Woman gets life without parole for running her 9-year-old granddaughter to death
Following the recommendation of the Alabama jury that convicted a woman of capital murder earlier this year for running her 9-year-old granddaughter to death, a judge on Monday sentenced Joyce Hardin Garrard to life without parole.
The 50-year-old woman in the Etowah County case, told the judge at one point, “What you give me is what I’ll have to do,” AL.com reports.
The victim, Savannah Hardin, was being punished for telling a lie about eating candy by being forced to run for hours in the family’s yard on Feb. 17, 2012.
The defense argued that the child’s death was caused by a hospital’s failure to treat her for low sodium after she collapsed and suffered a seizure. and intends to appeal Garrard’s conviction. Her defense attorney, Dani Bone, told AL.com that he plans to appeal.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Grandma faces capital murder case in running death of girl, 9, despite med-mal issue”
ABAJournal.com: “Jury convicts grandma in child’s running death; will consider death penalty”
AL.com: “‘It’s all wrong’: Joyce Garrard’s family speaks out on her verdict”
AL.com: “Savannah Hardin’s birth mother: Joyce Garrard ‘shouldn’t be spared’”
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Married couple face first-degree murder charges in water-intoxication death of girl, 5”
ABAJournal.com: “Dad and stepmom get 35 years in water-intoxication death of girl, 5”