We’ve witnessed the fake Facebook phenomenon before.
That lovey-dovey couple always posting pictures of romantic fireside dinners and cozy movie nights at home, along with smarmy protestations of love and blessings. Then you find out he’s bopping his secretary, and she’s popping Prozac like Skittles.
Or the friend who’s frequently checking in from some cool bar or exotic vacation, until we learn he’s checking into rehab. Then there’s the perfect parents with their perfect overachieving children, whose run-ins with the law never seem to make the page.
Facebook is not real life. Reality is never as rosy as Facebook suggests. People put their best smiley faces forward on social media and tend to omit the painful parts.
We know this. But nowhere is the difference between social media and reality so stark as in the life of Alyce Davenport. And her countless public postings of love for a mother who always stood by her reminds us once again that the real world is far more complicated than cyberspace.
The 30-year-old Southbridge woman gained instant infamy this week when my colleague Kim Ring reported that Davenport skipped her mother’s funeral Friday because allegedly she was busy breaking into the dead woman’s house and stealing a safe filled with items worth $90,000. Davenport was held on $15,000 bail after pleading not guilty Monday to seven charges, while an alleged accomplice was held without bail on a warrant.
According to police and friends of Davenport’s late mother, Audra Johnson of Warren, Alyce has a history of larceny, identity theft, forgery and drug use. She’s also a suspect in the theft of life insurance checks paid to her brother after their father’s death, police said.
Yet, despite a life that can best be described as troubled, Davenport’s Facebook page is replete with pictures of her and her mom, arms around each other and smiling, as late as three weeks before her mother’s death. Constant declarations of devotion and thanks belie the cravenness of the alleged theft. Last January, she posted a picture of her 30th birthday cake and wrote, “I truly am both, blessed and thankful.” Her mother responded: “Love you.” Alyce replied: “I love you too.”
After Alyce posted pictures of her birthday dinner, her mother wrote: “I am so glad you enjoyed your Big Birthday Dinner with us! You are my princess sweetie! XOX.” Alyce thanked her mom “for being the mother you are to me!” And she wrote, “You will always be my first and forever truest love.”
Also in January, Alyce wrote, “It's exciting to start my 30's with much wisdom, improvement, ability, determination, peace and happiness!”
In October of 2016, she again declared “true love” for the mother whose memory she defiled: “She is my motivation, biggest fan/cheerleader and the only person I owe everything too. I appreciate and love you mom.”
Five months before that post, in Pinellas County, Florida, Alyce was arrested after she allegedly threw her live-in boyfriend against a door and stabbed him with a steak knife. Her boyfriend was 65 or older, and she was charged with domestic-related battery on a person 65 or older and domestic-related aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
“The defendant is much larger and younger than the victim,” deputies said in a police report. “The victim has mobility issues and is unable to retreat and flee. The victim stated that the defendant hid his phone from him.”
On Jan. 6, after Warren police posted the circumstances of Alyce’s alleged theft of her mother’s belongings, residents referred to her as a “scumbag” and “trash.” But a longtime friend of Audra Johnson, while calling the act “inexcusable,” said Alyce has struggled for years with mental illness and drug use.
Kimberly Jane Lam also wrote that Alyce’s mother “loved her unconditionally,” and that Alyce lost both of her parents to cancer within five months. She ended her post with a poignant plea for understanding.
“So instead of lashing out at someone you may or may not know, say a prayer for people such as Alyce and the families that are heartbroken by all the Alyces in this world.”
Facebook is filled with the warm glow of happiness and love. Real life can break your heart.