Granny gets life in prison for running 9-year-old to death
Print Edition
An Alabama woman convicted of running her 9-year-old granddaughter to death as punishment for lying about candy has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Joyce Hardin Garrard, the diminutive grandmother whom prosecutors depicted as the 鈥渄rill sergeant from hell鈥, stood before the judge on Monday, and told him if she could have anything in the world, it would be to have her granddaughter Savannah back with her today.
Prosecutors said Garrard forced 9-year-old Savannah to run for hours after school after Garrard became enraged over the child鈥檚 lie.
A jury convicted Garrard of capital murder in March and recommended the life sentence over death by a 7-5 vote.
鈥淲e accept the recommendation that the jury made,鈥 Etowah County District Attorney Jimmie Harp told Judge Billy Ogletree.
Garrard denied that she meant to harm the child. She told investigators the girl wanted to run and get faster after finishing second in a race at school, according to police testimony.
Prosecutors depicted Garrard as a woman who became so enraged that she made the child run until she dropped.
Testimony at trial showed that Savannah collapsed and vomited in 2012 outside her rural home following an afternoon of running and carrying sticks. She died several days later in a hospital after doctors removed her from life support.
Surveillance video from a school bus showed Garrard talking with the bus driver, Raenna Holmes, about Savannah taking candy without paying from another student who was selling it. Garrard told Holmes: 鈥淪he鈥檚 going to run until I tell her to stop.鈥
Investigators said an autopsy revealed the girl was severely dehydrated and compared her condition to that of an athlete who ran a marathon without drinking any water. Defense lawyers challenged the autopsy findings.
Prosecutors during the trial said the 9-year-old girl suffered a painful death at the hands of a woman who was supposed to protect her, her grandmother.
鈥淟ife without parole in the state of Alabama means you come out of Julia Tutwiler Prison in a pine box,鈥 Harp said after the sentencing. 鈥淲e talk about the death penalty but life inside Julia Tutwiler Prison ... until the point she ceases to exist, is a death sentence to me. It鈥檚 just a question of when that death occurs.鈥
Defense lawyer Dani Bone said he was pleased the judge and prosecutor agreed to uphold the jury鈥檚 recommendation of a life sentence. 鈥淛oyce handled this like a Christian woman with strong faith,鈥 Bone said.
The girl鈥檚 stepmother Jessica Mae Hardin is charged with murder and awaiting a separate trial.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
