9yo Ran To Death?

Prosecutors play 911 call of girl they say was run to death



GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) — Jurors have heard the chilling 911 call that was made when an Alabama girl collapsed after running around her yard in what prosecutors say was punishment inflicted by her grandmother.

Grandmother Joyce Garrard is heard repeatedly calling the name of 9-year-old Savannah Hardin in the background of the more than nine-minute recording played in court Tuesday.

The child's stepmother, Jessica Mae Hardin, made the call telling a 911 operator the girl had a seizure. She never says the girl had been running or had any previous medical problems.

The operator says Garrard at one point is heard asking for a smoke while the child was unconscious on the ground. The defense suggests the woman was actually asking for a throw, like a blanket.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

A neighbor of a woman accused of making her granddaughter run until she died testified Tuesday that the girl was crying and begging to stop before she collapsed.

Grandmother Joyce Hardin Garrard, 49, "was hollering at her, telling her she better move it," Jolie Jacobs told jurors.

Prosecutors say Garrard ran 9-year-old Savannah Hardin to death as punishment for a lie three years ago.

Jacobs lived across the street from the girl's home at the time. She said she saw Savannah running and carrying wood as Garrard yelled at her.

"She was crying and begging to stop," Jacobs said, Savannah fell in apparent exhaustion, still crying. "Joyce kept telling her to move it."

Jacobs said she had decided to intervene, but an ambulance arrived. The girl died in a hospital three days later, and Jacobs said she regrets not doing something to help.

The defense denies that Garrard meant to do anything to harm the child.

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I doubt her intention was to kill her grandchild by making her run laps. If anything, it was probably so she'd lose a bit of weight while facing a punishment.

I doubt her intention was to kill her grandchild by making her run laps. If anything, it was probably so she'd lose a bit of weight while facing a punishment.

I'm guessing the kid was just trying to run away from Alabama !

I doubt her intention was to kill her grandchild by making her run laps. If anything, it was probably so she'd lose a bit of weight while facing a punishment.

"She was crying and begging to stop," Jacobs said, Savannah fell in apparent exhaustion, still crying. "Joyce kept telling her to move it."

if it wasnt intentional then it was pure ignorance. Either way'

my sister would cry and beg for my mom to stop if she got spanked too

you don't really expect a 9 year old with no known health problems to die from running too much, i can see how it'd go either way

Even running a child to exhaustion as a form of punishment is extremely abusive.

you don't know how long she ran for or her cause of death, but if running to exhaustion was abusive then there's a lot to be said against my high school gym teacher(or any military training..)

forcing a child to exercise is fine in my book

you're saying all of this without

-any information as to how long the girl ran

-any reference to her reporting any symptoms while running

-anything at all from her medical report

I'd read 50 Shades before I'd read that book. Forcing a kid to exercise will more than likely have the opposite effect than what's intended. If they see exercise as a negative experience or a punishment do you really think they're going to be inclined to exercise by choice in the future? They'll become averse to it.

As are you.

Every post is along the lines of 'she ran the kid to death'. Exercise isn't a routine cause for seizure, and without a medical report you're assuming the woman killed her based on your perception of what kind of person would force a kid to run.

If you think potential jurors wouldn't be swayed by seeing that on the news, I don't know what to tell you.