I am a succor for a good survivor story. Who doesn’t want that? A story of someone who went through the worst life has to offer, and came out the other side?

This is what fascinates me about true crime. With humans, there are the best of the best and the worst of the worst. True crime often brings the two together.

In this story specifically, Teka Adams has a will and fight to survive, unlike many others. This is her story.

Teka Adams

Teka Adams had been through a lot in her short 29 years. She had a rebellious and independent attitude, often getting in tough spots because she didn’t want to abide by the rules. But eventually, those tough spots became too frequent and too hard, so she decided to get her life together.

She went from the streets to a homeless shelter where she met P.J. They quickly fell in love and got married. Not long later, her life was really looking up. She was 29 with a husband she loved, and was 7 1/2 months along with her baby girl.

Around this time she started receiving phone calls from an unknown number. The lady on the other end introduced herself as Stephanie and explained that she works for a company that helps pregnant women in need. The company provides clothes, toys, strollers, diapers, and anything else a new mother would need. Stephanie offered these services to Teka.

For Teka, this was a dream come true. While her life was coming together, she and PJ still were in the homeless shelter, and still needed supplies for their unborn child. And the woman offering help was extremely nice and soft-spoken. PJ on the other hand was suspicious of what the lady on the phone was offering. He advised Teka to “not rush into anything”.

But this was a deal that Teka couldn’t pass up. Here she had the opportunity to get everything she needed to provide her baby with a comfortable start in life. Something that she never had.

Getting Help

Teka met with Stephanie outside the shelter. When Stephanie pulled up, she looked just like she sounded. She talked with Teka as she got in the car. Teka felt comfortable with Stephanie. She opened up about how happy she was with her life. How she was finally getting it together.

As they’re driving, Stephanie explains that she needs to pick up something quick from her house: vague and urgent. She drives Teka to her apartment and sits her down in an unfurnished bedroom. She starts playing the movie Precious on the small television and steps into another room leaving Teka to herself and the tv.

PJ calls her, asking where she’s at. It’s at this moment that reality sinks in. “I’m fine,” she tells her husband. Because in all reality, she had no idea where she was.

Not long after, Stephanie comes back into the room and throws a heavy quilted blanket over her head. By the time Teka can stand up, Stephanie has already beat Teka in the head 10 times. Teka is up and in a defensive position with her hands up, but all she can see is red, her blood dripping down her face. She felt an urgency throughout her entire being. “I gotta go.”

She runs for the front door but it’s completely locked (chain, deadbolt, and door handle). Stephanie comes up behind her and jumps on her back. This 40-year-old 216-pound woman jumps on Teka’s back, arms around her throat, trying to choke her. This takes Teka down. While she’s down, Stephanie grabs a fireplace poker and starts wailing on Teka, hitting her almost 40 more times in the head. Teka blacks out.

The Attack

The next thing Teka knows, she’s being pulled by the ankles towards the kitchen. While Teka can’t see or hear very well, she knows she must try if she is going to get out alive. Stephanie is rattling around through the dishes. Teka, paralyzed by fear and pain lies in wait for what Stephanie is about to do.

*She feels Stephanie kneel beside her, and a sharp pain shoots up her side. Teka looks down and sees a box cutter in Stephanie’s hand and blood all around her body.*

Stephanie then rolls away from Teka’s body and laid on the floor. She lay on the floor and started praying, asking for forgiveness for what she’s done and what she is about to do. This woman has the audacity to start praying. That shows that she knew what she was doing was beyond wrong, but she decided to continue anyway.

Soon, she stopped and accepted that she had failed to cut Teka’s baby from her womb. Worried about her son possibly arriving at the house, she then started to clean up and scrub the floors while Teka lied there still. “Can you get up?” She questions Teka.

“No, I can’t.” (Duh Stephanie. You just beat her and cut her open. Of course she can’t get up.)

The woman carries Teka to her bedroom and lies her on a mattress on the floor. Eventually, she stopped bleeding. Stephanie took her phone and switched it off, which meant Teka’s chances of being found were immediately lessened.

Teka Talks

Teka could tell this wasn’t going anywhere positive. But at this moment, she realized that she had the upper hand. She knew a lot about Stephanie. She knew that she had kids, where she lived, what she looked like, and what she drove. While this knowledge could be powerful if she got away, it also meant Stephanie was less likely to let her do that. She would need to be convinced.

She tries to scare her: “People are going to come looking for me. Your best chance is to let me go.” She tries to relate to her: “We both have families. I won’t tell because I don’t believe in keeping people away from their families.” This got to her.

Stephanie started pacing back and forth, nervous and dart-eyed. She kept playing movies to distract both Teka and herself, but the pacing wouldn’t stop. Teka watches closely, gathering evidence. She lays away most of the night, watching and observing. Eventually, she falls asleep.

The next day Stephanie comes in. She’s more relaxed than the night before, but still pacing. Teka finally gets frustrated and asks Stephanie why she just won’t kill her. She replies “I have to get out of here.” Teka takes in the ridiculous hilarity of Stephanie feeling trapped while she was the one being held against her will. But she knew too much, and Stephanie realized that. She was just trying to figure out what to do with her.

The Imprisonment

• December 01, 2009

• December 06, 2009

Stephanie holds Teka prisoner for 3 more nights during which, she slips in and out of consciousness, now battling severe head wounds and losing blood. Since the failed attempt at abducting Teka’s baby, she had been pacing and playing movies, deciding what her next move should be.

She comes in with rags, towels and a big bowl of ice, 2 box cutters, scissors, and a knife. Teka now knows that she had make a decision. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one.

Stephanie duct tapes Teka’s face and head, only leaving a thin sliver under her nose allowing her to breathe. Then, she starts cutting.

*She started at Teka’s pelvis and just started cutting. And Teka could feel every bit of it. She could feel every slice. She just had to lay there and take it, knowing her body didn’t have much strength left. Stephanie was digging in and cutting through every layer of skin and muscle. Finally, she cut into what she thought was Teka’s water sac. But considering that Stephanie isn’t a doctor and didn’t know left from right, she actually cut Teka’s bladder.*

“I already cut the water sac. All I have to do is reach in there and grab the baby. Do you want me to do that right now? Or do you want to go to sleep?” Teka tells Stephanie that she needs a break.

Finally, Teka was able to fall asleep.

Police Involvement

You may be wondering, as I was, what the police were doing about this. She was gone for six days. Was anyone looking for her? Was she reported missing? What was PJ doing? Did he know that she was in trouble when she told him she was fine on the phone? Was he looking for her?

Nothing that I’ve read about this case mentions any missing person report, police searches, nothing of the kind. My theory is one we see in reality all too often, especially in the 2000s when this took place. Teka was homeless and therefore marginalized in the eyes of society and authorities.

These marginalized people are either never reported as missing or labeled as “runaways” and therefore viewed as a lower priority by authorities.

It is unknown if PJ tried to make a report with the police. Maybe he knew he wouldn’t be taken seriously, or maybe he was afraid of involving the authorities. Maybe he did try to make a report and was swept aside, disregarded.

Now this theory isn’t to point blame at any specific party in this article, but rather to discuss the problem that is very common in these true crime cases.

There are many possibilities, but none of them satisfy me. The only situation that would satisfy me would be the situation where every missing person is reported, and every case was taken with the utmost importance.

Luckily in Teka’s case, she was able to fight, escape, and survive. But that isn’t reality in most cases like these.

The Escape

Teka woke up and tried to get her bearings. She looked around. She saw the night light on and Stephanie on the floor. She was asleep in the fetal position, blocking the bedroom door. She suddenly had an urgency to get up and get out. This was the time.

She then asks God silently, “Give me some kind of strength from somewhere. I know if I can stand up I can get out of here.”

She rolls over onto her side and accidentally hits the metal bowl with her ring, making a loud dinging noise. Teka stares at Stephanie, terrified that she’ll wake. She doesn’t, so Teka proceeds. But this is just the first of many roadblocks on Teka’s journey out of hell.

Teka stands and steps over Stephanie’s still body when blood starts dripping down onto her back. She freezes again, terrified that Stephanie will wake up. She doesn’t, and Teka again proceeds.

*Halfway down the hallway, Teka’s stomach and intestines fall out from behind her skin. She has one hand gripped onto her insides “like a football” and the other gripping onto the wall.*

Proceeding carefully, trying not to breathe too heavily, every step is pain. Every step is agony. But she just needs to remain quiet for a bit longer. Just until she’s outside the apartment. Teka makes her way to the front and calmly unlocks the door. The door then makes a loud telling creak, giving Teka away. But she wasn’t going to stick around. She mustered all her strength and ran as fast as she could.

Getting Help

Teka makes her way to the backside of the apartment, far away from Stephanie’s place. She finally cries for help. She screams and hollers and bangs on all the doors. And to her dismay, no one answers. Eventually, she collapses on the stairs.

From the beginning, all she wanted was help. She wanted help for her family and help providing for her baby. Now she wanted help to save her baby and her own life. Both times, no help was to be found.

Then of all people, her attacker came walking down the stairs.

Stephanie scoops Teka up, but she won’t have it. She uses every last ounce of her will to live to fight Stephanie tooth and nail. Finally, a neighbor comes out from his place on the third floor, and looks down the stairs at the fight going on.

Stephanie transforms back into that nice woman she had spoken with on the phone. She calmly tries to explain that Teka is crazy and that she’s just trying to help her. Teka is trying to talk over Stephanie and get his help. This man stares down at them both, trying to assess the situation. How can he not see how wounded she is? How can he not see how much she needs his help?

*She then looks down and realizes her blue shirt blends in with the blood stains on the front. He can’t see her wounds at all. She looks up, stares straight into his eyes, and lifts up her shirt. His jaw dropped and he ran back to call 911.*

Stephanie then looked Teka in the eyes. A look that was twisted with theregret of not killing Teka when she could have. She then ran off and left Teka lying on the stairs.

The Survival

The EMS quickly arrived and rushed her off to the hospital. After the surgery when she woke up, her husband’s face was the first face she saw. The first thing she did was ask about her baby.

“You gave birth to an 8-pound, 2-ounce baby girl.” Tears of gratitude and disbelief filled her hospital room with the realization that not only she survived, but her sweet baby as well. And it became clear.

“I’m going to name her Miracle because she survived and I survived.”

Miracle had a will to live and survive just like her mother. She curled into a tiny ball right underneath Teka’s ribcage where she was safe from Stephanie’s attack.

The Attacker

Speaking of Stephanie, whatever happened to her? Well, she came forward to the police later that day and turned herself in. And Stephanie actually turned out to be one Veronica Deramous. Veronica had given Teka a fake name.

She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in jail.

She is eligible for parole this year, 2022.

Her friends and family later informed police and media that Veronica had been telling everyone she knew that she was pregnant. In reality, she never was. This lie then escalated, which they always do, and Veronica, who was severely mentally ill, felt stuck and started digging further into this lie. This is when she made the decision to lure Teka in with promises of materials and resources for her baby. The whole time, Veronica was plotting to instead abduct Teka’s unborn child.

Despite her terrible choices and actions, Teka and Miracle survived.

I Survived Because…

Teka and Miracle healed fast and were able to return home to PJ. They then moved to Washington DC to start their own family. Finally, though she swam through some of the roughest waters to get there, she made a better life for herself and her family.

When asked why she survived, Teka said this:

I survived because I was coming to a point in my life where I started to love myself and respect myself and cherish life. I also survived because of God and my support system, I know a lot of people love me. And I know that God loves me.

And like they say, God looks after babies and fools. And at that time, I had a baby and I was a fool.

Teka Adams, I Survived (S6, E8)

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