My name is Sahviye Johnson, and I am writing on behalf of my sister, Samaria Bates, and her fiancé, Kenneth Sauls, during the most unimaginable loss a parent can endure.
Samaria and Kenneth were overjoyed to learn they were expecting twin girls. On October 23, 2025, Samaria went into early labor and delivered her daughters prematurely. Aside from being born early, the girls had no major health complications and were placed in the care of the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital NICU in Fort Worth, Texas. For six weeks, they remained there to grow stronger, focus on feeding, and gain weight so they could eventually come home safely.
On Friday, December 5, 2025, our family’s lives changed forever. Samaria’s father arrived at the NICU around midday to visit the twins, as he had routinely done, but was denied access. He was told that a “sterile procedure” was being performed and that no family members were allowed back. During this time, a NICU nurse later admitted she had noticed Samaria had appeared pale as early as 8:00 a.m., but this concern was not reported until approximately 11:30 a.m.
Throughout this medical emergency, Samaria and Kenneth were not notified by hospital staff. They only received information by physically being present and asking urgent questions. Tragically, despite their efforts, Samaria did not survive. To this day, our family has not been given a clear explanation of what went wrong.
Since her passing, every attempt to meet peacefully with NICU staff, nurse management, medical professionals, and hospital executives to understand what happened has been unsuccessful. We are left grieving the loss of a beautiful baby girl while being met with silence by the very institution entrusted with her care.
We believe that failures in communication and patient care contributed to the untimely loss of our niece, and we are committed to pursuing justice—not only for her, but to help prevent this from happening to another family.
Please keep our family in your prayers. Any donation, share, or kind word means more than we can express. Your support will help us honor Samaria’s brief but meaningful life and continue the fight for truth and justice for our baby girl.
#JusticeForSamaria
#StandForJustice
#TheSamariaAct1023