Alabama Woman to Be Sentenced in Granddaughter's Running Death
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On Monday afternoon, Etowah County Circuit Judge Billy Ogletree will sentence Joyce Hardin Garrard, 50, to either the death penalty or life in prison, the Associated Press reports. Garrard was convicted in March of killing her granddaughter after she told a lie about candy.
According to the AP, prosecutors alleged that Garrard made her granddaughter, Savannah Hardin, run for hours after telling the lie:
Testimony showed that the child collapsed and vomited outside her rural home following an afternoon of running and carrying sticks, and she died several days later in a hospital after doctors removed her from life support.
“This case is the only case I know of where the perpetrator forced the victim to participate in her own death,” Deputy District Attorney Marcus Reid told jurors. “Joyce Garrard forced Savannah Hardin to help kill herself.”
Garrard was found guilty in March of the February 2012 death. The Huntsville Times reported that five of the jury voted for the death sentence and seven for life in prison. Alabama judges, however, have a habit of overruling juries’ recommendations.
Photo via AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.