Did grandma on 911 tape ask for a 'smoke' or 'throw'? Word disputed at trial for child's death
A defense lawyer quizzed a 911 dispatcher in Etowah County, Alabama, about one word last Tuesday during the trial of a woman accused of punishing her granddaughter by making her run until she collapsed and died.
The grandmother, Joyce Hardin Garrard, can be heard on the background of the 911 tape during the call for help made by Jessica Hardin, the stepmother of 9-year-old Savannah Hardin, report the Associated Press and Al.com.
“Savannah. Savannah,” Garrard can be heard saying in the background. “Savannah, open your eyes.”
The 911 dispatcher testified that both women sounded unusually calm as Savannah lay unconscious, and Garrard can even be heard asking, “Give me a smoke.”
Defense lawyer Richard Rhea suggested that Garrard asked for something else, such as a blanket to cover the girl. “Did she, in fact, say ‘Give me a throw?’ ” Rhea asked the dispatcher, Lori Beth Beggs.
“No. ‘Give me a smoke,’ ” Beggs responded.
Testimony in the case was scheduled to resume today.
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