson’s involvement early on may have created a window of opportunity for the killer(s) to clean up Deena Barnes’ apartment and dispose of Phylicia’s body and any forensics evidence that would have led to determining who killed the child. Perhaps my perspective isn’t exactly the way Phylicia’s murder was meted out, but Sgt. Jackson should have use his expertise as a ranking police officer to insure that such an argument could never have been raised pertaining to the details surrounding the murder of a family member. Jackson’s actions at the behest of Russel Barnes has always been challenged and extremely suspicious to say the least. Maryland House Bill 1120 if enacted into law would set guidelines for Law Enforcement when notified of missing children in the state. The Bill requires standards for reporting cases to the State Police and other watchdog agencies in the onset of a missing child. The Bill also requires searches and standards for such searches as well as the institution on volunteers within the communities where the child disappeared from. You can view proposed Maryland State Bill 1120 in its entirety here “Phylicia’s Law“. I would like to thank Mr. George Tazz Keys of the Maryland based Guardian Angels for making this proposed legislation available to the public.
David B. Adams is a journalist, crime writer, and founder of The People's Champion, a platform built on truth, justice, and advocacy for the overlooked. For over a decade, Adams has investigated wrongful convictions, missing and exploited children, homelessness, and the political forces that shape marginalized communities' lives.
What sets his work apart is a refusal to sensationalize. Adams treats crime reporting as human storytelling — pushing past headlines to examine the systemic failures in law enforcement, the courts, and government that so often go unexamined. He's built a reputation among activists and advocates for combining deep research, personal narrative, and unflinching commentary.
The People's Champion began as a personal outlet and has grown into a respected independent voice in crime and justice journalism, read by audiences nationwide who care about accountability and the people too often left out of the story.
