Yet if anyone was up to the task, most everyone agreed, it was the Overtons, and Hannah in particular. He served as president of the School of Law. Overwhelmed, the Overtons sought guidance in prayer. (A former pastor of Hannahs had advocated reprimanding children when they were dishonest by putting a single red pepper flake on their tongues.) They were not allowed to be at Andrews bedside on the evening of October 3, when he experienced massive organ failure. Witnesses outside the home said they had seen Andrew's bizarre habits, too. Before they headed to bed, Larry turned up the lights for their nightly devotions. Hannah, who was left with whiplash and a severely swollen jaw, spent the next several weeks immobilized by a neck brace, mostly confined to bed. Andrews former foster mother, Sharon Hamil, who was devastated by the boys death, testified that Andrew had not exhibited significant developmental or behavioral problems, aside from his speech delay, during the time that he lived with hera characterization that was rebutted by numerous members of Calvary Chapel later in the trial but that cast Hannahs credibility into doubt. Anne Turner Overton Haile died peacefully at home in Portland, Oregon on December 7, 2021. She had been released on bond in December after a Texas appellate court overturned her conviction and life sentence for the death of 4-year-old Andrew Burd, the child Overton and her husband, Larry, were in the process of adopting before he died. Sending a prayer to all his family & friends. "I'm very thankful that this compensation is finally coming through," Overton told ABC News. Then he corrected himself. He had the heart of a lion and graciously allowed me into his circle of friends. A colleague of mine who attended the trial told me that the prosecution described Andrew again and again as a normal child, and that is a great distortion of the truth. I always knew I'd be able to catch up with him on occasion at the Village Starbucks. (Both carry shorter sentences and differ from capital murder on the issue of intent; a motorist who hits and kills someone while driving too fast is often deemed to be criminally negligent in that he did not set out to take a life but was aware of the danger of speeding.) The Registry also maintains a more limited database of known exonerations prior to 1989. New medical evidence shows that Hannah Overton did not force her 4-year-old foster son Andrew Burd to ingest large amounts of salt, causing his death in 2006 and her to serve a life sentence. He touched my heart and those of my dear friends. There was a time when I questioned how God could allow this to happen, she said. Despite Eastwoods zeal, there were still basic questions that the prosecution could not explain. There is no photo or video of Jonah Lee Overton.Be the first to share a memory to pay tribute. He found that they fit a narrow profile: they were between the ages of one and six, they had been in the foster system or were from abusive homes, and they had pica. Not long after his arrest, a grand jury upgraded the charges against him to capital murder, and he feared that he too might face life in prison. Good-night kisses, bedtime stories, playing in the yard, birthdays, loose teeth, Christmas plays . . Throughout the meal, Andrew repeatedly asked, Is my mom okay? He also kept requesting more food. But both mother and daughter are doing fine. Fellow church member Anita Miotti remembers their telling her and her husband, Rich, that they were struggling. Its free. A unique and lasting tribute for a loved one. He called Hannah and Larry Mommy and Daddy, and he followed Larry everywhere he went, often stepping on Larrys heels as he trailed after him. The defendant has portrayed herself as a nurturing Christian woman, Eastwood proclaimed. Or had the tragedy claimed its second victim? Larry attempted to restore order upon his return, putting Andrews soiled sheets in the garbage and hosing off the boy and his foam mattress in the backyard. In October 2006 a four-year-old from Corpus Christi named Andrew Burd died mysteriously of salt poisoning. I feel so fortunate to have spent time with him. 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. I may harbor doubts, but a jury heard this case and made a decision, and everyone has to respect that decision, he told the Express-News. Push him? Throughout the interrogation, which spanned more than two hours, Hannah insisted that she had never harmed Andrew. 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. OBITUARY - HANNAH OVERTON (HUNTINGDONSHIRE) Bowls England regrets to inform you that former Women's Junior International captain Hannah Overton passed away on 23rd December at the age of 28, after. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. Dabney always took time to talk to people and was a friend to many. I look forward to them reclaiming their childhoods unburdened by involvement in such serious adult matters.. Im very thankful that this compensation is finally coming through, Overton told ABC News. Short on time as the trial drew to a close, the defense had asked Moritzwho needed to return to Pittsburghto sit for a videotaped deposition; when the deposition ran long and could not be completed, the defense was unable to enter it as testimony. Although Cortes had been scheduled to testify for the prosecution, he was never put on the witness stand. He was predeceased by : his parents, Theodore Roosevelt 'Jack' and Annie Overton of Washington; and his wife Claudia Cotten. News reports that followed, prominently featuring their grim-faced mug shots, cast the Overton home as a house of horrors. Even more devastating to Hannah were the actions that CPS took that January. 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.. The case boils down to a woman who basically tortured a child, Eastwood continued. My sons in high school now. Although he hung back when his siblings embraced their parents in group hugs, Larry and Hannah learned that if they asked Andrew to join in, he would do so enthusiastically, throwing his arms around them. I remember him as a fun loving gentle person that loved life. The Overtons moved forward with the adoption process, and in the spring of 2006, they received word that Andrew would be coming to live with them for a six-month trial period before the adoption was finalized. Dabney will be greatly missed, but not forgotten. My prayers and thoughts are with you all. He was simply "a wonderful person" I am so sorry for your loss. Before we ever tried to adopt, we had been warned that this was going to be difficult, that this was not going to be the Little Orphan Annie story, Larry told me. No amount of money will ever bring back the years that were taken away, and the seven years of freedom I lost. But law enforcement and emergency medical personnel who treated Andrew thought otherwise. Hannah Overton, a south Texas mother of five whose wrongful conviction for the 2006 death of her foster son was overturned last year, is expected to receive over $500,000 in compensation from the state for the years she spent in jail. In October 2006 a four-year-old from Corpus Christi named Andrew Burd died mysteriously of salt poisoning. Could it be that you held his nose, held his neck, and made him drink this horrible concoction? the prosecutor challenged her during a withering cross-examination. But what Ive realized is that I can trust his heart, even though I dont understand his plan. The reality that Hannah, who is 34, may spend the rest of her life in prison for capital murdera sentence usually reserved for violent criminals who pose a continuing threat to societyis one she is still struggling to understand; even harder to grasp is the possibility that she might never be reunited with her children. Last year, new District Attorney Mark Gonzalezfiled a motion toofficially declare her innocent. She's since createdSyndeo Ministries tohelp prisonerstransition back into society. 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. 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. There are really no words. Hannah Overton and her family spend Christmas together for the first time in seven years. However, that didn't stop us from having friendly and lively conversations about the greatest game. The kids now range in age from four to twelve, and when I visited them late one afternoon, not long after I had seen Hannah, they seemed unencumbered by the tragedy that had engulfed their family. Hannah R. (Saem) Overton was born c. 1977. Most striking to the Overtons, and to their neighbors and friends, was his preoccupation with eating. When Hannah was sent to prison, her daughter, Emma, was still a breast-feeding newborn. On their honeymoon, they stopped at the orphanage in Reynosa, where Hannah wanted Larry to meet some of the children she had told him so much about. — -- Murder charges against Hannah Overton, a south Texas mother of five who had been convicted in the 2007 salt poisoning trial in the death of her foster son, have been dismissed by the . My job requires me to be an advocate for the state. The court ruledher trial lawyers were ineffective, and sent her case back to be retried. Haller, who took notes documenting her conversation with Hess and later testified about it under oath, recalled the detectives certainty that Hannah had tried to kill Andrew. He is survived by : his children, Valerie Overton Castano (John), Glenn Overton (Donna) and Allen Overton (Amy); his grandchildren, Morgan Castano Petty (Kyle), Jordan Castano, Zack Castano (Andie), Julia Overton Kahsar (Alex), Alyssa Overton McSteen (Dylan) and Drake Overton; his great grandchildren, Overton Petty, Cotten Petty, Davant Petty, Preston McSteen and Layton Kahsar; his brothers-in-law, Bruce Preston Cotten and Grant Cotten; his friends, Jimmy, Sarah Trado, Joyce, Jerry Dellinger, Betty Jo Mullis and Bob Butler; and also, Scott and Tana Lloyd. Yet the jury had never heard from him. Submit an Obituary . Mommy, Im cold, he said, and threw up. Andrew seems very happy in this home.. She was always smiling, always laughing. As a teenager, she was captivated by missionaries stories of serving in far-flung places, and she began going on group mission trips herself, once venturing as far as Romania. The media coverage of the case stirred widespread outrage. 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? Hannah Overton and her husband hold up one of their Christmas presents. Katy Vine has been a staff writer since 2002. But he was adamant that the boys death had not been accidental. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. He visited us in the country and brought his serinity along. They speculated Andrew might have had pica, an eating disorder characterized by an obsessive appetite and that Andrew accidentally poisoned himself by consuming a fatal amount of sodium. I feel sad. Skurka ended up dropping the new case against her in 2015 but Overton remained in legal limbo until Gonzalez officially declared her innocence last year, thus closing a significant chapter on this decade-long case. He was kind, he was gentle, he had a great smile. Overton cites a Bible verse from Hebrews 13:3 on the ministry website to explain its mission: "Remember those in prisonas if you were bound with them! Dabney Overton III Birth 30 Jul 1963 Death 9 Nov 2009 (aged 46) With her first husband, whose name was Stephens, she lived in Iowa, and had one daughter. Sorry, I he began, when she asked him to put on his shoes. What a shock and a life cut too short. Larry and Hannah caught him trying to eat cat food, crayons, toothpaste, glow sticks, tufts of carpetinganything he could get his hands on. movie nights, waking up to their beautiful faces. The Court of Criminal Appeals is currently reviewing her writ, which contends that the information about Andrews gastric contents are grounds for a new trial. He left me with that gift. We truly thought his obsession with food was a behavioral issue, not a medical one, Larry said. The burden on the state to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt was, Gilmore told me, perhaps less than it should have been. Haller . Then, abruptly, Andrew grew quiet and stumbled to the floor. CPR had also been performed for an extended period by Hannah and later by medical personnel, who had squeezed the boys nose and administered chest compressions for 35 minutes. Lane and her children moved to the East Texas town of Lindale, where a missionary organization, the Calvary Commission, allowed them to live in a modest apartment on its grounds free of charge. He was preceded in death by his mother, Hannah Spencer Haile Overton and infant brother, Charles. There's also Syndeo Ranch, a faith-based home to help women transitioning out of prison in Palestine. But there were many other things she had missed from behind bars. 1 x 120' / Produced for Discovery Networks. Our lives are richer having known him. After drinking a little, he threw another tantrum that continued unabated for twenty minutes. (CPS had not yet sent them his Social Security card, which they needed to get him insured.) And anyone who loves dogs as much as Dabney did is a special soul indeed. Given that Hannah was suspected of poisoning Andrew with Creole seasoning, the suggestion that the Overtons had used pepper to discipline their children raised immediate concerns. The particulars of her crime, as sketched out by the prosecution, were vague; assistant district attorney Sandra Eastwood, a passionate child advocate, conceded in opening arguments that she was not sure how Hannah had made Andrew eat so much salt. Financially, the accident had come at a precarious time; Larry had recently purchased his bosss landscape lighting business, and he needed to put in long hours just to make ends meet. However, Judge Longoria could allow the jury to consider a lesser charge if he felt that the evidence did not support capital murder, and after hearing the states case, he did so, telling both the prosecution and the defense that he was willing to let the jury consider manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide. The original prosecutor in the Overton case, Sandra Eastwood, was terminated for reasons unrelated to this case years after the trial concluded. Preceded in death by his mother Hannah Spencer Haile Overton and infant brother Charles. By clicking or navigating the site, you agree to allow our collection of information through cookies. Hannah Overton announced the birth of her sixth child, Gabriela Aliana, this week in a Facebook post that described a difficult delivery. All rights reserved. (You can just tell by looking at her how evil she is, one wrote.) At a subsequent family court hearing, in which Hannahs civil attorney argued that she should be given access to the infant so that she could continue nursing her, Judge Lewis returned Emma to her parents, but with conditions. I was so shocked and saddened to learn today of Dabney's sudden and all too premature death. An attorney-client relationship will arise between you and our firm only if we specifically agree to act for you. According to the ministry's website, Syndeo Ministries helps provide women in prison support including Bible studies, visitation and aftercare. 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. Days after she gave birth to her daughter Emma, CPS took the newborn into protective custody. Sister Overton grew up in Tuscumbia and lived most of her life in Florence. Please know that you all are surrounded by love, no matter how great your grief. 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. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. During a wide-ranging interview with a social worker to determine if he had ever been abused, Isaac mentioned that he and his siblings had been given pepper, which he described as spicy stuff, as a punishment for lying. Both Larry and Hannah had done missionary work, and as a teenager, Hannah had spent holidays volunteering at an orphanage across the border, in Reynosa, where she had fed, bathed, and ministered to kids who had been living on the streets. She had told the jury of the boys unusual habitsthe inappropriate eating, the obsessive picking and scratching, the head bangingbut her version of events had been tainted by the specter of abuse. Right, a photo of Andrew Burd held by Larry Overton. Very sad to hear this news. Rather than let him remain in his wheelchair most of the day, as previous caretakers had done, Hannah kept him moving; she took him into his familys pool to stretch and used massage to loosen his contracted muscles. Until then, she said, Andrew was doing nothing that my other kids hadnt done with the flu. Frantic, Hannah began administering CPR in the backseat. I think I'll always remember him as simply super cool himself. Kids loved her. Only Hannah had been able to break through. 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. The Overtons live in East Texas and told ABC News they have housed and supported prisoners after their release through their non-profit organization, Syndeo Ministries. Had Andrew sat among them, I realized, he would have been nine years old. OVERTON, Dabney III, died peacefully on Monday, November 9, 2009 surrounded by family and friends. Hannah, my sister, Carolyn, and John and I are very sadden to learn about Dabney's passing. that he had unrestricted access to water. Given these facts, he explained, There is not a single piece of evidence which suggests that Hannah Overton salt-poisoned Andrew. Instead, Moritz added, the most likely scenario was that Andrew accidentally salt-poisoned himself., In light of this information, Moritz felt certain that Andrews prognosis would have been the same whether or not Hannah had called an ambulance. This was usually on a road trip up or down the Valley. I'm so saddened to here the news but I know that Dabney is walking his dogs in the park right now in another very special place. There was a dead child, he observed. Receive obituaries from the city or cities of your choice. It was, Hannah and Larry would later remember, one of the happiest times in their lives. 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. It came as a shock when I got the call from Peter Detlefs letting me know that Dabney had passed away. He soon lapsed into a coma. 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. Share Dabney's life story with friends and family. When a four-year-old from Texas died mysteriously of salt poisoning, his foster mother, Hannah Overton, was charged with capital murder and sent to prison for life. I was just trying to fix itto do anything I could to fix my baby, she said. In loving memory of Jonah Lee Overton, Hannah went into labor with her first child, Isaac, at the Subialdeas house, and though she had planned to come back to work after her sons birth, she found the separation from him too wrenching. on our list, Other Nueces County District Attorney Mark Skurka had charged Overton a second time for murder after her release. Overton, 38, was convicted in 2007 after being accused of force-feeding young Andrew Burd enough salt to kill him, even though she had no previous problems with the law and was raising four children and was pregnant with a fifth. The key issues in this case were knowledge and intent, and his opinion went directly to those issues. Hannahs attorneys would later argue on appeal that the doctors opinionthat Hannah had never intended for the boy to dieamounted to exculpatory evidence that the state had withheld from the defense. The churchs pastor, Rod Carver, and his wife, Noreen, had initially considered taking in Andrew but ultimately decided he was more than they could handle. Hannah, I am very sad to hear this news. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to his family and many friends. Overtons conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal. Because he was vomiting? As he grasped for the right words to convey the depth of pain a parent feels over the loss of a child, he noticed a row of unfamiliar faces. Funeral service for Wendell Leon Overton, 81, of Cullman, will be 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, November 24, 2021 in the Cullman Funeral Home Chapel.
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