Family Of Missing Arizona Girl Want Spotlight On Search, Not Mother's Criminal Past
Oct. 27 2011, Published 5:30 a.m. ET
By Breaking Celebrity News Staff
The family of a missing Arizona five-year-old girl are outraged because they think their plight is being ignored by the public, Breaking Celebrity News has learned.
Desperate to get the case of Jhessye Shockley as much attention as Lisa Irwin, her relatives marched on the state Capitol in Phoenix on Monday, reported the Arizona Republic.
Thursday marked the two week anniversary of when the child - whose named is pronounced 'Jessie' - was reported missing when her mom, Jerice Hunter, went to run an errand and came home to find her daughter had vanished without a trace.
Police are unsure whether Jhessye simply unlocked the door and walked out of the Glendale, Arizona, house, or if someone broke in and abducted her.
While blue-eyed Lisa Irwin's face has been on news headlines and since her disappearance on October 4, African-American Jhessye's family think that her story has been overlooked.
Much of the media attention so far has been on Hunter's troubled past, which includes a conviction for corporal punishment involving her other children.
"I feel like they're (the media) covering me instead of my daughter because it's a juicy story for them and they want to get ratings," said Hunter, who is currently eight months pregnant. "Because I wouldn't speak to them initially, they decided they would draw me out by demonizing me."
In 2005, Hunter pleaded no contest in California to abusing her other children, reported the New York Times.
She served three and a half years in state priso