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One paramedic recounted how he had seen two sores on Andrew that looked to me like cigarette burns because they were round. Another paramedic also believed the sores were cigarette burns, though he admitted he had only looked at them from a distance. Fernandez, the medical examiner, said he had observed burnlike scarring on Andrews arm that had likely been caused by contact with a hot surface. But neither Larry nor Hannah smoked. 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. But as the afternoon wore on, his symptoms grew troubling; his breathing became congested, and he became less and less responsive. Hess disavowed Garcias account at a court hearing regarding the Overton children, and prosecutors never entered Garcias affidavit into evidence or called him to testify at Hannahs trial. He defecated on the floor of his bedroom, then smeared feces on the bed, the dresser, and the walls. He would have been witness number one for the defense, Gilmore told me. She would later admit, according to one report, to using alcohol, methamphetamines, cocaine and crack cocaine, LSD, marijuana, cigarettes, and taking prescription Xanax. His father was seventeen and worked for a traveling carnival. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. probably to punish his behavior, that then goes into cardiorespiratory arrest.. I worked with him at Branch, Cabell many years ago. A church elder, who was himself an adoptive parent, invited the Overtons to dinner one night and encouraged them to consider bringing Andrew into their home. She is awakened every morning at 2:45 a.m., rarely sleeping well; the overhead light above her bed never shuts off, and announcements blare throughout the night over the loudspeaker. Once reunited with their childrenwho were terrified by the ordealLarry and Hannah had to break the awful news to them about Andrew. He was kind, he was gentle, he had a great smile. 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. Several crossed their arms; others looked away. In loving memory of Jonah Lee Overton, I am over the moon that Hannah has been granted compensation by Texas for her wrongful imprisonment, Orr told ABC News. 1 x 120' / Produced for Discovery Networks. Published in Legacy from Nov. 11 to Nov. 12, 2009. Hannah Overton passed away in Peterborough, Lincolnshire. Dinner was potato soupIts good and filling, and its cheap, Larry told mewhich the kids dived into after saying grace. Larry left for work the following morning, and Hannah, who was still in considerable pain from the car accident, gave Andrew and Sebastian breakfast before bringing them into bed with her to watch cartoons. By that point, they had already been shown numerous photos of Andrews small, bruised body postmortem. He visited us in the country and brought his serinity along. Please call me at your earliest convenience.. A block away from the clinic, as they waited at a red light, Andrew stopped breathing. My sons in high school now. In his role as single dad, he is aided by his extended family and his many friends from Calvary Chapel, who pitch in to do cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, and babysitting. The media coverage of the case stirred widespread outrage. I asked Hannah if her faith had been shaken by Andrews loss and the suffering that she and her family had experienced. He and Hannah are allotted two hours, during which they sit together in the dayroom, flanked by other inmates and their families. But had jurors fully understood the decision they had been asked to make? Making him sleep on plywood burning sheets, becoming so enraged she forced him to have 23 teaspoons of hot pepper, and then watched him die in agony.. The boy was diagnosed with a toxic salt overdose and died the following day. The absence of their mother and their late brother was quietly acknowledged. Estelle and John Overtons current defense attorney, Cynthia Orr, told ABC News she was thrilled to get the call from Skurka announcing his motion to dismiss had been granted by the judge. He inspired me to take up running, and to go from owning 1 dog to 2! 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. You can send your sympathy in the guestbook provided and share it with the family. I wasnt thinking, obviously, or I would have just taken him to the hospital, Hannah told the detective. 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. I wouldnt give up that time we had with him and that he had with us., As we sat across from each other in the dayroom, Hannah and I discussed her case and the anguish that had consumed her following Andrews death. The congregation quickly dissolved. At the clinic, she continued giving him mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions until paramedics took over, but the four-year-old lay motionless. Plant a tree to honor the memory of your loved one. Does anybody remember that? It was, Hannah and Larry would later remember, one of the happiest times in their lives. Dabney was one of those people that are angels without wings. I knew Dabney years ago while living in Richmond. He picked at mosquito bites on his body incessantly, prompting Larry to put socks on his hands; still, Andrew would not stop scratching and eventually developed a staph infection on his arm. 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. Andrew liked to eat every day, all day, any time, she said. When Andrew started breathing funny, she told Hess, she had administered asthma medication with a nebulizer, hoping to open up his airways. His tantrums grew longer and more extreme, and he often banged his head against the floor. Disclaimer: We created this website to give you general information about a variety of criminal offenses and possible defenses that might apply to those charges. Heritage Funeral Home 3700 Forest Lawn Dr, Matthews, NC 28104, Weddington Methodist Church 13901 Providence Rd, Weddington, NC 28104. I could never thank my attorneys enough for fighting endlessly to prove my innocence and bring me home.. It was Emma whom Hannah was pregnant with when Andrew died, and she is the child Hannah knows least. Nueces County District Attorney Mark Skurka had charged Overton a second time for murder after her release. We met when he was helping her move. But was this churchgoing young woman a vicious child killer? . It seemed to me, based upon the wording of the charge, that we had no choice but to find her guilty of capital murder. But, Warfield added, I do not believe that Mrs. Overton knew that her actions (or lack thereof) would kill Andrew Byrd [sic]. Copyright 2023 Echovita Inc. All rights reserved. By the time Hannah took the stand, jurors appeared to have made up their minds. I realized that it was something serious . He was simply "a wonderful person" I am so sorry for your loss. The jury was not just going to let her walk.. That perception would throw her other children into the investigation as well. He. Early in the pregnancy, Hannah and Larry were informed that the boy would likely have Down syndrome. Overtons conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal. What a loss for all of us; he will be missed. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. . If someone was trying to murder Andrew, they would have restrained him and prevented him from drinking water, Moritz subsequently wrote in an affidavit. We are grateful for the help and support of so many over the years who contributed to achieving what, for the Overton children, is a joyous result. We were just waiting for someone to look at it and say this is just an accident, Larry Overton added. Richard and his wife had tried all sorts of tactics to deter him: redirecting his attention, putting gloves on him, even restraining his hands. I enjoyed his company and was truly blessed to have shared time with him. Find the obituary of Hannah Mason "Tess" Overton (2019) from Gunnedah, NSW. I worked with Dabney in the mortgage industry a few years ago and he was everything you described. "We are so excited about all God has done in and through all of this. He hoarded food and sometimes ate from the trash, she warned, and he threw intense temper tantrums, which could be tamed only by holding and rocking him. But the damage was done: that Hannah had confessed to force-feeding Andrew and beating him was repeated, uncorrected, on the local news. 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. The following evening, Andrew was dead. We shared wonderful times together as we mused over Rumi and different flavor ice creams. He was such a kind person, always with a smile on his face and a warm hug. The defense presented the jury with a medical mystery. Not until Sebastian was born did doctors discover that his only impairment was a hole in his heart, which healed on its own. Throughout the meal, Andrew repeatedly asked, Is my mom okay? He also kept requesting more food. The Registry also maintains a more limited database of known exonerations prior to 1989. A church member who homeschools her daughters educates the Overton children, using lesson plans Hannah sends her. But as devoted Christians, their desire to adopt a foster child was rooted in faith more than in practicality. The jury found that Mrs. Overton failed to procure medical care within a reasonable time frame, she wrote in an affidavit that was later filed with Hannahs appeal. (More shocking details on abuse suffered by four-year-old before death, began one breathless report.) Larry Overton was also charged with murder, but after his wife's conviction, he was offered a plea deal and was given probation. 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. 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. -- Sarah Albiston, I enjoyed working with Dabney from time to time. If he had Downs, that was the blessing that God had chosen to give us, Larry said. Her second husband was Hampton Overton, who died about. 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. Hannah was always drawn to stray people.. Gilmore urged Hannah more than once to agree to have the jury consider a lesser charge, but she was uneasy with what she perceived as an underlying suggestion of wrongdoing. Because he was vomiting? Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. December 22, 1930 - Dabney was born on July 31, 1963 and grew up in Essex County, Va. They said Andrew was going through a very difficult time, she said. Dabney will be greatly missed, but not forgotten. I have shared a memorial tribute I wrote about Dabney with all who've asked. He was kind and gentle with me, and he made himself available no matter how busy he was. Andrew continued eating until he threw up. He was predeceased by : his parents, Theodore Roosevelt 'Jack' and Annie Overton of Washington; and his wife Claudia Cotten. Channel Three, Channel Six, Channel Ten, the Caller-Timesthey all knew ahead of time, Gilmore said. That Sunday, October 1, Larry took the other kids to church while Hannah devoted some extra attention to Andrew. According to Haller, he told her, Look, shes pregnant and she has all these kids, but it was just too much for her. His other passion was his beloved dogs. He was a member of Mt. She hugged them and let them climb onto her lap, often returning to Lindale with head lice. I knew Dabney from the Richmond Athletic Club. He was preceded in death by his mot There was Andrews bedjust a bare piece of plywood, with no mattressand a security camera, as the baby monitor was later called at trial, trained on it. The appellate court did not rule specifically on Overton's claims of prosecutorial misconduct, saying she deserved a new trial on claims of ineffective counsel. Sifting through it one afternoon, Orr came across documents she had never seen before, which showed that Andrews stomach contents did not have an elevated amount of salt when he arrived at the urgent care clinic. I knew Dabney in highschool and we became reaquainted through sailing and always remarked "what a small, small world." Dabney will be missed by many. She's since createdSyndeo Ministries tohelp prisonerstransition back into society. But he was adamant that the boys death had not been accidental. Their arrests came so quickly after Andrew died, they said, that they had no time to grieve for the boy they hoped to permanently make a part of their family. The entire Davila family sends our heart felt condolences to Dabney's family. I will miss Dabney greatly, having spent hours drinking coffee & talking with him; a kind, gentle soul who made the world a better place and who always had time for people in his life. 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. Ive seen doctors and nurses freeze up when a patient comes in convulsing or in extremis, he said. Report an error or add more information about this case. We spoke last Tuesday about a biking trip we had plan in the spring to Cherokee,N.C. 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. A very special person has been taken from our midst and is and will be greatly missed. See production, box office & company info. I am so sorry to hear about Dabney. The kids took me out back, where they jumped on the trampoline and played hide-and-seek in the salt grass. There was no evidence of external bleeding or injuries to Andrews head, however, and at a pre-trial hearing, Fernandez conceded that the hemorrhaging could have been related to elevated sodium in the blood. The Overtons rushed him to a nearby urgent care clinic after his breathing became labored and he stopped responding to their questions, but by the time they arrived, he had fallen unconscious. It was very tense. ), 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. Our condolences to his family and friends. May God bless you and. Push him? Throughout the interrogation, which spanned more than two hours, Hannah insisted that she had never harmed Andrew. . News reports that followed, prominently featuring their grim-faced mug shots, cast the Overton home as a house of horrors. 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. It was while watching the monitor that Hannah saw him trying to eat part of his foam mattress and paint off the wall. Sister Overton grew up in Tuscumbia and lived most of her life in Florence. 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. Hannah, my sister, Carolyn, and John and I are very sadden to learn about Dabney's passing. 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. In 2005 the Overtons began to pursue the idea seriously. Larry called out that dinner was ready, and we gathered inside around a rough-hewn oak table he had made years ago. Dabney is a graduate of Aylett Country Day School, St. Christopher's School, and Washington and Lee University. I made sure that he saw that we had an identical set of Spider-Man sheets so he would calm down., That evening Larry laid a sleeping bag on top of Andrews plywood bed frame, where, he told the boy, he would have to spend the night while his mattress finished drying. Overton had to have a blood transfusion and her new. He will be missed by his many friends. Brother Paul Campbell will officiate the service. Overton's original trial attorneys admitted at an appeals hearing that they had made errors. Or had the tragedy claimed its second victim? Her husband, Larry, took aplea deal for a lesser charge in the case and was given probation. He was an example to many by the way he lived his life and his loyalty to those values that determine a true friend. Cortes believed that Andrews death was accidental. Here are the tributes to Jonah Lee Overton. Sometimes he cried inconsolably for hours. The information on this website does NOT constitute legal advice and you may not rely on it as such. I feel so fortunate to have spent time with him. Any God, Christian or not, would have wanted a better mother for Andrew.. He soon lapsed into a coma. Mr. Overton was also very active in the local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous. Still, the overall impression was a damning one. Hannah shrugged off the teachers warnings, certain that Andrew would improve once he had the stability of a permanent home. They had 4 children and were expecting their fifth. She and her family do so much good with nothing. What a shock and a life cut too short. Our lives are richer having known him. I know he will be missed by all his family and friends. An attorney-client relationship will arise between you and our firm only if we specifically agree to act for you. Good-night kisses, bedtime stories, playing in the yard, birthdays, loose teeth, Christmas plays . But Rotta was alarmed by his overall appearance. If I failed in my duties of disclosure before the Hannah Overton trial (which the record corroborates I did not), then so did Ms. Jimenez., Orr filed the writ in April 2011, and soon afterward San Antonio Express-News reporter John MacCormackwhose reporting has raised questions about the fairness of Hannahs convictionmade a routine call to the office to gauge the reaction to the recent developments in the case. She could not recall later what, exactly, he had been holding in his hand. I always knew I'd be able to catch up with him on occasion at the Village Starbucks. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. How do you poison someone with a substance you dont know the contents of? That Hannah had not sought immediate medical attention did not change his view. But I was frustrated. If convicted, Hannah would receive an automatic life sentence. I was shocked and saddened to hear of Dabney's premature death last week. Perplexed, Larry installed a baby monitor equipped with a video camera in the boys room so that he and Hannah could observe if Andrew was wandering into the kitchen at night. 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. I was privileged to know Dabney at W&L and as a fraternity brother at LXA. 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. He will be remembered fondly. 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. 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 long as I can make a nonfrivolous argument, Ill make it, but nothing in my job prevents me from praying for a more just outcome., There have been a few tear-filled nights because one of the kids misses Andrew, Larry said. He was preceded in death by his mother, Hannah Spencer Haile Overton and infant brother, Charles. A pediatric critical care specialist who treated Andrew at Driscoll, Alexandre Rotta, grew equally troubled. A memorial service will be held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Miller's Tavern, Va. on Sunday, November 22nd at 2 p.m. Mr. Overton continued in private practice until the age of 80. Larry with (from left) his children Ally, Isaac, Sebastian, Emma, and Isabel. He acted more like a toddler than a preschooler, they noted; if he wanted an object, he pointed to it and grunted. Nueces County jurors believed she failed to seek medical care for her foster son in a timely manner. Because we were not thinking we were in a life-or-death situation, she insisted. At Andrews request, he made a plate of sausage and more than a dozen eggs, all of which the boy eagerly devoured. Regardless of how much food he consumed, he complained that he was hungry. Before he left, Haller recalled his saying, You might want to prepare for the media.. There is no photo or video of Jonah Lee Overton.Be the first to share a memory to pay tribute. . I was convinced that we were in the presence of a crime.. Dabney is survived by his sister, Hannah Overton; and nieces Emma and Lizzie Schmidt, all of Tappahannock; a half-sister Mallory Overton McKendry of Jacksonville, Fla.; and his father, Dabney Overton Jr. of Harrisonburg. 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. I am glad to have had the chance to know him and will pray for your family during this difficult time. The onus for the boys death fell on Hannah, who was charged with capital murder. Standing just five feet tall, with wide-set brown eyes, a girlish laugh, and a warm, easy manner, Hannah was almost childlike herself. (92 years old). Just after five oclock, the Overtons put him in their car and rushed him to a nearby urgent care clinic. Then District Attorney Mark Skurka dropped the case. Yet her life behind bars, however incongruous, has taken on its own rhythm. There are really no words. And anyone who loves dogs as much as Dabney did is a special soul indeed. Normans remarks were hardly the stuff of a cocksure prosecutor. Both womens accounts were problematic; Gonzalez had never made a statement to police and was testifying from memory after nearly a years worth of negative media coverage, while Zapata had failed to mention anything about Hannah smirking when she wrote her initial report about the incident. 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. For the most accurate data, please search on the Detailed View page. Submit an Obituary . She was even slighter in person than I had expected, and as she related the events of the past five years in her soft voice, she looked hopelessly out of place in her white prison jumpsuit. "Wow, we don't even know where to begin," Hannah Overton told ABC News exclusively after she heard that her case had been dismissed and she would not have to endure another trial. . Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. The cause of death was determined to be salt poisoning, an extremely rare occurrence that, in children, results from either a child inadvertently ingesting too much salt or a caretaker deliberately forcing the child to do so. In October 2006 a four-year-old from Corpus Christi named Andrew Burd died mysteriously of salt poisoning. Sue and I were certainly saddened to learn of the death of Dabney. There was a dead child, he observed. We had been told to expect a lot of the things we were seeing with Andrew, Larry told me. Although the adoption agency that had worked with CPS to find Andrew a home had described him as developmentally on target except for his speech delay, Larry and Hannah observed otherwise. There was a dead child, he observed. H-E-Bs True Texas BBQ Restaurant Is Slipping, West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country. He was a good guy and a good friend. Inside the Bro-tastic Party Mansions Upending a Historic Austin Community, The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools. Knew him well growing up. We truly thought his obsession with food was a behavioral issue, not a medical one, Larry said. At first, the transition with Andrew went smoothly. Larry turned them down. A Right-wing Cabal Took Over Odessas Municipal Government. 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. We were in it for the long haul.. Loose teeth, first day of kindergarten, last day of kindergarten. After he completed his probation, the charges were dismissed. They chattered about an upcoming birthday party and discussed the merits of their favorite colors, finishing each others sentences between slurps of soup. Our thoughts, hugs and prayers are with you. celebrity wifi packages cost. information about the Registry, False or Misleading Forensic Evidence, Official Misconduct, Inadequate Legal Defense. Or had the tragedy claimed its second victim? The original prosecutor in the Overton case, Sandra Eastwood, was terminated for reasons unrelated to this case years after the trial concluded. Yet the jury had never heard from him. 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. In the midst of the chaos that followed, no one recognized how distressed Andrew was by the sight of Hannahs bloodied face. Finally he agreed to plead no contest to criminally negligent homicide. The marks could be consistent with many things, including a fight, an altercation, someone trying to hold this childs neck forcefully, he said. We know that Hannah R. (Saem) Overton had been residing in Texas . The website is updated daily, frequently with exonerations that occurred in the past. AP. They convicted her based on the latter argument, that she did not seek help quickly enough. When Gilmore polled the jury afterward, all twelve members stated that they had found Hannah guilty of capital murder by omission for not acting quickly enough to save Andrew; none believed that she had poisoned him. One of the recent fundraising efforts involves providing "chill towels" to incarcerated women this summer because most Texas prisons are without air conditioning. The burden on the state to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt was, Gilmore told me, perhaps less than it should have been. Why Does He Get to Make That Call? He was the first one to introduce me to kayaking from Aylett to Walkerton on the Mattaponi. The best memory is of riding camp the following summer when Dabney and a friend opted for motorcycle helmets rather than riding hard hats. ", More:Hannah Overton, supporters chant 'Actually innocent' after capital murder dismissal, More:Nueces County DA to dismiss Overton case, declare woman innocent. His foster mother, Hannah Overton, was charged with capital. You can ask, Why didnt she go to the hospital sooner? but in hindsight, everything is obvious. Dear Overton Family and Friends of Dabney. Please know that you all are surrounded by love, no matter how great your grief. My Mother and Father will miss his visits to the house and his heartfelt caring and concerns for all of us. Support The National Registry of Exonerations , The Contribution of Forensic and Expert Evidence to DNA Exoneration Cases, Race and Wrongful Convictions in the United States, 2022, Government Misconduct and Convicting the Innocent, Witness Recantations: Preliminary Findings, May 2013, Exonerations in the United States: 1989 - 2012, Tell us about an Exoneration that we missed. According to Overtons attorney, Cynthia Orr, the Texas comptroller told Overton on Tuesday that she would receive a check for $573,333.33 as compensation her for her wrongful incarceration. May your memories bring you comfort. Overton's original trial attorneys admitted at an appeals hearing that they had made errors. 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.