Devonte Hart's aunt fought -- and lost -- battle for custody, court records show

A Texas appeals court in 2010 turned down an aunt's attempt to adopt Devonte Hart and three of his siblings because she previously violated an order barring their biological mother from seeing the children, court records show.

The biological mother had already been deemed by the state's Department of Family and Protective Services as unfit to care for them in 2006, and they lived with their paternal aunt for about five months before being placed in foster care later that year, the appeals court opinion said. Sierra, Devonte and Jeremiah were adopted by Sarah and Jennifer Hart in 2009.

The appeals court opinion provides the most detailed picture yet of the Hart children's lives before they were adopted.

The two women on March 26 were found dead in their SUV at the bottom of California cliff with three of their adopted children, Markis, 19, Abigail, 14, and Jeremiah, 14. Three others remain missing: Devonte, 15, Hannah 16, and Sierra, 12. Devonte in 2014 was at the center of a viral photo showing his tender embrace with a Portland policeman during a "Black Lives Matter" demonstration.

Authorities say Jennifer Hart intentionally drove off the cliff. The deaths came days after a visit to the family's home by child protective services authorities. The couple have been accused of abusing their adopted children in all three states where they lived after the adoptions, records show.

One abuse investigation came in November 2010, four months after the July 2010 appeals court opinion in Texas. In that case, the court upheld a decision by a Harris County District Court judge to deny the aunt's petition to adopt four children -- then known as Devonte, Jeremiah and Ciera Davis -- and her motion for a new trial in the case.

The mother was addicted to crack cocaine, had interactions with the state's Department of Family and Protective Services since 1985 and had other children removed from her care before the latest case, the opinion said.

The appeals court opinion mentions that the aunt, Priscilla Celestine, had "ample opportunities" to argue why the children should be returned to her care in prior hearings and that her fitness to care for the kids had been called into question before the caseworker visit. The opinion doesn't elaborate on what those allegations were.

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

The aunt and children lived in Houston at the time. The opinion said her brother, Clarence, is listed in court documents as the biological father of Jeremiah and Sierra. The fourth child, Dontay Davis, was not adopted by the Harts. The biological mother is not identified by name in the opinion.

According to the court of appeals opinion, a Harris County District Court judge ordered the parental rights of the biological parents of Devonte, Jeremiah, Sierra and a fourth child terminated in August 2006. The children lived with Celestine while the order was pending.

The state Department of Family and Protective Services removed the four kids from Celestine's care in December 2006 after the caseworker visit.

The caseworker testified during a district court hearing that she had previously told Celestine that the mother couldn't have contact with the kids, the opinion said. Celestine testified that she wasn't home when the caseworker visited and it was her daughter who let the mother in to see the kids.

The children were then placed in foster care. 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. Celestine filed a motion for a new trial, and that was denied as well. She appealed to the high court in October 2008 to overturn the adoption petition and new trial dismissals, the appeals court opinion said.

Shonda Jones, a Houston family law attorney who represented Celestine at the time, told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Thursday that she agreed the children shouldn't have stayed with their parents, but she thought the courts acted too rashly in removing them from their aunt.

Jones said the mother's visit was the only infraction Celestine committed, and it occurred over a 45-minute window when the caseworker arrived at her home unannounced while the aunt made a trip to her workplace. The kids were immediately removed from the home, she said.

Celestine had stable employment in Houston, no previous criminal history, raised an older daughter and had taken steps to accommodate the kids, such as moving to a larger home to care for the children, Jones said.

"They have an aunt who I truly believe in my soul and in my heart would have made a difference in those children's lives," said Jones, who has been an attorney for 21 years.

Nathaniel Davis, longtime partner of the four children's biological mother, also questioned why an out-of-state couple was able to adopt the children.

"They were born in the state of Texas," he said Thursday from his Houston home. "Why did the state of Texas let them take them away from here?"

Houston adoption attorney Ellen Yarrell said the aunt likely would have signed a form agreeing to follow certain rules when she was caring for the children."One major rule is to prevent the terminated parent from re-entering the children's lives," Yarrell said.

Yarrell noted the aunt had other avenues of redress with the state, but waited several months to file her adoption suit.

Yarrell, who read the decision, described it as a challenging case centered on questions of jurisdiction and standing.

Ultimately, the Harts' adoption of the children was finalized in Feburary 2009, before the appellate court decision was issued. Yarrell questioned if the court that granted the adoption was aware of the pending case. Had the court sided with the aunt, she could have challenged their adoption.

According to the appeals court opinion, the children's biological mother had three older children, one of whom had several bone fractures before being removed from his mother's care, who were born before the four trying to be adopted by the aunt. Of the second group, one sibling, Jeremiah, tested positive for cocaine when he was born in 2004, leading to family and protective services becoming involved with the family again, the appeals opinion said.

After the mother tested positive for cocaine when her seventh child was born in 2006, the state agency took custody of her four remaining children, and her parental rights were terminated.

The children are identified in the opinion by their initials, with the last name beginning with D. Sierra appears to have the first initial of C. The opinion identifies Davis as the biological mother's long-time boyfriend and who was making child support payments for the children at one point.

The opinion says another court document lists Clarence Celestine as the biological father for two of the four children, Jeremiah and Sierra.

Sierra, Devonte and Jeremiah were adopted by Sarah and Jennifer Hart in February 2009, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. At the time, they lived in Alexandria, Minnesota, about 130 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

The couple's other three children -- Markis, Abigail and Hannah -- were adopted in September 2006 from Colorado County, Texas, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services said.

The family later moved from Alexandria to West Linn, then most recently lived in Woodland, Washington.

Freelance reporter Roxanna Asgarian and Molly Young of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com
503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey