In a bizarre yet horrific turn of events, a nine year old girl was allegedly killed by a 150 kg Florida woman, who sat on her as punishment.
Veronica Green Posey, who is facing charges of homicide and cruelty toward a child, told investigators that her niece, Dericka Lindsay, had been misbehaving, so she decided to sit on top of the child as punishment.
Minutes later, Dericka complained of breathlessness. She was unconscious by the time Posey stood up, according to an arrest report from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities said Posey called 911 and started CPR on the child.
Dericka’s mother, Grace Smith, 69, told investigators that she was having problems with her daughter’s behavior, so she called Posey, her niece, to help discipline the child, said a report by Washington Post. She told investigators that Posey hit the girl with a ruler and metal pipe before the child ran to an armchair.
The arrest report also charged Dericka’s parents Grace Joan Smith, 69, and James Edmund Smith, with child neglect.
James Smith told investigators that Posey sat on the girl for about 10 minutes before she complained she couldn’t breathe. She stayed on the chair for an additional two minutes before getting up, he said.
Issuing an statement on the incident, secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families, Mike Carroll called the child’s death ‘appalling’.
“As the family has a prior interaction with the child welfare system, a thorough quality assurance review will be conducted to review all prior interactions this family has had with the child welfare system,” the statement said.
AP inputs
