Brett Bohlinger—Sanquita Bell

Brett Bohlinger—Sanquita Bell is a relationship that moves beyond the formal roles of homebound teacher and student without erasing them. Over five months of working together, the two become friends; when Sanquita dies after giving birth, her request that Brett care for her child makes that friendship both an intimate bond and a responsibility that continues beyond Sanquita’s life.

From Teacher and Student to Friends

Brett’s connection with Sanquita takes shape through homebound teaching and repeated visits at Joshua House. The setting places their relationship within ordinary acts of assistance rather than a single declaration of closeness: Brett calls ahead, arrives to meet Sanquita, and spends time with her there. At the end of one visit, Brett gathers the empty baskets and says she will see Sanquita on Monday, a small sign of continuity in a life that is otherwise being disrupted by illness and pregnancy.

The relationship is not presented as care flowing in only one direction. When Brett wonders whether staying overnight intrudes on Sanquita’s personal space, she looks to Sanquita for a response rather than assuming that help is automatically welcome. Sanquita, whose arms are crossed, meets Brett’s eyes and gives her a thumbs-up. Brett is close to tears. The gesture answers a practical question—whether Brett may stay—while also marking the trust that has developed between them. Brett’s concern for Sanquita includes attention to her wishes and boundaries, not just a determination to act on her behalf.

Their conversations also make space for Sanquita’s own perspective. On a cold morning, Brett drives her to an appointment with a physician. Sanquita rubs her bare hands near the car’s heat vent, and for several miles they ride in silence. Near Carroll Avenue, Sanquita softly asks whether Brett had wanted children. The exchange brings Brett’s private hopes into a relationship that has until then been described through teaching and assistance. The evidence does not resolve why Sanquita asks, but the question establishes that she is attentive to Brett’s life as well as her own circumstances.

Care During Pregnancy and Crisis

Brett’s support becomes more immediate as Sanquita’s pregnancy advances. At one point, Brett reaches the car and finds Sanquita lying across the back seat, massaging her belly. Sanquita’s face is bloated and glistening with sweat, though she smiles when Brett appears. Brett squeezes her hand. The scene places physical vulnerability beside familiarity: Sanquita is unwell, but the two meet with the ease of people whose relationship has grown through sustained contact.

The strain does not remove humor or everyday detail from their exchanges. Sanquita jokes that an apparent loss of seven hundred dollars would not be made right by Brett’s proposed response, adding that it took a long time to save the money. The moment gives Sanquita a voice beyond that of a patient in crisis. She can tease, object, and insist on the significance of her own hard-earned money; Brett’s care does not make Sanquita merely its passive recipient.

Brett’s anxiety is especially visible in the aftermath of a difficult period. She goes through her daily routine mechanically, thinking about Sanquita and the baby, then hurries back to Joshua House expecting to find Sanquita failing. Instead, Sanquita is propped against her pillow in a brightly lit room, drinking juice, while Tanya and Mercedes tell stories about their own labor. Sanquita’s eyes widen when she sees Brett at the door. Brett embraces her and tells her she is special. The contrast between Brett’s fearful expectation and Sanquita’s temporary strength makes the visit a moment of relief, but not a resolution: Brett remains watchful, and Sanquita’s condition continues to shape their days.

A Promise at the End of Sanquita’s Life

The defining change in their relationship comes when Sanquita is dying. With great effort, she lifts her face toward Brett and asks Brett to take her baby. Brett promises that she will, that the child will have a wonderful life, and that Sanquita will be spoken of every day. In the same promise, Brett names the qualities she will preserve in the child’s memory: Sanquita’s intelligence and how hard she worked. Her answer is overcome by sobs, but it is also specific. She does not offer only comfort in the moment; she commits to carrying Sanquita’s story into the child’s future.

The request gives the friendship a new and consequential form. Brett later identifies herself as someone who worked with Sanquita for the five months before Sanquita’s death, serving as her homebound teacher and friend. At the custody interview, Brett describes their relationship and Sanquita’s dying wish that Brett keep the baby. She says plainly that she loved Sanquita. The account joins professional history to personal attachment without treating one as a substitute for the other: Brett’s role as teacher explains how they met, while friendship and love explain the significance of the promise.

The Written Request and Its Afterlife

Sanquita’s wish is not preserved only in Brett’s recollection. At the custody proceedings, a judge presents a notarized statement dated March 5, several weeks before Sanquita’s death. Signed by Sanquita Jahzmen Bell, it declares her intentions for her unborn child should the child outlive her, and names Brett as the person she wants to receive sole custody. The document describes Brett as both Sanquita’s best friend and her homebound teacher, placing the two dimensions of their relationship together in Sanquita’s own account.

The written statement matters because it carries Sanquita’s agency into a formal process after she can no longer speak for herself. Brett’s testimony supplies the lived history of their five months together and confirms the promise made at the bedside; the notarized declaration independently records Sanquita’s preference. The evidence establishes the request and its presentation in court, not the final legal outcome. What it does establish is that the bond had become strong enough for Sanquita to entrust Brett with the future of her child—and for Brett to understand that accepting the child also meant keeping Sanquita present in the life she had promised to protect.