Where is Candice Cockerham’s mother Vernetta Cockerham now? |All Social Updates

The documentary, Evil Lives Here: The Monster Inside Him, on Investigation Discovery follows Vernetta Cockerham as she shares how she endured a terrible tragedy but found strength through her experiences to fight for victims of domestic violence everywhere. An uplifting story about a woman who, after the death of her only child, Candice Cockerham, fought against the city and the system to make things better for victims of violence.

Candice Cockerham

Who is Vernetta Cockerham?

Vernetta Cockerham was born in 1969 in the town of Paterson, New Jersey. As her parents could not provide a safe environment for her and her siblings, her maternal grandmother, Marie Edmonds, took care of her from an early age. She was the youngest of three sisters. The sisters moved to the quaint community of Jonesville, North Carolina, with their mother, Marie, when they were old enough to attend public schools. Marie worked as a nurse at a nearby nursing facility. Marie’s upbringing of her grandchildren was very traditional; for example, she took them to church on Sundays and fed them canned vegetables.

Marie was the one who taught Vernetta to stand up for herself and fight. This lesson was properly inculcated in her, and as a result she would continue to fight and change the system. Vernetta moved to Newark, New Jersey when she was 14 to meet her mother. She then moved to Paterson, New Jersey to live with her father and attend high school there. Vernetta, a math teacher, had Kevin Baker, a linebacker, as a student the summer before her sophomore year. Baker was Vernetta’s student. They had a whirlwind courtship that resulted in her getting pregnant mid-school year. Both were surprised by the news.

Candice was born in Jonesville while Vernetta was only 15 years old. After moving to Paterson, Vernetta married Kevin, who was 18 at the time. Richard Ellerbee, who once dated Kevin’s sister, was the one who broke the news to Vernetta that her boyfriend was cheating on her with another woman. Vernetta felt indebted to Richard, who was 13 years her senior, for encouraging her to end her marriage to Kevin. After their separation, Richard became one of Vernetta’s closest confidantes. After completing her training, she began working for the Paterson Police Department in the department’s records office. When Candice was six, her mother and son uprooted their family and went to Jonesville, where the mother worked two jobs while raising her daughter.

Richard moved to Jonesville in 1993 to find work, and around that time he began dating then-24-year-old Vernetta. In 1995, she found out she was pregnant with Richard’s first son, Rashieq, despite deciding she didn’t want any more children after going through difficult labor and giving birth to Candice. Richard forced her to marry him against her will in December 2001 after she discovered in 2001 that she was pregnant with their second son, Dominiq. Dominiq was born in the same year. By this point, Vernetta had begun to see Richard for what he really was, someone who had great trouble controlling his anger.

Vernetta was subject to everyday domestic violence at home, so she had Richard arrested on July 4, 2002 on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon. Richard was accused of attacking Vernetta with a deadly weapon. Despite this, Richard was released on bail almost immediately and the abuse continued. Although she made many complaints to the police, had him arrested multiple times, and obtained a restraining order against him, Richard remained unfazed by her actions. He followed her around, harassed her and even broke into her house, leaving threatening letters and digging small graves around her property to scare her. He did this because he was obsessed with her.

Vernetta continued to make complaints and obeyed the law in all other respects, but Richard was never arrested for any length of time. All of the attacks and threats eventually resulted in Richard killing Candice and nearly killing Vernetta on November 12, 2002 before setting himself on fire three days later. This act of violence and harassment culminated in Richard’s suicide.

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Where is Vernetta Cockerham today?

Vernetta’s injuries took a long time to heal, but she eventually bounced back and filed a wrongful death suit against Jonesville and two police officers in November 2004. After a five-year court battle, she finally reached a settlement with the city council in June 2009 and was awarded $430,000. She added that while it’s been a long time coming, for the people it’s going to help, it’s worth the wait. Efforts are already being made to strengthen domestic abuse legislation and I am delighted to be part of this process. The agreement means I have high hopes that I will be able to bring positive change and service to Yadkin County.

Vernetta continues to advocate for victims of domestic violence through the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “… what really struck me about Vernetta is that she immediately went into advocacy mode, supporting other victims and looking for systemic loopholes and how we can fix them,” said Rita Anita Linger, the group’s executive director. Vernetta has been working to get legislation passed in the Senate that would continue to help people who have been victims of sexual or domestic violence and advocate for the prosecution of people who flout restraining orders.

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