Before we get into the relevance of Cali Anderson, let’s cover the basics of the case:
A Reno couple has pleaded guilty to murder charges in the torturous death of the man’s 5-year-old daughter who police say was handcuffed in an animal cage and starved before she died and they stashed her emaciated body in a duffel bag found in a California storage unit.
Averyauna Enoch pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and Tyler Anderson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Thursday in Washoe County District Court.
The two 25-year-olds also pleaded guilty to destruction of evidence and are expected to be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole at their sentencing set for April 21.
Enoch, who was not the girl’s biological mother but went by the name Anderson before the couple divorced in August, “did willfully and unlawfully kill” Cali Anderson “by means of torture,” court documents said.
Enoch intentionally withheld food and water from the girl “for the specific purpose of inflicting pain by means of starvation for revenge or for the sadistic purpose of hatred of CA due to the fact CA was not her biological child,” according to documents filed Thursday.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/parents-admit-to-killing-girl-5-whose-body-was-found-in-duffel-bag-in-sacramento-storage-unit/
How is this relevant to Judge Cynda Unger?
According to many people familiar with Solano County Family Court, Judge Unger returned from a stint in Juvenile Court with a mission: ensure fathers had primary custody of their children. She had witnessed the devastating impact of absentee fathers and was determined to fix it. The intention seemed noble, but Judge Unger took it too far. She began awarding primary custody based on gender rather than what was truly best for the child. For Cali, this bias became a death sentence.
Despite overwhelming evidence that Cali’s father was a confirmed drug addict, Judge Unger handed him custody anyway. Cynda Unger awarded primary custody to Tyler Anderson and refused to transfer jurisdiction even though neither parent lived in Solano County. She gave Tyler custody despite mountains of credible evidence showing he had no intention of actually caring for Cali. Anderson repeatedly violated court orders for the mother’s visitation, and despite plea after plea to Judge Unger, she refused to enforce her own orders.
News outlets have covered this heartbreaking case extensively, documenting the horrific abuse Cali suffered at the hands of her father and stepmother. But the most haunting question remains: How did this innocent child end up trapped in such a dangerous home in the first place?
Most people assumed the mother wasn’t around, or wasn’t able to care for Cali. The reality is Cali’s mother had been fighting, for years, to ensure her safety and well-being, but she didn’t stand a chance with Unger on the bench.
The accountability lies squarely with Cynda Unger’s reckless decisions. She ignored clear evidence of drug use. She dismissed obvious signs of child abuse presented directly to her court. She turned a blind eye when the father flagrantly disobeyed visitation orders. And Cali died because of this judicial negligence.
Proper oversight could have saved Cali’s life. The presiding and supervising judges should have stepped in. The Commission on Judicial Performance should have taken the flood of written complaints seriously instead of brushing them aside. But the people in power failed Cali completely. They dismissed concerned mothers as simply “angry,” ignored credible evidence, and chose to protect their colleague over protecting a vulnerable child.
The system failed Cali Anderson, and she paid with her life.