Hannah Overton, a Corpus Christi homemaker and mother of five, was convicted of capital murder in 2007 for the death Andrew Burd, the four-year-old boy she and her husband were in the process. The boy was diagnosed with a toxic salt overdose and died the following day. Hannah, we met a couple of times, and Dabney and I visited your grandparents several times in Tappahannock. Ill put it this way. Overton spent seven years in prison for the murder of a young foster child that she says she didn't commit. A comment someone made was that it appeared that this child had been in a fight with a porcupine, the physician stated. It is unclear, read the courts ruling, whether the state actually knew of Dr. Cortess opinion. The court also ruled that the wording of the jury charge was free from error. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declined the opportunity to reconsider the decision. She had studied years earlier to be an EMT, she explained, and although she had never worked as a paramedic, she had felt confident in her training. The mood in the car was giddy; the kids were excitedly discussing the news that they would have a baby sister when Larry, distracted, ran a stop sign and collided with another car. But after Hannahs conviction, the DAs office offered him several plea deals, each of which required him to acknowledge that he had intentionally caused Andrews death. Corpus Christis introduction to Hannah came the following week, when she and Larry were arrested and led past a bank of TV cameras outside the Nueces County jail. During closing arguments, Gilmore emphasized that Hannah had no motive to kill Andrew and that the state had failed to prove that she had intentionally caused the boys death. Dabney will be missed by many. Yet according to the unusual wording of the jury charge, jurors had to believe just one of two scenarios to find Hannah guilty: that she deliberately made Andrew ingest a lethal amount of salt or that she purposely neglected to get timely medical attention, knowing that this would kill him. He was a good guy and a good friend. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians, The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition. Yet if anyone was up to the task, most everyone agreed, it was the Overtons, and Hannah in particular. But he was adamant that the boys death had not been accidental. . It is a small thing for one who has suffered so greatly.". probably to punish his behavior, that then goes into cardiorespiratory arrest.. The Carvers, like most members of Calvary Chapel, never doubted her innocence. In 2007, Hannah Overton was sentenced to life in prison for the death of her 4-year-old foster son. My infrequent visits to my home of Richmond were always highlighted when I ran into Dabney and spend some time to catch up with one another. Nueces County District Attorney Mark Skurka had charged Overton a second time for murder after her release. Hannah - Please accept our sincere condolences on your loss. One attorney was even moved to tears explaining how sorry he was for the mistakes he had made in Overton's case. When Andrew complained of being hungry that afternoon, Hannah gave him more of the leftover soup. The thoughts and prayers of your co-workers are with you and your family. He was a supportive friend to so many people, including me. Cortes believed that Andrews death was accidental. Hannah shrugged off the teachers warnings, certain that Andrew would improve once he had the stability of a permanent home. That Larry is able to be with the children at all, much less raise them, is a huge blessing, he told me. Your family will be in my thoughts and prayers. Hannah Overton spent seven years in prison until her conviction was overturned. There were the charred remnants of his Spider-Man sheets in the fire pit. The paperwork Orr now forwarded to him, which showed that Andrews stomach contained a great deal of water, only confirmed the clinical directors initial conclusion. Our paths crossed later in life and we renewed our friendship. Dabney was always smiling, no matter what was going on in his life. Over the course of the three-week-long trial, Eastwood sought to convince jurors that a mother with no history of violence or mental illness had force-fed her child to deatha scenario that each prosecution witness helped, incrementally, to suggest was possible. Impatient to return to the boys bedside, she gave a hurried, disjointed account of the day that omitted critical details, such as how she had found Andrew in the pantry unattended, and she made only fleeting mention of his unusual eating habits. Larry outside his family's home, in Corpus Christi, on November 22. A committed Christian, he had gone on mission trips with his family since he was a child, including a fourteen-month stint in Papua New Guinea and several treks across Mexico. Hannah R. (Saem) Overton was born c. 1977. That Sunday, October 1, Larry took the other kids to church while Hannah devoted some extra attention to Andrew. A pediatric critical care specialist who treated Andrew at Driscoll, Alexandre Rotta, grew equally troubled. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. He inspired me to take up running, and to go from owning 1 dog to 2! An Unforgettable Texas Tale of Envy, Embezzlement, and Fruitcake, How the Texas Rangers Became One of the Most Powerful Forces in the State. He seemed a peaceful man. I knew Dabney as a friend of my daughter, Stephanie. Despite all the pain, she told me that if she could do it over again, she would not change their decision to bring Andrew into their home. The defendant has portrayed herself as a nurturing Christian woman, Eastwood proclaimed. H-E-Bs True Texas BBQ Restaurant Is Slipping, West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country. Before she was led away in handcuffs, the couple embraced for several minutes, overcome with emotion. The medical staff at Driscoll Childrens Hospital had determined that Andrew had nearly twice the normal level of sodium in his blooda highly abnormal findingas well as bleeding in the brain, and as Hess questioned her, he tried to ascertain what had happened. ), As the Overtons wait on the appellate courts, Larry goes about the task of raising their five children, while also trying to rebuild his business. Hannah was always drawn to stray people.. . I am happy that he has gone before us because I know if God has taken him before so many other people then he must be going to someplace better. My husband Al and I were shocked and saddened to hear of Dabney's death. I was convinced that we were in the presence of a crime.. Andrew flew into a rage. What a shock and a life cut too short. His foster mother had taken him to a pediatrician for an adoption screening shortly before he had come to live with them, and the checkup had raised no red flags. Fernandez determined that the boy had died as a result of acute sodium toxicity, with blunt force head trauma as a contributing factor. In May 2017, Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez officially declared Overton innocent in the death of 4-year-old Andrew Burd, the child Overton and her husband, Larry Overton, were in the process of adopting before he died more than 10 years ago. Rotta stopped short of describing the manner in which he believed Andrew had been made to eat a lethal amount of salta dose that, after analyzing Andrews blood, he determined would have consisted of 23 teaspoons of Zatarains Creole Seasoning or 6 teaspoons of salt. The Overtons already had four children, and Larrys incomehe installed landscape lightingwas barely enough to make ends meet. Instead we were arrested.. Hannah Spencer Overton (born Haile) in FamilySearch Family Tree Hannah Overton in U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) Hannah Spencer Haile in MyHeritage family trees (Baker Family Site (23andMe)) view all Immediate Family Private ex-spouse Private child Hannah Overton Tiffany daughter Private child Edmond Ware Haile father Irene Margarite Tyler Then, in the spring of 2010, Hannahs appellate attorney, Cynthia Orr, made a startling discovery. The Overtons were returning from a visit to the obstetricians office, where they had brought the children to find out whether the baby they were expecting was a boy or a girl. Overton's case drew national attention and she was the subject of the documentary "Until Proven Innocent.". I am so sorry to learn of Dabney's passing. Andrews standard answer whenever he was asked to perform a simple task was Sorry, I cant, but Hannah was heartened one day that summer when he deviated from the script. I knew Dabney from the Richmond Athletic Club. Hey dear, so sorry to hear this newstake care of yourself and your familythinking of you!! Former prosecutor Anna Jimenez, who had assisted Eastwood as second chair at Hannahs trial, subsequently wrote a letter to Orr claiming that a sheaf of medical records that Eastwood had asked her to fax to an expert witness before trial had not included the documents that Orr had uncovered. It was later believed the boy suffered a rare medical condition called hypernatremia, which can cause fatal sodium levels in the body. Witnesses outside the home said they had seen Andrew's bizarre habits, too. I dont see what caused the trauma to the brain, he said. Only Hannah had been able to break through. 1 x 120' / Produced for Discovery Networks. The newly discovered documents, Moritz later told me, were a monumentally important piece of evidence., The discovery soon exposed strains among the prosecution team. The children liked to hang out in her room and talk to her, particularly Andrew, who always visited her for an extra hug before bedtime. After dinner the kids settled down in front of the TV to watch a movie that was Isabels pick: a Japanese animated film that her brothers and sisters showed less enthusiasm for, fidgeting as they lay next to each other on the carpet. I remember many lively discussions with Cabell and Dabney about the history of Virginia and North Carolina. By the time Hannah took the stand, jurors appeared to have made up their minds. I look forward to them reclaiming their childhoods unburdened by involvement in such serious adult matters.. In the classes they had been required to take by CPS to become adoptive parents, they had been warned that foster children often hoarded food and were more likely to have eating disorders. On October 2, 2006, 29-year-old Hannah Overton and her husband, Larry brought Andrew Burd, their four-year-old foster son whom they were in the process of adopting, to a hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas after the boy stopped breathing. Several crossed their arms; others looked away. So I got to see that.. I am glad to have had the chance to know him and will pray for your family during this difficult time. And how had she forced him to choke down the lethal slurry through a sippy cupa drinking container that is, by design, able to release its contents only when sucked on? This is where Andrew used to sleep, Isaac told me softly as he led me into the boys room. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. Its not even a consideration, she said. He struck up a correspondence with Hannah, but she did not warm to him until their paths crossed again at a year-long missionary training school outside Tyler, when she was nineteen and he was a more clean-cut twenty. Larry hurried home to help, but Andrew, who had been vomiting, only grew worse. . That official statement granted her access to state funds that are provided to the wrongfully convicted and also prevented her from being tried for the crime again. He was kind, he was gentle, he had a great smile. The day Andrew died Hannah said she found him in the kitchen pantry but could not determine what he had consumed, if anything. After examining Andrews medical records, he had determined that the boys death was likely accidental. We dont know precisely how she got it down Andrew, but we know that he was very, very obedient, Eastwood told the jury, standing before the TV news cameras that Judge Longoria had allowed inside the courtroom. The boy was diagnosed with a toxic salt overdose and died the following day. A church member who homeschools her daughters educates the Overton children, using lesson plans Hannah sends her. Thats what Im trying to get you to tell me. With no obvious explanations to consider, he focused his attention on Hannah. Its daily. [I] fully disclosed the DAs offices case file to the defense, she wrote in the lengthy statement. a few minutes before we actually took him in, she testified. He. I visited Hannah at the Murray Unit one bright, cloudless afternoon, when the warden granted her a few hours to speak with me. In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Dabney's memory to Aylett Country Day School, P.O. In a 2012 interview from a Texas prison, Overton told ABC News that during one of the monthly visitations with her children, [Emma] took her first step, I was there. It was founded in 2012 in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. But there were many other things she had missed from behind bars. Still, the overall impression was a damning one. She had a way with Michael that even my wife and I didnt completely understand, his father, Richard, told me. Alton Lewis Overton, age 66, of Bryant; passed away Wednesday March 7, 2007. So she had to find a way out. (Hess did not respond to interview requests for this article but has previously denied Hallers version of events.) According to the ministry's website, Syndeo Ministries helps provide women in prison support including Bible studies, visitation and aftercare. There are two phones that the kids can speak into, and they eagerly pass the receivers back and forth, recounting the months events in stereo. The very dilute gastric sodium contents suggest . Obituary - Middle Island, L.I., December 5 - Mrs. Hannah M. Overton died yesterday morning after a short illness. He was preceded in death by his mot And given that abuse and neglect during the first year of life can profoundly affect behavioral development, they were not surprised that Andrew was different. Andrew had an enraged mother who didnt, I dont think loved him the way that she loved her own biological children, former Nueces County prosecutor Sandra Eastwood said at trial. But was this churchgoing young woman a vicious child killer? She left nursing behind, channeling her energy instead into raising the large family she had always wanted. Gemma Mitchell, a phlebotomist, recalled overhearing Hannah tell medical staff that Andrew had stopped breathing after he was punished. No one could corroborate her story, and under cross-examination, she admitted that she had never told anyone this fact until taking the stand. As you know, Dabney and I had a lot of good times and he was a dear friend and fraternity brother. The Huntsville Times Homepage. (In his 32 years of practicing law, Gilmore told me, he has never run across the charge of capital murder by omission before or since.) We lived in the same neighborhood a few years back and after meeting at the Dog Park, spent some great time together running, kayaking and meeting for a few cold ones at Melitos. Larry and Hannah were granted supervised visits. Moritz, in fact, had been asked to testify as an expert witness for Hannahs defense at her trial. It was, Hannah and Larry would later remember, one of the happiest times in their lives. The new charges were dismissed because of a myriad of factors which came about after a careful review of the previous trial, re-interviewing some of the key witnesses, consulting with some of the medical experts involved in the case, reviewing evidence adduced at recent hearings and staffing the case with the current prosecutors assigned to the case, Skurka said in a news release Wednesday. Please know that you all are surrounded by love, no matter how great your grief. Finally she relented, heating up what she had on hand: leftover vegetable-beef soup flavored with Zatarains Creole Seasoning. Report an error or add more information about this case. Last year, new District Attorney Mark Gonzalezfiled a motion toofficially declare her innocent. . Or had the tragedy claimed its second victim? He will be dearly missed. Share Dabney's life story with friends and family. Until his arrest, Saenz had led a seemingly normal life: in addition to leading his nondenominational congregation, he worked as an office-machine mechanic while his wife, Lane, stayed home with their two children. (92 years old). In loving memory of Jonah Lee Overton, She could not consent to a lesser charge, she told her attorneys, because she felt it would mean she was admitting fault. Prosecutors exploited that uncertainty in final arguments, asserting that Andrew did not have pica. He will be remembered fondly. After her shift ends in the late morning, there are letters to write home, in which she tries to stay present in her childrens lives by choreographing what she can from a distance. Hannah Overton recently reunited with her husband, Larry Overton, since being released on bond last week. . To the Overton Family and friends of Dabney: I first met Dabney in the fall of 1972 when he was in fourth grade at Aylett Country Day School. Meny Lukk national monument bank uk; will arnett brothers and sisters Take it one day at a time. Larry was charged with injury to a child for failing to get Andrew timely medical attention. They declined to do any further chromosomal testing and turned to prayer instead. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? They wed a year later and moved to Corpus Christi. And we do have some evidence of bruising to his nose [which could indicate] his nostrils were squeezed and he was made to drink it.. If you would like a copy via email, please let me know. Or had the tragedy claimed its second victim? Hess and a group of CPS workers were standing in the back with dark glasses on, their arms crossed, scowls on their faces, Carver said. You can send your sympathy in the guestbook provided and share it with the family. And when he became less responsive, she had pulled out her old EMT books to assess what was wrong. He was born on April 2, 1940 in Little Rock, Arkansas to the late Lewis Franklin and Dwight Katherine Overton. We were in it for the long haul.. Hoping to show him that his behavior was self-destructive, Larry told Andrew one morning that he could have as much as he wanted for breakfast. The original prosecutor in the Overton case, Sandra Eastwood, was terminated for reasons unrelated to this case years after the trial concluded. us about an exoneration that we may have missed, Correct an error or add information about an exoneration
With guns drawn, police officers had surrounded Hannah and Larrys car as they returned from an errand, forcing them to the ground and handcuffing them. Brother Paul Campbell will officiate the service. Dabney and I had spirited conversations about baseball. Most striking to the Overtons, and to their neighbors and friends, was his preoccupation with eating. A funeral for Andrew followed at Seaside Memorial Park, alongside Corpus Christi Bay, at which Pastor Rod Carver officiated. It is unlikely that any intervention would have made a significant difference as Andrew had already taken the most critical step to save himself [by consuming] copious amounts of fluid, he wrote. No amount of money will ever bring back the years that were taken away, and the seven years of freedom I lost. What a loss for all of us; he will be missed. Our lives are richer having known him. I worked with him at Branch Cabell years ago and also lived down the street from him for a while. I plan their birthday parties from here, she told me. My deepest sympathy to his family on the loss of a truly extraordinary person. Good-night kisses, bedtime stories, playing in the yard, birthdays, loose teeth, Christmas plays . I am truly saddened to hear of Dabney's sudden passing. Within hours of Andrews arrival at the hospital, the Overtons home had been searched, and soon more facts seemed to bolster the notion of abuse. Dabney is a graduate of Aylett Country Day School, St. Christopher's School, and Washington and Lee University. With her first husband, whose name was Stephens, she lived in Iowa, and had one daughter. I remember him as a fun loving gentle person that loved life. He was predeceased by : his parents, Theodore Roosevelt 'Jack' and Annie Overton of Washington; and his wife Claudia Cotten. This small benefit will allow her and her sweet family to continue to share their goodness with all of us with some degree of comfort. Hannah did describe how she and Larry had at first tried to treat the boys symptoms themselves, often volunteering more information than the detective had asked for. A Texas mother who spent years in prison before she was exonerated for capital murder has welcomed a new child. The defense presented the jury with a medical mystery. Hannah was seven when Saenz was arrested in 1984 and charged with a singularly horrific crime: the bludgeoning death of a sixteen-year-old girl whose nude body was discovered at the waters edge on Padre Island. At the time, Overton had four children and was pregnant with a fifth, and had no prior trouble with the law. His foster mother, Hannah Overton, was charged with capital murder, vilified from all quarters, and sent to prison for life. Andrews preoccupation with eating intensified, and he began getting out of bed at night to forage for food in the kitchen. In 2007, Hannah Overton was sentenced to life in prison for the death of her 4-year-old foster son. Larry and Hannah knew that Andrew loved Spider-Man, so they made sure to have all manner of Spider-Man-themed necessities for him: sheets, pajamas, a toothbrush, a towel, a swimsuit, and even a plate embossed with the superheros image. What little is known about Andrew Burds early life is contained in a slim Child Protective Services case file that chronicles the boys descent into the child welfare system. I realized that it was something serious . I never knew him but it is obvious from all the wonderful things that people are saying that he was an incredible person and friend to so many. I am a better person for knowing him. To never have been producedit was very strange.. I fear she may have purposely withheld evidence that may have been favorable to Hannah Overtons defense, Jimenez wrote in her letter, which Orr would include in the writ. She and her Menu. Hannah, we are all so sorry for the loss of your brother. My prayers to the family. Her bedroom was just a few feet away from the childrens rooms, which were always open; their doors had been removed so that the kids could easily come and go as they pleased. Shana Druckerman contributed to this report, 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Shortly after noon, Larry picked her and the boys up and took them to a McDonalds drive-through, and then the chiropractor, before returning to work. He seemed to enjoy having brothers and sisters to play with, and the Overton kidsespecially the girls, who doted on himwere enthralled by the new arrival. But was this churchgoing young woman a vicious child killer? He had a speech delay and spoke haltingly, sometimes with a stutter, but every week, when his Sunday school classmates went around in a circle to say their prayer requests, he made the same wish aloud: that he would be adopted. The supervisor suggested that Andrew might have an eating disorder called pica, which is characterized by a desire to consume things that have no nutritional value, and she recommended that he be evaluated by a specialist if his behavior continued. I knew Dabney years ago while living in Richmond. The Huntsville Times. CORPUS CHRISTI - Early on Oct. 3, 2006, the morning after her neighbor Hannah Overton had rushed a dying 4-year-old boy to a nearby urgent care clinic, Kathi Haller got a visit from police.
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