Tuesday, October 29, 2013

U.S. adoptive mother gets 37 years for Ethiopian girl's death

(Oct 29, 2013, OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters))--A U.S. woman was sentenced to 37 years in prison on Tuesday for starving her Ethiopia-born adopted daughter and leaving her to die outside in the cold in Washington state. Stay-at-home mother Carri Williams, 42, was convicted last month of homicide by abuse in connection with the 2011 death of 13-year-old Hana Williams, who was adopted in 2008.

The girl's father, Larry Williams, 49, was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and sentenced on Tuesday to 28 years in prison, a representative in the clerk's office said. The jury deadlocked on a charge of homicide by abuse against the man, who worked for the Boeing Co.

The family lived in Sedro-Woolley, a town about halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. Hana Williams died of hypothermia in May 2011 after being found bruised and unconscious in the backyard shortly after midnight in temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius), authorities said.

In addition to the charges linked to Hana's death, the couple were found guilty of assault of a child stemming from maltreatment of their 10-year-old son, who was also adopted from Ethiopia and has been removed from the Williams' home. Read more from Hartford Courant, Connecticut »

No comments:

Post a Comment