It’s been three weeks since 21-year-old Shamsiddin Abdur-Raheem allegedly abducted his daughter, 3-month-old Zara, from her maternal grandmother’s apartment in East Orange, New Jersey, and threw her over the Garden State Parkway bridge into the Raritan River.
On Monday, Abdur-Raheem pleaded not guilty to a murder charge which carries a possible sentence of 30 years to life in prison. Zara still hasn’t been found.
Her mother, Venetta Benjamin, is hoping and praying for her daughter’s safe return. And she also doesn’t believe her daughter is in the Raritan River.
Benjamin’s best friend and Zara’s godmother, Marie David, recently spoke exclusively to Concrete Loop and said both she and Venetta believe that if Zara were in the river, they would have found her by now, “but at this point we can only pray for answers.”
She also commented on the investigation and search for Zara:
“This issue is not being handled with the utmost importance by authorities. I believe that because she was an African-American child, this tragedy is not being taken seriously. Many things in this incident that my best friend is trying to cope with were not handled adequately from the very beginning: there was no AMBER alert issued for the missing child at the time she went missing around 4:30pm until four hours later. She was turned away when she tried to reach out for help the prior day because it was a holiday (President’s Day).”
A website has been created for Baby Zara, and it contains the latest articles and updates on the search. Marie, Venetta and her family are all in good faith that Zara will be returned home to her family and loved ones.
Zara was reportedly last wearing a pink and green Carter’s onesie and may have been wrapped in a blue sleeping bag. If anyone has seen or heard anything regarding the abduction of Baby Zara, please contact your local police or New Jersey State Police at (732) 264-4150.
WHAT DI BACKSIDE??!!! Whata wicked ole fawwttt!!
I pray the baby is found… This is so sad
She’s so cute… And if any of that statement is true the PD should be ashamed of themselves! Every child deserves to be treated with equal importance, especially in these types of situations…
why the hell would he abduct his just and then throw her over the bridge?!?! if he didn’t want to have any thing to do with her, leave her the hell alone. i don’t understand how anyone could harm an innocent child.
ladies and gentlemen: please…please, please, please. be careful of who you choose to lay down with.
i hope and pray they find the baby alive!
—To say that “this issue is not being handled with the utmost importance by
—authorities” sounds a bit premature. After all, he is the biological father. I hope
—this story has an happy ending. If he did harm the child, It’s…”better for him that
—a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea.”
I heard this on our local news when it happened. Let me just say, that an Amber Alert is rarely issued when the child is abducted by a biological parent; they are working to change that rule. I feel soooooo sorry for this family. I don’t believe that baby is in the river either. They did search for the baby in the river when this inititally happened. My only thought is that if she is not in the river, then someone has the baby and needs to come forward.
I just want to address comment #3 (To say that “this issue is not being handled with the utmost importance by authorities” sounds a bit premature)
Did u read the entire article?
Here, let me point out a few important points for you to consider:
- “there was no AMBER alert issued for the missing child at the time she went missing around 4:30pm until four hours later”.. .this is after a 3 MONTH OLD BABY went missing! It’s not like she wandered out the apartment on her own (if she was 6 or 7, then i could see why they’d take a while to issue an alert)
- “She was turned away when she tried to reach out for help the prior day because it was a holiday (President’s Day).”… i have no words for this..
CLEARLY IT AINT BEING HANDLED PROPERLY!
I pray that she is found alive! I can’t imagine what her mother and grandmother are going through
This is so sad & I pray that they do find this child. How can anyone be so callous as to harm an innocent child who cannot defend themselves. God have mercy upon this man. I don’t know what was going through his mind at the time but it will weigh on his conscious in the end… I can’t even begin to imagine how the mother feels but my heart & prayers go out to her & the family.
I was wondering what had happened to this sweet baby!
I pray she isn’t in the river and is somewhere safe!
Idoit men that use Children as Leverage. So Dumb!
Prime example why you should spend more time thinking about who you want to be the father of your children and not just laying down and opening your legs and receiving. Women should make better choices for life partners called husbands not baby daddies, and if u have more then one Im talking to you. We have to do better. I pray they find that child alive.
This is terrible, I pray the she is found safe and sound. My prayers to the family also, I can only image the pain they are feeling right now.
TRULY PRAYING THAT THE BABY IS FOUND SAFE..TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO YOUR OWN CHILD IS UNBELIEVABLE
CO SIGN WITH #8
I knew the “it’s because she’s black” thing would come up.
But the baby is very cute and hopefully she’s found safe!
The whole being turned away because it’s President’s Day is so stupid!
I would not have left the police department until they heard me out or did something(although they would probably just say they will do something about it and then do nothing).
God…can black people STOP blaming everything on race. When ever a situation is not handle to our satisfaction we alway blame it on race. Did they ever think that maybe the police department was dealing with more pressing situations or toke into account the amount of white kids that go missing who we never hear about.
As for the father, why would he want to throw his kid in the river again? Let me think, I guess he thought she was moses, or he was tryna to rebel against the mother. Sad.
As for the mother, cosigns with #8. Young woman really need to think about who they are having kids with. I know far too many black woman who are either pregnant (non married) or a single with have multiple “baby daddies”.
#8 I keep saying that every single day when I see these girls out here getting pregnant.
I really just started crying because I didnt read the title and I was saying how beautiful and chubby the baby girl was and then I read what MIGHT have happened to her and I cant stop crying.
I get so sick to my stomach that these girls do not think twice about the guys they decide to father their kids. Why? WHY? OH, WHY? Is it not clear that most young men do not WANT to be fathers…and I keep seeing the proof each time. We have to make better choices as a group, tell your friends, nieces, daughters, cousins..tell them to PLEASE think about the people they bring into their lives.
I am praying for this baby but honestly, 3 weeks! Is a long time
God Bless them
I am so sick right now. From hearing about the guy who tried to smother his baby, to the guy that kidnapped his daughter and killed the mother and left the girl at the gas station.
This has GOT TO STOP, it is too much! Its bad enough that people think “baby daddy and baby mama” is a RESPECTABLE title that means something. Then they have people that other wise would be classified special needs (emotionally disturbed or bipolar) just having sex any how. The innocent children do not deserve this at all. God this breaks my heart
NEWARK, N.J. – The lawyer for the mother of a three-month-old girl whose father told police he threw the baby off a Garden State Parkway bridge says the woman was turned away by police when she first sought a restraining order.
Venetta Benjamin went to police in East Orange, where she lived, on Feb. 15 seeking protection from the father, Shamsid-Din Abdur-Raheem, attorney Mitchell Liebowitz said today .
Police told her that Family Court was closed – it was Presidents’ Day – and that she should return the next day, according to Liebowitz. An on-call judge should have been contacted, he said.
Benjamin got the order on Feb. 16, but police say Abdur-Raheem abducted the child before it could be served. The child, who the suspect says he tossed into the Raritan River, has not been found.
East Orange Police Chief Ronald Borgo and the state Attorney General’s Office are investigating the claims.
Benjamin got the order on Feb. 16, but police say Abdur-Raheem abducted the child before it could be served. The child, who the suspect says he tossed into the Raritan River, has not been found.
East Orange Police Chief Ronald Borgo and the state Attorney General’s Office are investigating the claims.
People need to learn how to control their anger . A fit of rage can change so many lives .
Acting Attorney General Paula Dow has ordered the state police to review the timeline in the case and New Jersey’s criteria for Amber Alerts, which authorities said are not typically issued in abductions involving family members.
Authorities said initial information in the case did not meet the criteria for an Amber Alert. By the time more was known and an alert was to be issued, Abdur-Raheem had been arrested in his father’s Winslow Township home.
“Obviously, the system could have been activated a lot sooner, and the attorney general wants to look into this matter very closely,” said Paul Loriquet, Dow’s spokesman.
“She wants to look at the global picture . . . and perhaps look at the criteria to see if it has to tweaked,” he said.
All 50 states use the Amber Alert system to help spread news about abducted children, but each sets its own rules.
In New Jersey, the alerts are used when a child is believed to be in imminent danger, but generally not in family situations, including cases involving runaways and parents in a custody dispute, according to state police. Possible exceptions are situations in which there have been domestic problems involving the parents, authorities said.
I pray for the childs safety as well. I don’t understand how evil a person can be to do such things..
SMH at the folks on here who (regardless of the situation) will find some way to blame the woman. None of us know these people personally, nor do we know what the extent of their relationship. So to suggest that the child’s mother is somehow at fault for “choosing the wrong man to have a child with” is simply not fair. There is only one person in this situation who is wrong and that is the abductor. I am praying for the baby to be found alive and safe.
—-#5 shakanic, did you read my comment? A biological parent has the right to have
—-their child. There’s no crime for the police to solve. Ninty-nine times out of ten,
—-the child is found in the safe arms of it parent when all the facts and leads are
—-investigated. Most of the time, the police see this as “baby mama drama”. But,
—-there are some real fools out there and the worst case senerio does happen, so
—-you never know. I don’t want to argue the merits of Amber Alert, but every case is
—-different and the biological parents have rights that delay the activation criteria.
God…can black people STOP blaming everything on race. When ever a situation is not handle to our satisfaction we alway blame it on race. Did they ever think that maybe the police department was dealing with more pressing situations or toke into account the amount of white kids that go missing who we never hear about.
As for the father, why would he want to throw his kid in the river again? Let me think, I guess he thought she was moses, or he was tryna to rebel against the mother. Sad.
As for the mother, cosigns with #8. Young woman really need to think about who they are having kids with. I know far too many black woman who are either pregnant (non married) or a single with have multiple “baby daddies”.
@VA66
That is not what I was trying to get across. There is a such thing as prevention, you may not believe in that concept. At this point, I am praying that the little baby is still alive, but dont be NAIVE and say that you havent heard many stories similar to this one and it makes you WONDER that maybe we have to be a little more selective and pay attention to the people we let in our lives.
Do you think people are unpredictable? Do you think that people do not show disturbing signs before they commit a crime? Some people do snap, but most human behavior can be followed if you pay close attention
I dont want to take away from the story about this little girl, because her wellbeing is the main issue. But its, carelessness and ignorance that usually leads to this type of behavior. Maybe that needs to come to the spotlight as well. At the end of the day, I pray for the little girl as well and maybe my praying and rethinking situations in our lives we can PREVENT another story like this one. That is all.
I was just discussing the situation with my mother again today, we are both praying for a safe return. I know Venetta and her family personally and I must say that people need to focus more on finding this innocent baby than bashing her for not having the “perfect father” for her child. She had no idea that her ex-boyfriend would end up doing something like this. No one knows ahead of time how a person is gonna be. It do not matter whether it was her husband or the father of her child, things happen that we have no control over. So stop being ignorant and talk like you have some sense in this time of need. God bless Venetta and the family!
He should get the death sentence for doing something as cowardly as that
Just don’t have no fucking kids. Keep your damn legs and your shit zipped. Get a vasectomy/hysterectomy. If you bipolar crazy ass mofo’s are retarded and challenged and can’t take on the responsibilities of being a parent please consider the ish I just listed
@18..
Thank you for being one of the few people on here with some sense. I’m sure none of our husbands or boyfriends or whatever are perfect. But that doesn’t mean we would expect them to up and do some crazy mess like this dude. He is the ONLY ONE to blame in this situation and the mother is in no way responsible for his actions. In any case, this is truly an unfortunate situation and please extend our well wishes to your friend and her family.
That is so sad. Pray people pray
This sounds like that fool that threw a baby on the highway in florida and a motorcyclist found him…so sad. Death penalty perhaps?
Everyone have different opinions .Just because someone elses logic differs from yours , doesn’t make them wrong . Angel created this post to help give more exposure to the case not to debate about who is allowed to say what eveyone will not agree , and you sure as hell have no right to tell the next person what to write in their comment. Get over it and move on .
NO THUGGGED OUT BOY IS CAPABLE OF TAKING CARE OF AN INFANT!!!!
I FEEL SORRY FOR THE BABY!
OMG, i hope they find her soon, and in one piece. Jeez! folks these days be doing some crazy shit.
Bastard!! I hope they eat him alive in jail.
And all this going back and forth about baby mothers and babys fathers is B.S.. A couple of months ago a “husband” killed his wife and 5 children and fled to Haiti. Marriage don’t have ish to do with this.
—-Sometimes it’s not even a fit of rage or mind snap. Remember the football player
—-Rae Carruth who put a contract out on his pregnant girlfriend just because he
—-didin’t want to pay child support for little more than a casual acquaintance. True,
—-guys don’t have to be perfect, but take time to get to know what you’re dealing with
—-if you can. I know some people are hot and ready like the lil Wayne’s tattoo girl
—-and love won’t let her wait, but there are warning signs for misbehavors…signs that
—-you can’t see on a one night stand or casual. This poor woman is not to blame,
—-but I recall one thing that Rihanna said: …she became ashamed that she had ever
—-been with someone who was capable of what Brown did to her, she said, “I fell in
—-love with that person. That’s embarrassing.” She took some ownership.
are u fucking serious whowould to take children and if its the kid biological parent why cant go to court and get a join custody of that child instead of kidnapping them. some people are just not fit to od certain things and some people are just not fit in the head if u kno what i mean
Shit like this makes me sick to my stomach, especially when a baby is involved. It’s just crazy that ANY parent could want to do harm to their own flesh and blood. That’s sad, and I hope they find her safe. She’s so adorable.
@VA66
When did I blame her? I think you need some help with your analyzing SKILLS. I said it is an unfortunate situation, but maybe things like this could be prevented by cautioning who we invite into our lives. I said I was disgusted, in tears, and actually hurting by reading about the various situations just like this. And if there was a way that these things could be prevented by possibly being more careful with who we decide to have kids with, then we should do that.You took 50% of the comment and decided to run with it stupidly making it more than what it was. Go back and reread what I wrote and what #8 wrote and then you will see that its more about hoping for a better future instead of being stuck on things people can not change.
@ 24 Thank you
Once again, since she clearly read over the lines where I said I hope that this is NOT true about this precious baby, I will say it again, I am praying for the little girl.
Wow. I can’t believe how people use this as a pulpit for talking about “not spreading your legs for any man” etc. Come on! This happens to married women, single women, rich women, poor women, educated women, non-educated women…. Many men AND women have used children as pawns to get their way — even if it means kidnapping or killing the child(ren).
Stop blaming the mother for her choice. SHE is not the person who kidnapped the baby. She is not the person sitting in jail saying she tossed the baby into a river. NOONE can control the actions of another person, and noone can determine how the person they date/marry will be 2 days, 2 months, 2 years or even 2 decades later. If we could, we’d never date losers, users and abusers because we’d know the negative outcome well in advance…
I hope Zara is safe and I pray that the families will make it through this whatever the outcome.
this breaks my heart and for it to be done by the father just makes it worst. What are people thinking about?
this breaks my heart and for it to be done by the father just makes it worst. What are people thinking about?
@32… well said.
I earnestly pray that Zara’s family finds peace…
I am personally going thru something where my daughter’s mom wont let me see my child and it hurts just to go thru that so I can only imagine what this family is going thru. They all are in my prayers
Who cares!!! My boyfriend thinks the same with me. He- is eight years older than me, lol. We met online at an age gap dating site- A_ge_m_in_gle @ c.o.m a nice and free place for Younger- Women and Older Men, or Older Women and Younger Men, to- interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check out or- tell your friends.
To your own flesh and blood, thats just so sad. dont understand how some people can be so cruel. im thinking he should not get the death penely instead he should ROT in jail.
So Sad… thanks J Dakar
Horrible
This is sad, but we are living in the end times, and dispicable things like this will continue to happen; and will get worst. BUT there is hope for some folk who want to get the chip off their shoulders and listen to maturity.
Ms. Drod, I know you’re not blaming the mother, you’re hoping for the best as we all are. You are trying to get folk to listen and make better choices so we won’t continue to hear stories like this in the news, whether from married or single folk. You are right, if you date someone for a while before sleeping with them first; most will see there is something wrong with him or her. Most of us have made bad decisions in our lives, and have just played the hand we dealt ourselves, but had we listened to the voice of reason..would the outcome have been different. Wake up folks, the sensation only last a few seconds; but the outcome can last a lifetime.
I pray for God’s supernatural peace for this family, I can not imagine this pain.
omg . ,
Thats not right . if anything he should have been the one get thrown over somebodies bridge .
that baby had a life to live , and if he didnt want to be in it its called CHILD SUPPORt .
It truly saddens me to hear about people harming and killing innocent little babies.
Wow this is my first time hearing ANYTHING about this story. So sad.
I finally understand Grandma when she said we are in our final days my heart sank after reading this.
#25- why should we kill this man and let life after death punish him? How can we be so sure that dying is a bad thing? But what we are sure of is that there are ways to punish him now, while he’s still living. We should take advantage of that, because personally I think we’ll just be sending him to paradise.
to RU SERIOUS??? NEW DC SOCIALITE BUT MADE MY OWN MONEY
Your comment is so irrelevant to the situation at hand, no one is concerned about the guy being a husband or just a father, the POINT IS A HARMLESS, INNOCENT BABY IS MISSING???? When you want to have a discussion about thats y people should wait till there married find some other topic to write a blog on. DON’T LET IGNORANCE TAKE OVER YOU…
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