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Libby’s Story from Her Mother Cindy – Press Conference from 12-11-23:
Good Morning. My name is Cindy Caswell, and I am here today to speak on behalf of Libby Caswell, my daughter. Libby has no voice to speak for herself because she was murdered on December 11, 2017, six years ago today. This murder happened in the city of Independence, Missouri, the city she was born in and lived in all of her life.
Libby Caswell was 21 years old when she lost her life. She was the mother to my grandson, who loved his mommy and misses her very much! We all do! She deserves Justice! Her life mattered. We have been fighting to get justice for her for seven years now. She was tossed aside like garbage by the killers and by the local police department. I will never stop advocating for my daughter.
Her murderers should be held accountable. The Independence Police Department (IPD) and their death investigations unit failed my daughter miserably and need to be held accountable.
The way her case was handled in this city is deplorable. My daughter's death was not investigated properly, and IPD was in a hurry to close her case as a suicide, even after her death certificate and autopsy reports stated she died by asphyxiation. They worked diligently to prove she committed suicide and never investigated the case as a possible homicide.
Nobody from the Police Department contacted our family after the initial notification of her death, nor did they attempt to corroborate the stories given by the men who were with her at the time of her death at the Sports Stadium Inn at the time of her death. They have ignored the history of domestic violence, and so many times she called, and we called the police for help. They even ignored her being strangled by her boyfriend just a week before her death.
Instead, they tagged our home as a public nuisance based on our calls for help, and we were summoned to court to pay a hefty fine. Simply because we called for help. Libby's boyfriend, Devon Martin, harassed her and our family on and off for four years. Instead of helping Libby by giving her resources, the Independence Police Department insisted we put her out on the streets with an infant to resolve our constant calls for help.
This action caused my daughter to be harassed even more by Devon Martin. He became more empowered, and her power was stripped away completely. She was in a vulnerable position already because of the abuse and then was victimized by the police, too.
I believe laws need to be changed so this never happens to another young woman and her family. Police need more training in the area of domestic violence as well as better protocols put into place when a woman dies under suspicious circumstances.
Jackson County officials should require police and detectives to receive specialized training in the area of Domestic Violence. This would help ensure proper steps are taken after a death and a full investigation is completed. They need to be transparent to their department, elected officials, and the families involved.
Families should never have to beg to talk to someone in the police department when a loved one dies under these circumstances.
To learn more about Libby's case, visit Justice for Libby Facebook Page, read these articles, or listen to the podcast.
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