For three hours, this little girl ran around her house, without stopping....she was just in 3rd grade. After three hours of running, little Savannah collapsed and had a seizure. She died Monday, and an autopsy showed she was severely dehydrated and had a very low potassium level. The state pathologist has ruled it a homicide, and now the grandmother and stepmother who gave little Savannah this punishment are being charged with aggravated child abuse and state authorities may seek the death penalty.Here is one of the confusing elements of this story...Savannah's father filed for divorce from the stepmother in 2010, citing that she had alcoholic tendencies and was bipolar and refused to take her meds. So, why would dad leave little Savannah with someone who is in this state. Ironically, the stepmom gave birth right after being arrested. Great!
The dad is a contractor with the military and was in Pakistan...he had to fly for three days to get home to his daughter, kept alive on life support just so he could say goodbye. So to the dad, wasn't there someone else? I mean, this is the same wife/stepmother that also gave their own 3 year old a poisonous substance and had to have the stomach pumped. The same wife/mom/stepmom also took that 3 year old and hid the child from the dad at one point. But he still left his daughter with this woman. Maybe he felt his mother would take care of his daughter, but it didn't quite work out that way. These women are obviously taking out anger or hatred on the little girl. With a history of child abuse, it is sure to come out that this little girl was tortured by these women over and over.
The neighbors saw little Savannah running and running on that day...but didn't think much of it. Kids play outside, right? I am sure the neighbors were not glued to the window watching. But the guilt they must now feel...and the guilt of the father leaving his daughter with these two women who have essentially run his daughter to her death.
If you were on this jury, would you find these two women guilty of murder? Aggravated Child Abuse? Or innocent?
For Grandma: Guilty manslaughter §212 StGB
ReplyDelete5-8 years in prison, plus the added sentence she can no longer function as temporary guardian in any capacity (no babysitting for Granda again)
.
For Mom: Guilty of child neglect but probably not eligible for punishment, due to her inability of making rational decisions. Where it here, there would be a Youth Authority Office investigation for child endangerment.
.
For Mom's new baby: custody of by the Youth Authority until it's clarified if the father of the child is capable of caring for it.
.
For Dad: Guilty of child endangerment, by knowing allowing his child to be in the custody of someone whose abilities were questionable, and failing to notify the Youth Authority of this. His only defence would be arguing he put the child in Grandma's custody - not his ex-wife's.
.
Neighbours: Guilty of Failure to Help a Person in Need of Dire Emergency Help (a crime where I live), suspended sentence of 3 months + fine for every neighbour who looked away.
So you live in Germany? Isn't it interesting how different the laws are for different countries. The said this morning that both the stepmother and the grandmother will now be charged with murder. They have also found out that this is not the first time that this little girl had to run as a punishment. She ran the equivalent of a marathon...with no water! The did take the baby away as soon as it was born...they won't even say if it was a boy or girl. I had not thought of possible charges for the dad, but you're right..he did knowingly leave his daughter with someone who he knew had mental issues. As for the neighbors, they are now saying that someone did call authorities, but no one actually came to the house until the child had actually collapsed and was unresponsive due to seizures. So sad, isn't it?
DeleteSo sad- I think everyone involved is guilty of not helping this poor child!
ReplyDeleteEveryone is guilty including daf. So sad.
ReplyDelete