Mother who asked 320-pound niece to sit on her 'naughty' daughter jailed after girl was smothered to death
An elderly adoptive mother who allowed her daughter to be crushed to death for being 'naughty' has been jailed for 20 years. 71-year-old Grace Smith let her 320-pound niece sit on her daughter to discipline her. The act killed the 9-year-old child.
Smith's niece sat on little Dericka's back for around 10 minutes as she bent her face down a chair in Pensacola, Florida. The 3ft tall child died due to a lack of oxygen and a shocked doctor described her injuries the worst the doctor had seen in 20 years. Smith has been sentenced to prison and was convicted of the aggravated manslaughter and abuse of a child.
Smith's 66-year-old niece Veronica Posey was jailed for life in March after being charged with first-degree murder. Smith's 65-year-old husband James is already serving 10 years in prison for his involvement in little Dericka's death. According to an autopsy, the girl had been severely beaten on the day or days before she died in October 2017.
The medical examiner described bruises on her bottom as "injury, on top of injury, on top of injury." Smith also admitted to hitting her and had called Posey to discipline Dericka for "acting up" with her eight-year-old sister. Posey took a ruler and a thin pipe to give it "weight" and then assisted Smith to whip the child, the prosecutor Amy Shea said.
The girl was then forced to kneel down in front of an armchair and lean her body forward across the seat so that her head was face down in the cushion. Posey then sat on the child's back which killed her because she could not breathe. Dericka reportedly screamed out that she could not breathe twice and Posey called 911 after she got up.
Later on, Smith's husband James had admitted that he did not do anything to intervene or stop the heinous attack. He went on to plead guilty to aggravated manslaughter.
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