CRIME

Neighbors of woman accused of throwing child into Bayou Terrebonne surprised, say she kept to herself

Colin Campo
The Courier

Neighbors of the woman accused of tossing her son into Bayou Terrebonne were stunned to learn it was the woman they saw each day.

Four buildings all face inward toward one another, creating a grassy courtyard where neighbors say Asha Randolph's children would play at 1300 Ridgefield Ave. in Thibodaux. Some had seen her sitting outside with her children as they played the morning of Sept. 23. That same evening, she was charged by the Houma Police Department with first-degree attempted murder. Police say Randolph threw her 18-month-old son from Liberty Bridge into Bayou Terrebonne.

Those living in the apartments said Randolph kept to herself and was mostly seen walking her children to the bus stop. One neighbor said her kids would come into his home to play in his living room.

Room 121, identified as Asha Randolph's apartment at 1300 Ridgefield Avenue, Thibodaux.

"He came in on Friday, he played with my change that I use to wash my clothes with," said Ray Robinson, pointing to a pile of loose coins on his end table. "I let him come on in, and his little sisters came on in with him."

Robinson lived two doors down from Randolph and often kept his front door open. He had a magnetic bug net that could be seen through the doorway, and two box fans running in his apartment. He's lived in the apartment for about two years, and said Randolph moved into her apartment shortly before the school year began.

Robinson said he'd see Randolph walk her children to the bus stop in the morning, and then see the two young girls walk past his apartment after school. He said it wasn't uncommon for the young boy to walk into his apartment, and he'd let the boy play in his living room. The sisters would never be far behind, and they would be the ones to take the boy home when they finished playing.

Asked if he ever saw or heard anything unusual, Robinson said he never heard anything or saw any kind of marks that would raise concerns.

"I never saw no signs of abuse," he said. "I could tell if something ain't right because they'd be crying or there'd be bruising. If they are doing something over there, they're keeping it quiet."

Related:Houma Police charge mother with attempted murder, accuse her of throwing baby from bridge

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Randolph's upstairs neighbor Jeremiah Marshall said he never saw her unless he passed her walking her children to school. He said the kids could be noisy, but no more than children would normally be. He said he only ever heard her fuss her children once, but mostly it was just the children playing very noisily.

"I mean at night, half the time there's yelling and screaming like normal children would do," said Marshall. Then he added with a chuckle, "They be loud as hell."

Randolph's room was on the corner of her apartment building. Because it was on the corner, Davionte Dirance's apartment was behind her, with a walkway between the two. Dirance's eyes got wide when he heard about Randolph being accused of throwing her child in the bayou.

Dirance had seen the kids playing that Friday morning. He was going to the gas station, and he came back with some candies for them. Randolph, he said, seemed to have a lot on her mind recently. One day she got out of the car and left the door open and forgot about it from about 9 a.m. until he went to tell her at about 4 p.m.

"I mean it was open for hours," he said, estimating the time frame. "That's a while to keep your car door open, anybody can get in."

Lawyer Leggett moved in a few doors down from Robinson this month. He said he saw Randolph around the apartments with her kids. He said she never looked depressed.

"Bro, she didn't look like no bad mom or nothing like that," said Leggett. "She looked like she loved the kids."