Jashyah Moore, the 14-year-old New Jersey girl who was found safe in New York City following a weekslong search, allegedly endured years of abuse at the hands of her mother, according to authorities.
A criminal complaint filed in an Essex County court details the allegations against Jamie Moore, who is accused of verbally and physically abusing her daughter, forcing her to panhandle and refusing to enroll her in school.
The alleged abuse went on for years, the complaint states. Jashyah ran away from home to escape, officials said.
"The young lady appears to have run away," Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens III said. "And she did not want to make herself known to anyone as to where she was. She seemed to be ... more so at ease where she was."
The teen was found last week in New York City. She had vanished Oct. 14 after visiting a deli in East Orange, New Jersey, where her family lives.
Stephens said the teen had spent time in locations throughout New Jersey and New York City and had stayed at a shelter in Brooklyn before she was located.
On the day Jashyah disappeared, she had returned home and told her mother that she had lost their EBT card, which many families use to help buy food, according to the complaint.
Jamie Moore is accused of verbally and physically abusing her daughter for losing the card, the complaint states.
The document describes several instances where the teen was allegedly beaten with objects such as a frying pan. The mother is also accused of stabbing Jashyah in her shoulder, spraying bleach in her eyes and pulling her braids out.
The alleged abuse left Jashyah with scars and bruises, the complaint says.
The teen was also forced to care for her 3-year-old brother and would have to cook for them or else they would not eat, it alleges. Jashyah was forced to miss days of virtual schooling because she was caring for her sibling, and her mother allegedly refused to enroll her in the 2021-22 school year, according to the complaint.
The complaint also described how Jashyah was forced to stand on the street and beg for money. Her mother would allegedly beat her if she came home without a certain amount, it states.
The complaint paints a very different picture than the one Jamie Moore portrayed in public. During the search for Jashyah, the mother cried and begged for her daughter's safe return.
"I cannot imagine what she might be going through just being away from us this long, being away from her family who loves her very much," the mother said at a press conference. "If anybody knows anything, please, please come forward."
At the time, Jamie Moore said that when her daughter came home and said she had lost their EBT card, she told the teen to backtrack her steps.
The mother was arrested on charges of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, which include “allegations of physical abuse and also neglect,” according to a statement from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey. It's not clear if Jamie Moore has obtained an attorney. She is being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility. A detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Jashyah and her 3-year-old brother have been removed from their mother's custody by the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, officials said.