Girl, 9, dies after being forced to run three hours as punishment

Tough love? No. Obvious abuse.

ATTALLA, ALA.—Roger Simpson said he saw a little girl running outside her home but didn’t give it another thought. Police say he witnessed a murder in progress.

Authorities say 9-year-old Savannah Hardin died after being forced to run for three hours as punishment for lying to her grandmother about eating candy bars. Severely dehydrated, the girl had a seizure and died days later. Now, her grandmother and stepmother face murder charges.

“A 9-year-old child is actually run to death in this day and time,” Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin said at a news conference Wednesday.

Source.




I'm not sure why people feel the need to take out their aggression on their kids. Transference of anger is probably one of the most pitiful traits known to man. There is no way someone could actually believe 3 hours of running is appropriate "punishment" for a nine year old.

It isn't. It's callous and abusive, and now the mother and the grandmother both face murder charges.

I actually had to log in after months of just browsing around just to write that I hope these people get the death penalty.

They should both be fed candy bars until they die.

Poetic Justice.

Originally posted by PsychoReaper4
I actually had to log in after months of just browsing around just to write that I hope these people get the death penalty.

Personally, I think it's better for them to be incarcerated for the rest of their lives. Each day having to wake up to the fact of what they did, and pity themselves for what they thought was an "accident."

But I see where you're coming from.

reply to post by boncho
I will agree that the punishment was stupid and they face some liability.

But murder? Oh hell no. If I put a gun in your hand and say I'll ground you if you don't shoot yourself in the face, did I murder you - even if I yell at you to do it? Were they driving her with whips like a sled dog, chasing her around on the run to make sure she kept going? Was she wearing a shock collar and getting stunned if she stopped?

Tragic, definitely. But not murder. Negligent homicide at most for not making sure she was hydrated - possible child abuse, even though it was self inflicted.

reply to post by boncho


Parenting gone bad, you got to have some space for the children to mess up and learn. RIP to the sent child

How do you force somebody to run for three hours?

According to witnesses there wasnt a gun to her head.

Verbal threats? Learned submission to authority?

Child or not there must have been moments of extreme fatigue and excruciating pain.

What would compel her to run for three hours rather than run away or run out of sight and sit down or simply ignore the authority who poses a ridiculous task? Sure, at 9 she probably didnt know it was ridiculous but sooner or later her body had to be saying "WTF are you doing!?!" So much so that one would think it impossible to do without months or years of endurance training.

Maybe I was an especially spiteful and independent toddler who disrespected my elders from day one but that is certainly something I never would have even pretended to submit to.

All of the adults involved are grade-a a-holes and deserving of punishment certainly. But I really want to understand what was going on in that childs mind. It could be a key to conquering lethargy.

They should suffer the same fate she did as their punishment.

reply to post by Avalessa


Agreed

What were they thinking!!!!

reply to post by boncho


I remember I used to move a lot in bed as a child. I told my parents it was excess energy...I know now that it was actually tension, and I was pretty much "working it out", in possibly the most literal sense.

Their solution? Run up and down the driveway (literally, as the driveway was a hill) for 5 minutes, then do pushups, then run again.

"Pace yourself, pace yourself!"

Woman, YOU do this and pace yourself!

I think we need to have people take parenting classes, and exams, every year or so to make sure they aren't abusing their child. Tests would obviously be engineered for each psychological and physical level...

Just my 2 cents.

reply to post by boncho

I would sentence them to marine basic training until death.At their age and condition,I'm guessing 2 weeks max.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere

All of the adults involved are grade-a a-holes and deserving of punishment certainly. But I really want to understand what was going on in that childs mind. It could be a key to conquering lethargy.

I grew up under a strict regime. And I often joke about it among friends today...

In fact, I once drove a friend out to a daily walk to school that I incurred for punishment. I tricked him in leaving the vehicle, and told him he could walk my old route (As we had many jokes leading up to this)...

Long story short, I drove along the road and parked, let him catch up and repeated, until he had finished the route I walked as a pre-teen. It took him (an adult) about two hours. (I believe it was 3 for when I did it.)

As a kid I didn't question my parents, as they were my parents, although with that trust comes responsibility. And as you are older you question the choices they made because your outlook changes. If I knew then what I know now, I never would have gone along with that punishment. But as a kid, you don't know any better.

reply to post by Praetorius

But murder? Oh hell no. If I put a gun in your hand and say I'll ground you if you don't shoot yourself in the face, did I murder you - even if I yell at you to do it? Were they driving her with whips like a sled dog, chasing her around on the run to make sure she kept going? Was she wearing a shock collar and getting stunned if she stopped?

You could put a gun to my head and I still wouldn't do it. I don't get your analogy.

I'm a grown man, gun to my head or not I'm not going to run for you. This was a 9 year old girl that was told to run by her family.

She may have felt guilty for lying. She may have just been afraid. I don't care about the reasoning the 9 year old had for going along with it, I care about the parents that forced her.

reply to post by boncho
I definitely understand the sentiment, Boncho. But there's a big difference between TELLING someone to do something, and murdering them (that was the point of my analogy)...or even *forcing* them to do something, as you said. The witness testimony in your article states no one was seen coercing her - she was just told to do it, and did, apparently.

So, I can't get behind the murder charge or the outcry here to the extent I'm seeing it. The adults are culpable to a degree, but not one so extreme as being charged with murder - some form of direct physical coercion would make it a different story, but telling someone to do something stupid doesn't get us there, in my opinion.

reply to post by Praetorius


I will have to agree to disagree. I believe, especially at the age of 9 the parents are responsible for the child's actions under their direction. It isn't hard to brainwash a child, that is why they are protected. I don't think it would be that hard to convince children to do a lot of stupid things that could get them killed. Hence me having no problem with a murder charge.

reply to post by boncho


On the brainwashing, isnt it a little odd that the parents power over the child could have her run herself to death over a three hour period yet it wasnt powerful enough to keep her from eating some candy?

reply to post by Praetorius


Question:

If you gave a 9 year old a loaded gun, told them it was a toy to play with their friends, and a dead child was the result...

Is it the 9 year old's fault for not checking to see if the gun was real or not?



Alternatively:


So you tell your kid to go for a swim, maybe even paddle them out on a boat and drop the in the middle of the lake. Is it the kids fault you didn't put a life jacket on them? You knew they weren't the strongest swimmer, (being that they were 9), are you negligent, or did you sentence them to death?

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
reply to post by boncho

 

On the brainwashing, isnt it a little odd that the parents power over the child could have her run herself to death over a three hour period yet it wasnt powerful enough to keep her from eating some candy?

That's tricky.

But I can tell you that just because the parents have authority over her, doesn't mean she would try and get away with something behind their backs. Obviously, direct confrontation result in extreme punishments, so I wouldn't imagine the kid was afraid to deal with the parent directly.

If you look at prisons, it is similar. The guards have all the power. Inmates will listen to a guard to their face, act as they are supposed to, but resent them and break the rules when they are not present.

Well , you all will be happy to know that the little girls stepmother gave birth just hours after being arrested.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Chances are, we'll find that there was some serious abuse involved. A nine year old is not hard to control and manipulate. Children do not think like adults. What compelled her to run for three hours straight to the point that she suffered a seizure from dehydration and electrolyte imbalance? I'm betting she thought there was something worse.

I honestly don't understand -how- she ran herself to death. As an adult? I could probably run for three hours straight. I would surely become extremely exhausted by the end of it, but I probably wouldn't die. But that's an adult, and a child shouldn't be nearly capable of that sort of continued movement unless they are extremely well trained and/or a super child.

Give it time, there has to be something way more to this.