Stepmother faces trial for torture

Charlott Reaves has been portrayed as a monster, a calculating and cold-blooded killer who mentally and physically abused her 11-year-old stepdaughter until she died.

It’s not true, said L. David Wolfe, Reaves’ Atlanta-based attorney.

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Marlene Karas

Charlott Reaves is accused of mentally and physically abusing her 11-year-old stepdaughter, Joella Reaves, leading up to the girl’s death on Dec. 1, 2003.

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“They’re trying to paint with a broad brush,” Wolfe said of the prosecution in the Henry County case. “They’re trying to paint this as Cinderella’s evil stepmother. But Charlott is not that person. She didn’t engage in that conduct and is innocent of this.”

A Superior Court jury will determine Charlott Reaves’ role in the 2003 torture and murder of Joella Reaves beginning Tuesday, with the start of jury selection in McDonough. If found guilty, Reaves could face the death penalty.

Her husband, Rodney Reaves, was sentenced in February to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 14 years, after being convicted of felony murder, aggravated battery and two counts of cruelty to children for his role in his daughter’s death. He was acquitted of a felony count of malice murder, sparing him the death penalty.

Prosecutors have not identified anyone who witnessed the abuse against Joella. But throughout his trial, Rodney Reaves and his defense team painted his wife as the culprit who beat Joella, starved her and made her sleep outside or in the garage on occasions.

Joella was found dead in her room on Dec. 1, 2003. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy on her body testified that she had more than 100 wounds over her head, face, back and buttocks, including one in which the trapezius muscle had been ripped off her shoulder blade.

Rodney Reaves’ defense team produced a medical expert who testified that Joella died from a single blunt trauma to the head while Rodney, a U.S. Navy sailor, was en route to Virginia to rejoin his ship. The prosecution produced its own witness who said the girl died as a result of a string of savage beatings over the 2003 Thanksgiving holiday.

Rodney Reaves admitted to using speaker wire to restrain his daughter in the garage, but insisted he didn’t kill her.

District Attorney Tommy Floyd of the Flint Judicial District had little to say about Charlott Reaves’ case when reached last week.

But he didn’t mince words two months ago when he successfully implored a jury to find Rodney Reaves, 42, guilty.

“Don’t forget what we’re here for,” Floyd said. “Don’t forget Joella Reaves. Don’t forget what happened to her.”

Throughout his trial, Rodney Reaves’ defense team called upon a litany of witnesses, including several of Charlott Reaves’ former co-workers at the Henry County Medical Center, who testified about the problems Reaves, 43, was having with Joella while her husband was away serving in the Navy.

Neidre Michelle first met Charlott Reaves in 1993 while the two were Navy wives living in Italy with husbands who were stationed there.

Michelle said she became “alarmed” in late November 2003 after speaking with Charlott Reaves and hearing her talk about making Joella sleep in the garage or outside on the patio.

Other witnesses testified that Charlott Reaves had a violent streak.

Donald Campbell, Rodney Reaves’ brother and a Jonesboro resident, described his sister-in-law as “a real evil person.” He confirmed a 2003 incident where he and Charlott Reaves began arguing at a family function. A relative of Rodney Reaves testified that Charlott Reaves later went after Campbell with a knife, slashing him across the back more than once.

Members of Joella’s family from Michigan will be in attendance this week in search of justice after six years.

“I hope she gets the death penalty,” said Jeffery Carter, Joella’s uncle.