hannah overton obituary

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. What is the English language plot outline for Until Proven Innocent (2016)? Overton was convicted of capital murder, an automatic life sentence in Texas because the child was under the age of 6. That Sunday, October 1, Larry took the other kids to church while Hannah devoted some extra attention to Andrew. 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. Knowing Hannah, it was inconceivable that she would ever hurt a child, said Noreen. If not for a Corpus Christi couple named Larry and Hannah Overton, Andrew might have lingered in state custody, shuffled from one foster home to another. He was kind, he was gentle, he had a great smile. A family birthday celebration in the summer of 2006. 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. His foster mother, Hannah Overton, was charged with capital murder, vilified from all quarters, and sent to prison for life. At the time, Overton had four children and was pregnant with a fifth, and had no prior trouble with the law. Dabney and I were great friends while I lived in Richmond back in the late 80s - Browder,Russell days. I also could never begin to thank those who supported us, prayed and prayed for us, and walked with us along the entire way, Overton said. Andrew accompanied his foster mother to services every Sunday, and with his thatch of blond hair and beaming grin, he was hard to miss. It was a catastrophic decision. The passenger side of their old Ford van was not equipped with an air bag, and Hannah, who had pulled down her seat belt so she could turn to talk to the kids, was jolted forward, her face hitting the dashboard. As Andrews condition deteriorated, CPS barred the Overtons from visiting their son. The intentional poisoning of a child is usually perpetrated with sedatives, anticonvulsants, or medications like injectable insulin, not food, he told me. Hannah and Andrew In October 2006 a four-year-old from Corpus Christi named Andrew Burd died mysteriously of salt poisoning. Submit an Obituary . Katy Vine has been a staff writer since 2002. But Saenzs account of his whereabouts on the evening of the murder did not jibe with the evidence, and blood that matched the victims type was discovered inside his van. Nueces County jurors believed she failed to seek medical care for her foster son in a timely manner. No amount of money will ever bring back the years that were taken away, and the seven years of freedom I lost. And a succession of witnesses, nearly all of them members of Calvary Chapel, recounted Andrews unusual eating habits and Hannahs attentive parenting. He displayed hyperactive behavior and possibly had some cognitive delays as well. The doctors assessment of Andrew as developmentally delayed was significant because it dovetailed with Hannahs testimony. Because the court has not been inclined to intercede so far, members of Calvary Chapel have begun a letter-writing campaign to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles in hopes of securing a pardon or a commutation. He was born on April 2, 1940 in Little Rock, Arkansas to the late Lewis Franklin and Dwight Katherine Overton. . But was this churchgoing young woman a vicious child killer? You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Shortly afterward, at three-thirty, Hannah called Larry and asked him to come home since Andrew was vomiting and she needed his help. During the consultation the attorney can discuss whether our firm can assist you. One attorney was even moved to tears explaining how sorry he was for the mistakes he had made in Overton's case. I worked with Dabney at Browder Russell just after he graduated from W & L, and saw him often at FBYC. A funeral for Andrew followed at Seaside Memorial Park, alongside Corpus Christi Bay, at which Pastor Rod Carver officiated. Finally she relented, heating up what she had on hand: leftover vegetable-beef soup flavored with Zatarains Creole Seasoning. I will always remember Dabney's love of animals, nature and good music. The media coverage of the case stirred widespread outrage. Preceded in death by his mother Hannah Spencer Haile Overton and infant brother Charles. I was assured that they would be seeking lesser charges. During the trial, he said, I sat at the courthouse for five days, waiting to testify. He embodied the characteristics of a Saint and we will miss him very much. Ive missed, you know, so many things, she said at the time. Those were great times. I was privileged to know Dabney at W&L and as a fraternity brother at LXA. 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. 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 others at Calvary Chapel expressed their concern. They also discovered that Hannah was pregnant again. Until we specifically agree to act for you on a matter, you should not provide us with any confidential information or material. I visited Hannah at the Murray Unit one bright, cloudless afternoon, when the warden granted her a few hours to speak with me. But as the afternoon wore on, his symptoms grew troubling; his breathing became congested, and he became less and less responsive. I feel at such a loss, as do all of us who were fortunate enough to have been graced with Dabney's presence. 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. [I] fully disclosed the DAs offices case file to the defense, she wrote in the lengthy statement. Sister Overton grew up in Tuscumbia and lived most of her life in Florence. 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. Loose teeth, first day of kindergarten, last day of kindergarten. To the Overton's; Please accept my deepest sympathy and condolences for your loss. 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. Larry was charged with injury to a child for failing to get Andrew timely medical attention. She and her family do so much good with nothing. If someone was trying to murder Andrew, they would have restrained him and prevented him from drinking water, Moritz subsequently wrote in an affidavit. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. When Andrew started breathing funny, she told Hess, she had administered asthma medication with a nebulizer, hoping to open up his airways. Being in the Overtons home had afforded Werkhoven an intimate view of the family. In the midst of the chaos that followed, no one recognized how distressed Andrew was by the sight of Hannahs bloodied face. The website is updated daily, frequently with exonerations that occurred in the past. Sorry, I he began, when she asked him to put on his shoes. Pam Rooker. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. Like Hannah, Haller homeschooled her children, and the two mothers split teaching duties; the Haller children went to the Overton home for instruction for part of the day and vice versa. Overton spent seven years in prison before the Texas Court of Appeals overturned her capital murder charges on September 17, 2014. But after the girls, the Overtons conceived their fourth child, Sebastian. By the time Hannah took the stand, jurors appeared to have made up their minds. Larry and Hannah were granted supervised visits. Looking for any information that might bolster the appeal, Orr requested access to the prosecutions case file. Hannah Overton passed away in Peterborough, Lincolnshire. (Larrys parents, who were friends of the Saenzes, were parishioners.) She was native of this place and had been twice married. The case boils down to a woman who basically tortured a child, Eastwood continued. At 4 a.m., she reports to the laundry, where she folds shirts and hands out clean clothes to inmates. 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. Regardless of how much food he consumed, he complained that he was hungry. It was founded in 2012 in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. Left: Hannah Overton at the Murray Unit, west of Waco, on November 21, 2011. Dabney was one of those people that are angels without wings. Nevertheless, the idea that Andrew had sustained a head injury propelled the case forward, further casting Hannah as an abuser. Despite Eastwoods zeal, there were still basic questions that the prosecution could not explain. We shared wonderful times together as we mused over Rumi and different flavor ice creams. What a loss for all of us; he will be missed. Dabney always took time to talk to people and was a friend to many. If you would like a copy via email, please let me know. 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. Andrew spent his first night at the Overtons modest ranch-style house on Mothers Day, when he was two months shy of his fourth birthday, and he seemed to quickly grow attached to his new family. He was a member of Mt. OVERTON, Dabney III, died peacefully on Monday, November 9, 2009 surrounded by family and friends. I feel sad. Only Hannah had been able to break through. I was just trying to fix itto do anything I could to fix my baby, she said. On several occasions his fits had grown so extreme that she had resorted to asking a male parishioner to physically remove him from the classroom until he could regain self-control. Its somebodys worst nightmare, Hannah Overton told ABC News in an earlier interview. I have mitigating testimony that I think would have been very useful to your client, he said in a voice mail he left for Gilmore. The daughter of a pastor and a homemaker, she had grown up longing for the companionship and boisterous energy of the big, churchgoing families she saw around her. We spoke last Tuesday about a biking trip we had plan in the spring to Cherokee,N.C. There wasnt anything that I thought was dangerously wrong with him at that point. Can College Sports Get More Absurd Than SMU Joining the Pac-12? Four subsequent investigations were triggered by reports of abuse or neglect, including one allegation that both his mother and maternal grandmother were incapable of properly caring for him because they used methamphetamines. (After his arrest, he lost most of his clients. A unique and lasting tribute for a loved one. Taken together, the disparate details formed a disturbing picture. My sons in high school now. Zion Church of the Brethren. He was preceded in death by his mot 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. I am sad that I won't see my friend Dabney again in this life here on Earth. Yet to find her guilty, theyd had to believe that she knew he would die if she did not get him immediate medical attention. (You can just tell by looking at her how evil she is, one wrote.) Dear God, thank you for the soup, Isaac said, his head bowed, his eyes closed tightly. The congregation quickly dissolved. Hannahs conviction was upheld in 2009 by the Thirteenth Court of Appeals. I feel happy. 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. But was this churchgoing young woman a vicious child killer? Hannah and the girls, who complained of feeling achy, were taken to the hospital in an ambulance while Larrys parents picked up the rest of the family and, after dropping Larry off at the hospital, took the boys to a nearby Whataburger. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Another nurse, Dina Zapata, remembered Hannah smirking as she tried to resuscitate him. Yet the jury had never heard from him. The Corpus Christi Caller-Timess online comments section filled with the vitriol of readers, some of whom called for Hannah to receive the death penalty. The prosecutions most persuasive testimony came from Rotta, the pediatric critical care specialist who had originally expressed concern that Andrew had been mistreated. There were so many bruises and scratches that it would be difficult to describe them all. Rotta allowed that the appearance of Andrews body may have been due in part to the fact that he was coagulopathic, or not able to clot blood properly, a condition that occurs after a person has gone into cardiac arrest and can cause excessive bleeding and bruising. The boy was diagnosed with a toxic salt overdose and died the following day. Patricia Gonzalez, a nurse at the urgent care clinic, told the jury that Hannah had not behaved like a panic-stricken parent and had had a smile on her face as she performed CPR on the boy. 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. Afterward, she instinctively looked back to check on the children, not realizing that her face was covered in blood. There's also Syndeo Ranch, a faith-based home to help women transitioning out of prison in Palestine. 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. Heritage Funeral Home 3700 Forest Lawn Dr, Matthews, NC 28104, Weddington Methodist Church 13901 Providence Rd, Weddington, NC 28104. We have a child that was well until that afternoon, that had behavioral issues, that was having temper tantrums, that was then given something . . 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. January 21, 2023 Exhausted from the previous night, she briefly dozed off, then awoke to discover that Andrew had slipped out of the room. Frantic, Hannah began administering CPR in the backseat. Fernandez determined that the boy had died as a result of acute sodium toxicity, with blunt force head trauma as a contributing factor. After your child dies to be told that somebody think its your fault. While behind bars,Overton relied on her faith, family and supporters and led Bible studies. The defendant has portrayed herself as a nurturing Christian woman, Eastwood proclaimed. Hannah understood little of what had taken place except that she, her mother, and her brother had to leave Corpus Christi behind. When I first learned Andrew had died, I was angry, he explained to me. I was truly saddened to hear of Dabney's passing. Hannah must sit on the opposite side of a metal divider, behind Plexiglas. He was predeceased by : his parents, Theodore Roosevelt 'Jack' and Annie Overton of Washington; and his wife Claudia Cotten. I dont see what caused the high salt content. Guest Book Not sure what to say? The prosecution portrayed her as a mother who had lost control and tried to punish the young boy by giving him seasoning mixed in water. The very dilute gastric sodium contents suggest . Larry hurried home to help, but Andrew, who had been vomiting, only grew worse. I was lucky enough and feel so honored to have been loved by Dabney. 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. The Overtons are nurturing, loving, patient, and very family-oriented, an adoption supervisor noted in her paperwork. But Hannah, who was bewildered by Andrews condition, had no ready answers. 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. We know that Hannah R. (Saem) Overton had been residing in Texas . The boy was diagnosed with a toxic salt overdose and died the following day. All NRE reports represent a moment in time. 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. Hannah Overton and her family spend Christmas together for the first time in seven years. 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. It should be noted that during the entire conversation, Hannah Overton showed almost no emotion, he later wrote in his police report. The following week, Hannahwho had no history with CPS and no previous arrests, and had never had so much as a parking ticketwas charged with capital murder. Or had the tragedy claimed its second victim? She could not consent to a lesser charge, she told her attorneys, because she felt it would mean she was admitting fault. (Hannahs mother and stepfatherwhom the courts had named managing conservators of the childrenwere then able to return them to Larrys custody.) 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. 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. A block away from the clinic, as they waited at a red light, Andrew stopped breathing. Hannah - Please accept our sincere condolences on your loss. Dabney was born on July 31, 1963 and grew up in Essex County, Va. Hannah Overton from Fengate was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia shortly after a match in July with the Parkway Bowling Club which plays its home matches in Maskew Avenue. What a great sense of comfort to know that I could be greated on the other side by such a kind person. He was a good guy and a good friend. The doctor had been the on-call emergency medicine physician at Driscoll the day that Andrew arrived, and he had resuscitated the boy as he was transported to the intensive care unit. Then he asked for more. According to Hannah, Andrew once again asked for an early lunch, and once again, when she told him that he would have to wait, he defecated and smeared feces across the floor. I pray that you will bring Mom home soon.. Hannah Overton is expected to receive compensation for wrongful incarceration. With her first husband, whose name was Stephens, she lived in Iowa, and had one daughter. OVERTON, Dabney III, died peacefully on Monday, November 9, 2009 surrounded by family and friends. I think I'll always remember him as simply super cool himself. My only hope is that I will see him again. Cynthia Hujar-Orr, Gerry Goldstein and John Raley were apart of Overtons appellate team, http://pr-prod.com/project/until-proven-innocent/, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/10/da-declare-texas-woman-innocent-salt-poisoning-case/315400001/, https://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-mother-freed-spending-years-prison-foster-sons/story?id=26186920. But the damage was done: that Hannah had confessed to force-feeding Andrew and beating him was repeated, uncorrected, on the local news. He was a very quiet and caring man. The National Registry of Exonerations is a project of the Newkirk Center for Science & Society at University of California Irvine, the University of Michigan Law School and Michigan State University College of Law. Hannah was always drawn to stray people.. ABC News has followed Overton and her husband's story since her original trial. In 2011, Overtons appellate attorney, Cynthia Orr, filed a state petition for a writ of habeas corpus seeking a new trial. Overton spent seven years in prison before the Texas Court of Appeals overturned her capital murder charges on September 17, 2014. My job requires me to be an advocate for the state. The defense presented the jury with a medical mystery. Dick and Sue Kemper; St. Christopher's School, Share to let others add their own memories and condolences. That left Overton entitled to seek state compensation funds for thewrongful conviction. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. Hannah shrugged off the teachers warnings, certain that Andrew would improve once he had the stability of a permanent home. The boys symptoms that afternoonvomiting, chills, and lethargyinitially suggested to the Overtons that he had a routine ailment, like a stomach bug. Andrew was a sweet boy who had significant neurological and developmental disorders. Overton, who has long maintained her innocence, spent seven years in prison for the young childs death. Melinek, the defenses expert witness, testified about pica and an array of factors that could have contributed to Andrews death, including undiagnosed diabetes. 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. . Much loved daughter of Andrew and Susan, dearly loved sister of. 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. I wasnt thinking, obviously, or I would have just taken him to the hospital, Hannah told the detective. The states case would be predicated in part on the findings of Ray Fernandez, the Nueces County medical examiner, who ruled Andrews death to be a homicide. They had also watched the video of Hess questioning Hannah, during which she described calling a paramedic friend in Oklahoma for guidance when the boys condition deteriorated, and even using her cameras flash to check if his pupils were reactive, but never calling for an ambulance. Relatives, neighbors, and members of the Overtons church pitched in to look after the kids during Hannahs recovery, but the revolving door of caregivers proved to be difficult for Andrew, who began acting out on a scale they had not seen before. 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. I see Dabney very clearly at the dog park with Moose and Betsy, gliding along with that long stride of his and his big smile for everyone. Dabney was born on July 31, 1963 and grew up in Essex County, Va. The day Andrew died Hannah said she found him in the kitchen pantry but could not determine what he had consumed, if anything. There have been a few tear-filled nights because one of the kids misses Andrew, Larry told me later. All rights reserved. The jury was not just going to let her walk.. Im supposed to be done crying, she said apologetically at one point, brushing away tears. Dabney and I had spirited conversations about baseball. Hannah was sure I would eventually come around. The onus for the boys death fell on Hannah, who was charged with capital murder. The newly discovered documents, Moritz later told me, were a monumentally important piece of evidence., The discovery soon exposed strains among the prosecution team. Yet the image they conjuredof a woman grinning at the sight of a comatose four-year-oldwas devastating. Now they can move forward, grieve the loss of Andrew, and heal, Orr said. I worked with him at Branch, Cabell many years ago. I am so sorry to hear the news. Dabney will be missed by so many. 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. . 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. Whats Up With All the Kangaroos on the Loose in Texas? 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. 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. Did you at any time strike him? Hess asked. 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. Dabney will be missed as one of the "regular" offshore racing crew members at Fishing Bay. I first met him shortly after the death of my husband 4 years ago and his kind, gentle spirit and wonderful sense of humor made such a difference at that time and ever since. Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Todd Yates/AP Photo, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Sadly she lost her . It was Emma whom Hannah was pregnant with when Andrew died, and she is the child Hannah knows least. The Carvers, like most members of Calvary Chapel, never doubted her innocence. That Larry is able to be with the children at all, much less raise them, is a huge blessing, he told me. We had known each other for ten years, and I dont think Id ever seen her mad, Haller told me. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. Right, a photo of Andrew Burd held by Larry Overton. Andrews behavior worsened that September, after the family was involved in a car accident.