KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The death of 3-year-old Olivia Jansen in Kansas City, Kansas, has caused such shock and heartbreak among the community that people are now stepping up and demanding action to hold people accountable for her death.
Lacey Langford didn't know Olivia or her family, but the toddler's death touched her heart so much that she's now backing several initiatives calling for justice.
"I'm someone that's willing to make right of a wrong too long," Langford said.
Langford set up protests for 3 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 9 a.m. Friday outside the Kansas Department for Children and Families office at 402 State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas.
Olivia's family said they called the police and DCF to report possible child abuse just weeks before she was found dead.
RELATED: KCKPD called to Olivia Jansen's home 5 times in 2020
"Because they wouldn't do anything other than knock on the door. And so I was on the phone with them June 22 for 23 minutes telling them everything I could think of," Elisabeth Jansen, Olivia's step-grandmother, told 41 Action News.
Olivia's father, Howard Jansen III, and stepmother, Jacqulyn Kirkpatrick, are charged with murder in the death of the 3-year-old.
Langford said the planned protests also will be for 7-year-old Adrian Jones, whose horrific murder outraged the community in 2015.
"Olivia is definitely not the only one and neither was Adrian," Langford said. "These two are the ones who had to pay with their lives due to this negligence."
Langford also is behind a petition asking Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree to recuse himself from Olivia's case because his wife, Shanelle Dupree, is the regional director for DCF.
Dupree's office released this statement on the matter:
Mrs. Shanelle Dupree is the KC Regional Director, and because she is the wife of District Attorney Dupree, she has always been conflicted out of Wyandotte County child welfare cases, which includes this case as well. All Wyandotte County child welfare matters are handled by DCF Administration, not Mrs. Dupree. Any additional questions pertaining to the Department for Children and Families should be directed to that agency.
Langford said she believes if the state had properly intervened, Olivia would be alive today.
"There's no wonder why people are angry because this is absurd," Langford said.
A rally outside the Wyandotte County Courthouse also is planned for 7 p.m. Tuesday.
