10 yo Ame Deal Died as Result of Being Locked in Box as Punishment

[MuffyBee]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/29/us-child-suffocate-arizona-idUSTRE76S04R20110729
Girl found suffocated was locked in box as punishment
July 28, 2011

(Reuters) - Four adult relatives of an Arizona girl found suffocated in a storage bin have been arrested after investigators determined she was locked in the container as punishment for taking a popsicle without permission.
 ::snipping2::
The incident in which the girl died was discipline for her having taken a popsicle without asking permission, Crump said.

He said that when Ame was first caught, the Allens forced her to perform exercises, such as jumping jacks, running in circles and back bends, for over an hour. They then ordered her to climb in the storage chest before locking it with a padlock. She was found dead the next morning, apparently having suffocated.

Police said the child was 4 feet, 2 inches tall and weighed just 59 pounds. The box she was locked in was less than 3 feet long, 14 inches wide and about a foot deep.

The girl was very dirty and wearing soiled clothes when found, with marks on her right knee apparently from "forceful contact with the interior lid," investigators reported.

Crump said she routinely slept in the shower with no pillow or cover after having wet her bed.

Crump said detectives were still investigating how the child ended up in the custody of her aunt but said she was one of over a dozen children who were living in that home and another with various family members.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/07/28/20110728phoenix-police-arrest-4-girls-death-footlocker-torture-brk.html
Phoenix police: Dead girl in footlocker tortured; 4 arrested
July 28, 2011

Phoenix police have arrested four adults, two of whom they allege tortured and killed a 10-year-old girl, and two of whom they allege abused the girl, in a case acting Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner called "an unspeakable tragedy, one of the worst we have ever seen."

The girl's death was initially reported to be an accident while playing hide and seek.
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Police said Thursday that Ame had been forced her into a footlocker that was then padlocked, and she was left there to die. Police were called to the home the next morning.

Police said John Allen, 23, and his wife Samantha Allen, 23, were expected to face first-degree murder charges. Also arrested were Cynthia Stoltzmann, 44, and Judith Deal, 62, who face kidnapping and child abuse charges.

Discussing the case Thursday, police said Ame apparently was locked in the footlocker as punishment for taking a popsicle from the refrigerator. Before she was locked in, she was forced to spend many minutes doing backbends and other exercises, and running in the backyard despite the summer heat.

On other occasions, police allege, as punishment for failing to pick up a dog's fecal matter, the fecal matter was rubbed on Ame's face and she was forced to eat it.
 ::snipping2::
(Video at Link)

[labubske]

Interesting to see how this played out...first ruled an accident...and also interesting to see what one of the four charged had to say before she was charged.  Just now saw the scissors for snipping...sorry.

Family remembers girl who died playing hide and seek


You could almost tell by her smile that 10-year-old Amy Deal was a little shy. Her family also revealed, like most girls her age, she liked to play with dolls and loved to play hide and seek.

“She was an awesome hider, let me tell you. There's places she would squeeze into that I wouldn't think my dog could squeeze into,” said Cynthia Stoltzmann, Deal’s aunt.

Tragically, Phoenix police investigators said it appears Deal suffocated after falling asleep while hiding inside a large plastic container .

She had been playing hide and seek with her cousins at their home near 35th Avenue and Broadway Road around 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Her 3-year-old cousin found her hours later when she woke up.

...............................................snipped....................................................................

Stoltzmann believes her daughter assumed Deal went to sleep.

“If I'd only been home this probably wouldn’t have happened. I spent last night crying most of the night. I don't break down well in front of others but when I'm by myself I can lose it real easy,” said Stoltzmann.

No charges have been filed. Police believe it was just a tragic accident.

.............................................snipped......................................................................

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/south_phoenix/family-remembers-girl-who-died-playing-hide-%26-seek

[cookie]

Dear God...I have no words...

[4 Donks]

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/south_phoenix/phoenix-police%3A-4-family-members-arrested-in-girl%27s-death

 ::snipping2::
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Posted: 9:11 PM
Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

    By: ABC15.com staff By: ABC15.com staff

PHOENIX - Court documents show a Phoenix girl who was found dead earlier this month in a box was also a victim of various forms of abuse over the last several months.

Police arrested four family members in the case Wednesday night for putting the 10-year-old girl in the box overnight as punishment earlier this month.

Phoenix police Sgt. Trent Crump said 10-year-old Ame Deal's grandmother, aunt and two cousins each face charges in the girl's death.

Ame was found dead July 12 outside a home near 35th Avenue and Broadway Road after family members said she had been playing a game of hide and seek.

Police said at a Thursday morning news conference that Ame was being punished for taking a popsicle and had actually been placed in a footlocker-type box outside the home.

ABC15 talked to the child's family after her death and an aunt said her daughter was watching Ame and several other children at the home.

She said Ame was playing hide and seek with the other children and was found hours later by a 3-year-old cousin.

Twenty-three-year-old Samantha Allen and her 23-year-old husband John Allen, face first degree murder charges for putting Ame in the box.

Ame's grandmother, 62-year-old Judith Deal and her aunt Cynthia Stoltzmann, 44, face charges of child abuse and kidnapping.

Police said Ame was placed in the box as an ongoing punishment.

According to court documents released Thursday, Ame was put in the box by family members multiple times during the last six months.

According to those documents, one witness told police that Ame's aunt and legal guardian, Cynthia Stoltzmann, "put Ame into the black box as a [disciplinary] measure. She saw this at least five times within the last few months."

That same witness also told police, "She saw Cynthia force Ame to eat dog feces" as punishment for not cleaning up all the dog feces near their clothesline.

Police also reported that one of Ame's aunts, Samantha Allen, "eventually confessed to putting hot sauce in Ame's mouth, hitting her with [a paddle called the] Butt Buster, and putting her in the box as a disciplinary measure."

A different witness told police that Ame was the "only child punished in the home" and was also "forced to crush cans barefoot." The same witness also saw "Ame being forced to exercise in extreme measures."

The police report also said the box had been padlocked with Ame inside it before everyone went to bed.

However, according to the police report, Stoltzmann admitted to a detective that "Ame has no bed or room. Ame sleeps on [the] floor of a stall shower. She has no blanket or pillows. This was a disciplinary measure due to bed wetting."

Crump said the girl was home-schooled and there were several children in and out of the home at various times. Twelve children are now in CPS custody.

 ::snipping2::

Why didn't any of these witnesses come forward before sh died.

[cookie]

Donks..they are just as guilty in my eyes! if they can not speak up and protect a child from harm, then they need to be in jail with the others! this makes me so angry! what the hell kind of generation have we raised that has no value for a child?? is it me or are people  getting more and more evil and cruel to children???  I am so angry right now I could spit!

[wildmala]

This is ridiculous!!!  UNACCEPTABLE!  I mean REALLY...what gives anyone the right to DECIDE not to report things like this!!!  It is one's duty as civilized humans to do so.  Unfreakin believable. 

When will people learn to SPEAK UP!!! 

[MuffyBee]

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/07/29/arizona.girl.killed/
Relatives charged in murder of 10-year-old found locked in box
July 30, 2011

(CNN) -- Four members of an Arizona family have been charged with murder in the death of a 10-year-old girl whose body was discovered locked in a box outside her family's house. She had suffocated.

The charges were filed Thursday, a day after Phoenix police arrested the four.

Police released a statement saying the four relatives of Ame Deal had been entrusted with caring for her. The arrest came after police said they learned that the family routinely confined her inside the box when she misbehaved.

John and Samantha Allen, both 23, were charged with first-degree murder after confessing they had locked Deal in the box July 12, the statement said.

Cynthia Stoltzmann, 44, and Judith Deal, 62, were charged with child abuse and kidnapping after both admitted they had locked the girl in the box on previous occasions, it added.
More...
(Video at link)

[Sister]

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/07/29/arizona.girl.killed/
Relatives charged in murder of 10-year-old found locked in box
July 30, 2011

(CNN) -- Four members of an Arizona family have been charged with murder in the death of a 10-year-old girl whose body was discovered locked in a box outside her family's house. She had suffocated.

The charges were filed Thursday, a day after Phoenix police arrested the four.

Police released a statement saying the four relatives of Ame Deal had been entrusted with caring for her. The arrest came after police said they learned that the family routinely confined her inside the box when she misbehaved.

John and Samantha Allen, both 23, were charged with first-degree murder after confessing they had locked Deal in the box July 12, the statement said.

Cynthia Stoltzmann, 44, and Judith Deal, 62, were charged with child abuse and kidnapping after both admitted they had locked the girl in the box on previous occasions, it added.
More...
(Video at link)

BBM
entrusted -- good grief!

[4 Donks]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2011/07/30/20110730phoenix-girl-death-ame-deal-mother-speaks.html

Read the bio mom's reaction...this child was doomed from the time she was born. RIP Ame 

[cookie]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2011/07/30/20110730phoenix-girl-death-ame-deal-mother-speaks.html

Read the bio mom's reaction...this child was doomed from the time she was born. RIP Ame 

yes doomed..this idiot would flee to save herself from abuse but left her children behind? what a pig she is! no respect for this woman or what she is going through now. She could have prevented it but she put herself first, like so many ....