BRYAN, Texas — Rayven Shields’ family have, just in the past week, been allowed to take possession of her body and plan to bury her Friday, roughly 8 months after her remains were discovered behind a Bryan home the three-year-old briefly shared with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend.
“They [held] Rayven’s body 8 months,” said Rubbie Young, Rayven’s aunt on her father’s side and her primary caregiver for most of her life. “And, sent her home, just the bones. Just bones.”
Rayven’s father, Robert Shields, passed away in June 2018, leaving Young as the child’s primary guardian for a time. Prior to Mr. Shields’ death, Young often looked after Rayven while her father worked, she first explained to KAGS in a August 2018 interview. In that same interview, Young told KAGS she feared for Rayven’s safety when Bryan Police returned her to the custody of Virginia Adams, Rayven’s biological mother, on June 11th, 2018.
“I told that officer, you’re taking that baby and [are about] to put her in the arms of the devil,” Young told us in that the August 2018 interview. “And, that’s exactly what he did.”
The little girl was last seen alive five days later. Adams and her boyfriend Patrick Wilson are charged with causing Injury to a Child and Tampering with Evidence by concealing a corpse, in connection with Rayven’s death. Both have plead not guilty.
Adams maintained her innocence in Rayven’s disappearance in an interview from jail with KAGS shortly after the body of a child was discovered behind her home. After an extensive autopsy, police still have not confirmed to the public the body is Rayven’s. Young and Rayven's extended family tell KAGS they know it is her.
“They said they were trying to find out who she was,” Young told KAGS in a recent exclusive interview. “They finally did.”
Young says the autopsy’s length was due to the state the body was in when discovered buried behind Adams’ home.
“When [police] got her up out of the ground, they [saw] everything that was done to her,” she said. “It was a bad sight…you couldn’t stand to see her.”
Rayven’s aunt said she was under the impression that the family could take possession of the little girl's body in November 2018 from the Travis County Medical Examiner, the agency Brazos County sends all autopsies to. But, Young said she believes the family was then denied access to the body, after the Brazos County District Attorneys Office ordered more tests.
The Brazos County DA's office declined to comment on specifics about the case, citing state guidelines. But, a spokesperson did say that remains are typically released to a victim's family as soon as the investigation is complete.
“I’m the only person [fighting],” said Young, adding that she personally called the DA’s office multiple times a week asking to take possession of her niece’s body. “[The family] is waiting on me to do everything.”
Young recently emerged from a protracted legal fight to get custody of the remains. She said defense attorneys for Adams and Wilson had to agree that no further tests should be done on the little girl’s body, before Young legally took possession and started planning a burial.
The family is planning a burial service for Friday, April 5th, 244 days after the child’s body was exhumed from behind her mother's home.
Further developments are expected to be released Tuesday. KAGS will update this article and post further stories as the week progresses.
