ATTALLA, ALA -- Authorities arrested a grandmother and stepmother after they allegedly forced a 9-year-old to run to death.
Police say 9-year-old Savannah Hardin died after her stepmother and grandmother forced her to run for three hours, as punishment, for having lied about eating a candy bar. Dehydrated, Savannah had a seizure and passed away a few days later.
27-year-old stepmother Jessica Mae Hardin, and 46-year-old grandmother Joyce Hardin Garrard were taken to jail Wednesday and face murder charges.
According to the Associated Press; Witness statements claim that Savannah had been seen running around 4:00pm. Her mother called 911 around 6:45pm claiming that she was having a seizure and was unresponsive.
Savannah was treated at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama were she passed away. Autopsy reports showed that she was extremely dehydrated and had a low sodium level. The Alabama state pathologist ruled it as homicide.
Associated Press contributed to this report. Photos and more information; Yahoo.