Joseph Jr. Anderson and his brother Jeffery help out at dinner. The boys and their mother were murdered.
Kristina Dumas remembers her older sister as a loving mother, a proud veteran and an incredible baker.
She remembers her nephew Joseph Jr.'s love of dinosaurs and Lays BBQ chips and how his younger brother Jeffery would follow him wherever he went.
The sheriff's office is investigating a possible murder-suicide in Lithopolis.
Dumas has no recollection of the murders of her sister and nephew by her brother-in-law.
Dumas said that she had reconnected with her sister after she left the military.
A photo is being shared on social media. She was in the US Army.
Before we moved to Twinsburg, we were born in Cleveland. She went into the military after graduating from high school. Dumas said that she settled down in Florida because she was pregnant with Joseph Jr., after serving for about four or five years.
During her time in the military, she met Joseph. They'd lived in Florida for a few years before Kiara decided she wanted to live in Ohio. They moved to Lithopolis. The baby was born in 2019.
Dumas worked at the Auntie Anne's Pretzel Shop in the River Valley Mall. It was a happy time for the family. Dumas was able to visit the apartment he moved into.
She said she needed to return to Cleveland after the coronaviruses hit. She didn't want to have to move back in with her sister after the mall job was impacted by the shutdown.
I told her I was moving back up. I was told to go ahead. She was always supportive of what I wanted to do. Dumas said that they stayed in contact, calling and using video chat, while visiting on the holidays. I was close with Joseph, too.
She said that Joseph Jr. knew how to use the phone, call or text her, or open the phone to an app to amuse himself.
The family's pantry has a snack in it.
He started talking recently. He was very quiet for a long time. If we were talking or if she put a show on her phone for him to watch, he would understand. Dumas said it wasn't until after his diagnosis that it became clear he was quiet. He would always say "Hey, Titi" when he heard me on the phone. He knew how to use the video chat. He was very dear to me.
The Anderson home in Lithopolis has a love of baking.
She remembers Joseph Jr.'s love of dinosaurs. They would stop by the toy store to look at dinosaur toys when they went to the mall. Dumas said he must have had one thing.
Dumas said Jeffery liked playing with toys.
The boys were close. Junior was behind Jeffery. They were behind their mother wherever she went. She loved her boys and you couldn't say anything bad about them without her saying something back.
She said her sister was a great baker.
She was good at baking. She loved baking for people in the community. Junior helped out in the kitchen. She was so good at it that she would make a huge pan of peach cobbler and I wouldn't be able to eat all of it myself. We were distant from our adoptive family in Cleveland, so Kira made her own family here in Lancaster. Baking was her way of showing her love. Everyone loved her, and her military family loved her too.
Dumas shared that the sisters had a tradition of exchanging presents on Christmas Eve after the boys went to sleep.
Dumas said that he had a shelf for a baking company that she wanted to start.
The relationship between Kiara Anderson and her husband was troubled.
Dumas was the one who helped with the strained relationship between Joseph and Kiara. Dumas said they didn't have a perfect relationship, but she was trying to be there for her sister.
They were separated, and she was going to print the divorce papers soon. This wasn't the first time they had troubles. Dumas said that they weren't perfect, but everyone has problems. She was concerned about the children and that's what kept her there. He snapped when she got the courage to leave.
I didn't think he'd go that far.
Dumas received a text from one of her coworkers who said there was an active shooter in the area and a police team was surrounding the house. Dumas and her fiancée decided to drive down to make sure everything was ok.
Dumas got a text to pull over.
That's when another one of Kiara's friends called. I wanted to know why he was calling from her phone. Dumas immediately asked why he was crying, where was his nephew, and where was his niece. He told me that he didn't know how to tell me, but he kept repeating Joe's name. I panicked. I thought he had hurt her.
They told me they were dead. The boys were my first concern. They told me that they were dead in their home. Where was Joe? They said he was dead as well.
Dumas said she hung up and told her husband to go. She said she was in disbelief.
I couldn't register what they had told me. I talked to her the night before and we wanted to make sure it wasn't a scam. She said she couldn't believe what she'd heard.
She spoke to police officers after they arrived in Lithopolis. Dumas and her partner returned to Cleveland Thursday.
Moving forward.
Thursday was spent trying to find out more about the funeral arrangements. Dumas was able to get the rights to bury her sister. Joseph Jr and Jeffery were to be cremated. Dumas was able to get a promise that some of their ashes would be buried with Kiara.
They were her world and she loved them very much. They loved her. The ashes will have to be buried, but I wish they could be buried together. Dumas said that it seems fair that their father's family gets some ashes as well. I didn't like the idea of her being buried with her husband. We wouldn't be in this situation without him.
Dumas was able to speak with a member of the crime scene investigation unit, who was able to give her information about what happened.
I didn't believe it until he shared the details with me. Seeing where it happened made it real. He was kind and patient. Dumas said that he and the man spent almost an hour on the phone, but he listened and gave him time to process everything. It just made me sick. She survived the trauma of the foster care system, being deployed overseas twice, and still making it back here. This is how it ends.
Dumas said there isn't anything they can do for this situation. She recovered photos from the house, a stuffed animal she bought for Joseph Jr, and a candle for her nephew's birth.
What happened, happened. I hope that anyone who hears about this story and sees the same signs that were in Kiara's relationship can leave and get out. Dumas said to get out if you feel like you're being manipulated. It's too late in this case. He didn't have to go this far but he did. If you are in this situation, you should get out and get help. If there are kids, get away.
This is too much for a family member. We can move on and be nice to each other.
The Lancaster Eagle-Gazette has a news reporter namedBarrett Lawlis. Contact him by email at blawlis@gannett.com for story tips. Follow him on social media.
The article was originally published on the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette.
