Devon Moon confronted her own mother, her voice shaking with anger. “You called DFCS on me, didn’t you? ”
“I did,” Deborah admitted. “Only because I cared about you, cared about the baby.
That’s the only reason. ”
Devon’s eyes went cold. “I hate you. I hate you.
You’ve lost a daughter and a granddaughter. ”
And with those words, she cut off all contact with her family. Deborah had no idea that would be the last time she saw her granddaughter alive. Reagan Ajai Moon was born on August 11th, 2015, in Georgia.
She was an energetic, giggly little girl who loved rainbows, danced to music every chance she got, and always tried to get others to play with her. One of her favorite tricks was to stand on a box and pretend to be a preacher. She was born with a few birth defects—one kidney, one ovary, half a uterus, a leg slightly shorter than the other, and an extra nail on her thumb. They weren’t life-threatening, and doctors said they could be corrected over time as she grew.
Her mother, Devon, had been hesitant about keeping the pregnancy, but ultimately went through with it. Previously, she had given her older daughter to her own mother Deborah’s care. According to family, that daughter had gained weight since living with her grandmother, and Devon openly expressed her dislike of overweight children. It wasn’t long before Devon gave Reagan to another family member.
That arrangement lasted for just under two years, informal, with no documents signed and no court involvement. For a while, everything was peaceful. But the relative grew resentful, believing she shouldn’t be the one raising someone else’s daughter when the mother was available. Out of frustration, she returned Reagan to Devon on the same day she called the Department of Family and Child Services.
A caseworker responded and concluded Reagan wasn’t in immediate danger. As Reagan stayed with her mother, she became small and frail. The change was so rapid that her extended family took notice. One aunt said that whenever Reagan ate, her stomach swelled and bloated.
In April of 2017, Deborah took Reagan to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Egleston Hospital. Reagan was underweight—only twenty pounds. A follow-up visit in July showed no improvement. Worried for Reagan’s safety, Deborah called DFCS, as did one of Devon’s sisters.
Devon confronted them over it and, in anger, barred her mother and sister from ever seeing Reagan. She walked that back in early October of 2017 when she needed a babysitter. Another sitter had called out at the last minute, so Devon asked Deborah to watch Reagan. Reagan hadn’t put on any weight since Deborah last saw her.
If anything, she was still noticeably smaller. Deborah rushed her to the hospital, and the two-year-old received treatment for malnourishment. DFCS stepped in again. They visited Reagan in her hospital room and wrote in their report: “The child’s belly is very small, and she looks like a child on Feed the Children.
”
Despite seeing those alarming red flags, DFCS did nothing except return Reagan to Devon’s care. The extended family called DFCS multiple times. Four calls within a single month came from Deborah alone. After her final call, she was told arrangements had been made to monitor Reagan’s care.
A pediatric nutritionist was tasked with crafting Reagan’s diet and visiting once a week to make sure Devon followed the instructions. DFCS also noted Devon was a potentially unreliable caregiver—she had told a caseworker she felt so overwhelmed caring for Reagan that she had quit school. But the visits weren’t nearly as thorough as DFCS presented them. One supposed visit was nothing more than a short text message exchange, where Devon was asked to send a picture of Reagan.
A caseworker noted during an in-person visit that Reagan looked small for her age but never followed up. One document was filed away with inconsistent notes, likely reducing Reagan’s chances of receiving care. After the final call in October 2017, Devon went completely no contact with her family. They went a full year without seeing Reagan.
Deborah spoke with DFCS multiple times, asking to become Reagan’s caregiver, asking them to take her concerns seriously, even just to see her. They wouldn’t budge. Devon took up residence in a two-bedroom apartment in Lilburn, Georgia. Reagan’s bedroom was completely unfurnished, while Devon’s room had furniture, clothes, and a large television.
Devon had a new job at a local adult-only club. Whether she worked as a dancer was never confirmed, but what is confirmed is that she spent up to twelve hours there every night, leaving Reagan alone and unattended. Two-year-old Reagan was locked in a small bedroom closet without food, water, or a clean way to relieve herself for twelve hours at a time. Devon still used the space for storage, making it even smaller.
She essentially threw Reagan in that closet as if she were an object she was quickly cleaning off her floor. Reagan died from starvation on July 24th, 2018, roughly two weeks shy of her third birthday. Devon found her, moved her to the couch, and called 911 at 3:29 in the afternoon. She reported Reagan was unresponsive and cold to the touch.
The operator instructed Devon to place Reagan on the floor and perform CPR until help arrived. A neighbor heard screaming and looked outside. “Some woman just ran out the door screaming, you know, ‘They’re dead. They’re dead.
’”
That woman was Devon Moon, facing cruelty to children and felony murder after Gwinnett County police found her nearly three-year-old daughter dead in her apartment. Police Sergeant Jake Smith explained: “We believe that she worked at a club in Atlanta and she would actually leave the daughter at home many nights a week, if not most nights. She would leave in the afternoon and not arrive back home until the early hours of the morning, like 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. ”
Devon claimed she saw Reagan on the couch, assumed she was asleep, and let her be.
She said she woke up at 2:30 p. m. , took out the garbage, checked on Reagan, and saw she wasn’t moving. Corporal Micah Hedgewood was in charge of the investigation.
When he arrived, Reagan’s body was covered with a bed sheet, and he didn’t immediately inspect it. He interviewed Devon in the police car. Devon brought up her mother and sister, explaining how they had cared for Reagan in the past. The officers were left with the false impression Reagan was often under adult supervision when Devon had to work.
Her story fell apart as the investigation continued. When Corporal Hedgewood finally looked at Reagan’s body, he suspected neglect. Reagan was extremely thin and dirty, like she hadn’t been bathed in days. She had so little muscle mass that it was hard for the medical examiner to determine when she had died.
Hedgewood said her wrinkled, dry skin looked like leather. Devon was quick with excuses, telling detectives Reagan had a medical condition that made it hard for her to gain weight. It was a lie, and police suspected as much, but they couldn’t arrest her without more evidence. Devon’s mother and sister came to the apartment and spoke with the officer.
Deborah detailed her past concerns about Reagan’s health. Hedgewood learned about DFCS’s involvement, how they hadn’t returned the family’s calls, and how they hadn’t seen Reagan since October 2017. He was also given pictures of Reagan taken before Devon cut contact. The happy, healthy little girl in those photos was unrecognizable compared to the emaciated child they found.
Hedgewood told the family she didn’t look like Reagan anymore. Investigators found human waste inside the home, notably within the bedroom closet. They determined that was where Reagan must have died, and that Devon had moved her to try to cover her tracks. A medical examiner believed the couch would have been wet from fluids released postmortem if Reagan had truly died there.
They also found Devon lied about taking out the garbage—the kitchen trash can was empty, and she had removed something from the apartment. But a search of the dumpster’s top layer turned up nothing tying back to her. Security footage showed Devon leave the apartment, return about fifteen minutes later, and then police cars pull in. The autopsy revealed Reagan weighed only fourteen pounds.
Her cause of death was starvation and dehydration from neglect. Corporal Hedgewood asked Devon to come to the Gwinnett County Police headquarters for another interview. He asked about Reagan’s diet. Devon reaffirmed she was feeding her daughter.
She said the day before calling 911, Reagan had eaten two packets of instant grits in the morning and twelve chicken nuggets from McDonald’s in the afternoon. Not only were those large portions for any child Reagan’s age, but Devon’s claims didn’t match Reagan’s frail body. Devon was arrested and booked into the Gwinnett County Detention Center two days later, on July 26th. Police seized her cell phone records and found she had made multiple calls to her ex around 2:30 p.
m. When she couldn’t get through, she left her apartment for about fifteen minutes. She called the police after she returned. Reagan’s family was distraught.
Deborah spoke to the press, heartbroken. “It didn’t have to happen this way. We took her to Egleston because she was just skin and bone. The hospital said she weighed the same 20 pounds as when we brought her in April.
And Devon said to me, ‘You called DFCS on me, didn’t you? ’ I said I did, only because I cared. She said, ‘I hate you. You’ve lost a daughter and a granddaughter.
’ And I have. ”
One of Reagan’s aunts organized a GoFundMe for funeral services and the care of Reagan’s older sister, writing: “On August 11th, 2015, our family was blessed with the gift of our beautiful little Reagan. Two years and eleven months later, just shy of her third birthday, Reagan has been taken away from us because the system designed to protect her has ultimately failed her. Reagan was a petite ball of energy with a smile so bright it could light up the entire universe.
Her laughter was contagious, and one couldn’t help but to love on her anytime she was present. ”
DFCS responded publicly more than three weeks after Reagan’s death. They released a report admitting they saw warning signs and ignored them. Keith Bostic, then deputy director of child welfare, apologized for the department’s failures and promised changes.
He explained caseworkers were trained primarily in mental health, not physical health. He said, “It was so horrific when I reviewed this case that it just kind of highlights the need for us to continue our efforts around prevention. ”
But Reagan’s family wasn’t satisfied. They wanted the department held accountable.
They considered a lawsuit. They also wanted to establish a program to help protect children like Reagan. The individual caseworkers who worked with Reagan and her family were all gone. They quit on their own after the final welfare call before Reagan’s death.
Georgia DFCS said they were trying to track them down for interviews. If they were found, no one said a word publicly. And Bostic? Despite everything, a year after Reagan’s death he became division director for family and children services in Santa Cruz County, California.
He currently works as deputy director for human services in Broward County, Florida. Reagan’s funeral was held on August 4th, 2018, at Salem Missionary Baptist Church. Because she loved rainbows and bright colors, her family asked everyone to wear vibrant attire instead of black. Her aunt said it was more of a celebration of her life and joy.
Reagan always smiled, liked posing for the camera, would have been dancing to the music, trying to play, standing on boxes to preach a little. Deborah said she had seen rainbows in the Georgia sky and would be reminded of Reagan. She would stand in place and talk to the rainbow as if Reagan were listening. And when she had said all she needed to, the rainbow would fade.
Devon was held without bond. Corporal Hedgewood testified during the pre-trial hearing, and the testimony was published on Facebook. The comments were emotional. One user wrote: “Used to work with Devon at Walgreens and she was not a good person at all.
Terrible spirit and attitude. ” Another wrote: “I grew up with her. She was sweet, super sweet. We went to church together, sang in the choir, went to summer camp.
”
Devon’s trial was delayed by an unrelated countywide scandal. Judge Katherine Schrader, assigned to many upcoming cases including Devon’s, was suspended and made a defendant. She believed District Attorney Danny Porter had hacked into her work computer. Instead of going to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, she hired a private detective, who brought in a former deputy sheriff and computer security expert to install surveillance software on her work computer.
The data went to a forensic analyst who was a disgraced figure in Georgia, known for being a co-founder of Dragon Con and for numerous charges involving child sexual abuse material. In February 2019, that analyst was arrested for CSAM possession. A motion was filed questioning Judge Schrader’s impartiality, citing a pattern of allegations and behavior creating an appearance of bias. She was removed from her assigned criminal cases, then suspended completely.
One of the trials she had been meant to preside over involved Devon Moon. Georgia press outlets drew comparisons between Reagan and another child, Ammani Moss, who also died of starvation in 2013 despite her grandmother’s repeated warnings to DFCS. Both girls were neglected to death. Both grandmothers were willing and ready to become caregivers.
If allowed to live with their grandparents, and if DFCS had done its due diligence, Reagan and Ammani would likely still be alive today. Georgia DFCS is notoriously understaffed and underfunded. In February 2023, Senator Jon Ossoff launched an investigation. It found children under their care weren’t being treated with dignity or decency.
Between 2018 and 2022, over 1,700 Georgia children in state care were reported missing—nearly 2,500 instances of foster children reported missing over a five-year span. Senator Ossoff presided over human rights hearings, and in April 2024, the Senate Judiciary Committee released a case study detailing the findings: mismanagement at DFCS was a key contributor to child deaths and serious injuries; DFCS failed to meet children’s physical and mental health needs; DFCS failed to adhere to its own protocols. Senator Ossoff said: “The most vulnerable children in our state and in our nation must be protected from physical abuse, from sexual abuse, and from human trafficking. We cannot and must not look away from these findings.
”
DA Danny Porter lost reelection in 2020. His successor, Patsy Austin-Gatson, aimed to resolve cases awaiting trial too long but faced roadblocks, including many vacant positions left by resignations. She is still in office, but has made no comments about Reagan or Devon Moon specifically. As of September 2025, there are no updates regarding Devon Moon’s trial.
She remains innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Reagan’s father’s identity is still unknown to the public. He hasn’t spoken to the press or the courts about his daughter. In February 2025, Senator Ossoff and Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn introduced the Gracie Act, which would create a grant program to cover the cost of recording and storing child welfare interviews in all states.
Reagan should be ten years old today. She could have been making friends in school, spending time with her older sister, joining extracurricular groups, navigating the world alongside people who loved her. She was robbed of the gift of life, and her absence leaves a hole many people will never be able to fill.
