Three little girls were reportedly killed in rural Texas, but a year later the assailant is still on the loose. In its latest installment, “REVOLT Black News Weekly” spoke exclusively to Shommaonique Oliver-Wickerson, the mother of the three children. On Friday (June 2), global news anchor Mara S. Campo hosted a powerful episode that also included updates on the Tyre Nichols case, a chat with Memphis Representative Justin Pearson, an interview with The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey and much more.
It has been almost a year since Zi’Ariel Robinson-Oliver, 9, A’Miyah Hughes, 8, and Te’Mari Robinson-Oliver, 5, were reported missing from their Cass County, TX home back in July 2022, only to be found dead in a nearby rural pond after a search. Despite being brutally killed and sexually assaulted (that specific information was not initially shared by the authorities), there still hasn’t been a single arrest in the investigation.
“If there is any information on who took my kids to the woods, and threw them in a pond and did unbearable things that was not called for to any child… ’cause my kids deserved justice,” said Wickerson to “RBN” in her first-ever on-camera interview about the case.
What makes it even more disturbing is that the authorities seemingly gave Wickerson ambiguous information about her children’s cause of death, at least at first. “Initially, I was told that they had drowned — an accidental drowning. But after [the] autopsy report came out, I was told that they were strangled, they had lacerations to their faces and they were also sexually assaulted,” said Wickerson, who suffered a heart attack and had to be rushed to the hospital.
Although the girls were discovered on July 30, 2022, hours after they went missing, the public wasn’t made aware that the case was a homicide investigation until March 2023. The Cass County DA told “RBN” there had been a delay in the autopsy, which allegedly caused the late notice about a child killer still being on the loose. However, in a press release shared three weeks after “RBN’s” call, the DA’s office reportedly said the preliminary autopsy report stated homicide was the cause of death. Both Wickerson and “RBN” had their requests for a copy of that autopsy denied, with the latter being told it was due to it being an ongoing investigation involving minors.
But even more shocking was Wickerson revealing her cousin Parris Propps, who had been staying with her for two years, has yet to be brought in for questioning. Propps has a long rap sheet; however, Wickerson shared she never had any issues with him and that he watched the children. But one of her other three surviving daughters said the girls went into the woods with Propps. Despite the authorities speaking to him the day after the girls were found, the cousin has never been arrested or officially brought in for questioning even though he was reportedly the last person seen with the children.
Wickerson has started a GoFundMe to help her kids cope with the trauma they are going through. So far, there are no updates on the investigation. She chalks up the apparent lack of urgency in the case to the obvious. “If my kids were a different color, [it would] be a different story,” Wickerson told “RBN.” “They would not be lounging around, dragging their feet, taking their time if a blonde white girl or white boy were killed… The person that was watching them could have been my color, they would have been in jail that same night. But since that’s not the case, they don’t really care. Cass County don’t care about Black people, they never have, they never will.”
Black lives being disregarded is unfortunately not limited to Texas. “RBN” also provided major updates in the Tyre Nichols case, where prosecutors recently revealed there are more than 20 hours of unreleased video and audio footage of the beating that led to the Black man’s death after a traffic stop by Memphis police. Five officers who were charged were members of the deactivated SCORPION Unit of the Memphis PD and all of them pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. “There has been some indication about a possible witness who may have overheard or seen some of what happened when Mr. Nichols was being beaten,” said attorney Shelia Huggins. “The documents say that there is another party or witness… who saw what happened.”
While most of the episode’s topics were heavy, correspondent Kennedy Rue offered some more positive content thanks to her interview with actress Halle Bailey. Their chat included an amazing convo about natural Black hair while chronicling the star’s career. Campo also had a sit-down with expelled and then reinstated Tennessee Rep. Justin Pearson, which provided an enlightening peek into his political career and authenticity.
Be sure to catch new installments of “REVOLT Black News Weekly” every Friday at 5 p.m. ET via REVOLT’s app. Plus, watch a quick clip from this week’s episode below.
