LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — An internal investigation at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office connected to the torture and murder of a 9-year-old girl last year resulted in a deputy’s demotion and transfer off patrol.
The investigative report concluded Evan Rosenstein closed out a request for a welfare check on the sister of 9-year-old Jamaria Sessions last March without sending a deputy to the home to put eyes on the two girls.
Three months later, Jamaria was discovered dead in her home with injuries covering her body, along with a cache of videos that investigators said showed the girlfriend of Jamaria’s father abusing her.
The check had been requested by DCF employees. Rosenstein told his superiors that because deputies normally accompany DCF workers to welfare checks and they weren’t seeking to be present that day, he didn’t think the concerns were serious.
The report showed Rosenstein immediately owned up to the mistake when confronted, saying it was the first time he had closed a welfare check request on anyone without following through and he was “haunted” by the “what-ifs.”
“Had I been given the information that there were concerns for the child’s safety I would have sent someone without delay,” Rosenstein wrote in a letter to the sheriff pleading for his job. “Undeniably, the results of the [murder] were catastrophic, and we will never know what could have been if my response had been different.”
The investigator found the 22-year veteran of the force had failed to perform his duties, but credited his honesty. While Rosenstein was spared from termination, he was transferred to an assignment at the jail.
Rosenstein had been promoted to sergeant in July 2023, per the agency’s Facebook page. Prior to that, he had been a very visible law enforcement officer, appearing in the agency’s podcast and cheered for his work with young people, including serving as a School Resource Officer.
“That’s awesome,” Jamaria’s grandmother, Althea Chenault, said upon hearing about the demotion.
Chenault has long complained about the missed opportunities the system had to prevent Jamaria’s abuse and death. Rosenstein’s check was one of two. Deputies went to the family’s home in December, but were turned away by the girls’ father, who said they weren’t living at the home.
There was also a multi-year custody battle between Chenault and the girl’s father that was pending when Jamaria died.
“Me and my other son was calling saying, ‘There’s something going on in the house,’” Chenault said. “We were scared something was gonna happen to one of those kids, and look what happened.”
The father, LoJuan Sessions, is accused of allowing and, at times, encouraging the abuse. His girlfriend, Tyshael Martin, faces the death penalty for the murder.
Both adults remain in jail pending their trial.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2025 Cox Media Group
