Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 7

UNSOLVED DISAPPEARANCE Homicide probing case of missing mom Tot witness to 2-year-old mystery By NICOLE WEISENSEE EGAN weisennphillynews.com "Mommy died," Amaru Muhamma told a Philadelphia polic offic er. "They were fighting. Mommy was bleeding Mommy got hit with a rock." i Kit ther, hopes the homicide detectives can finally get him some answers about his daughter's fate. "I already know how this is going to turn out," said Muhammad, 46, who lives in Atlanta. "My daughter's gone.

I just want to recover her." The Citizens' Crime Commission of the Delaware Valley is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Aesha Muhammad's killer. David Muhamma hopes the reward will spur someone who knows what happened to his daughter to come forward. "If anyone could help bring this to closure, bring this to an end, they could bring peace to us," said a heartbr oken Muhamma his voice quavering. "This is really destroying us." Added Aesha's sister, Wahkita Doss: "Every time the news comes on and says a body was found it's like, 'Is that It's just so hard." Aesha Muhamma was enrolled in the Venus Beauty Academy, in Darby, and was working at a beauty salon when she disappeared, her family said. She had been living with her sister, Rasheedah Doss, in Chester, but wanted to be closer to school so she began renting a room on 56th Street near Hunter from Charles Dockins not long before she disappear ed.

Dockins "had this big house and he was renovating it, fixing it up and all and he needed money to help with things," Doss said. "So they agreed she would pay a little rent and she would have a room that was closer to school." Muhamma and Amaru's father shared custody of the toddler so the father was often with her, too, relatives said. It wasn't long before tensions began rising between Dockins, 57, and Muhamma d. By Nov. 30, Muhamma was fed up.

"She told me she wanted Wakh-ita to come get her because she and Dockins had been arguing," said Solomon Muhamma 20, Aesha's half-brother, in a recent TWO YEARS ago tomorrow, little Amaru Muhamma showed up on the steps of a Newark, N.J., church during late-morning Sunda servic es. Whoever dropped the 2-year-old off banged loudly on the front door before departing. When a deacon went to see who was causing the ruckus he found Amaru Muhamma outside crying. The child was able to tell church members his first name but not much else. By week's end Amaru was reunited with his family but not his mother, 23-year-old Aesha Muhamma d.

Amaru told his relatives and later police a chilling tale about what happened to his mother, whom he'd been staying with at a West Philadelphia boarding house run by the father of Ae-sha's half-brother. "Mommy died," he told a Philadelphia police officer. "They were fighting. Mommy was bleeding Momm got hit with a rock." Amaru named the person he said killed his mother, but the Daily News is withholding his name because no one has been charged. Aesha Muhamma d's whereabouts remain a mystery.

Detectives from the Southwest Detective Division's special investigations unit spent months trying to find her. She has not made contact with her close-knit family since Thursday, Nov. 30, 2000, and recent credit checks by investigators show no activity from her during the past two years. Fearing the worst, veteran homicide detectives John Harkins and Howard Peterman have now taken over the case "She's been missing a long time. She was a competent and caring mother and, after putting our heads together, we've taken over this case because it appear foul play might be involved," said Lt.

Mark Deegan, commander of the Homicide Division's special investigations unit, which tackles "cold" cases. David Muhamma Aesha's fa m2 "If anyone could help bring this to closur bring this to an end, they could bring peace to us," said a heartbr oken David Muhamma (left), his voice quavering. "This is really destroying us." Photos: John AmisFor the Daily News David Muhammad (above) grieves daughter Aesha Muhammad (right), who disappeared two years ago and is feared dead. See MISSING Next Page PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS PAGE 7 MONDAY, DECEMBER2, 2002.