BRYANNA DRAPER - 3 Months (2000) - Bristol TN

BRISTOL, Tenn. — A Sullivan County jury handed down a $16 million wrongful death verdict Monday in Bristol.

The case involved the death of 3-month-old Bryanna Draper in June 2000.

The child’s father, Daniel L. Draper, pleaded guilty in 2003 to
first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. He was sentenced to life
in prison plus 25 years.

Bryanna’s mother, Angela Sells, brought the civil suit against her ex-husband, Draper.

Sells said she knew she would not collect any money if she won the
suit, but she doesn’t want what happened to her daughter to be
forgotten.

“I would just like the public to know that we don’t want Bryanna
forgotten or what happened to her forgotten,” Sells said. “If anything
that happened yesterday would help to prevent the death of another
child, then it was time well-spent. I knew there was no money in the
settlement against him, but I wanted it on the record in the hopes that
other people would see that a Sullivan County jury is not going to
tolerate his behavior. Yesterday was all about Bryanna and hopes to
prevent something like that happening to any other child again.”

The award included $6 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages.

Sells’ attorneys in the wrongful death suit, Kenneth D. Hale of Hale,
Lyle and Russell and Jonathan Roberts of Wohlford and Roberts, said
they were pleased with the verdict.

“The civil trial brings closure for Angie Sells in this matter. She
has endured the emotional stress of the criminal and civil cases since
the death of her daughter in 2000. The verdict speaks loudly for little
Bryanna,” Roberts said.

Hale said “the punitive damages award sent a clear message to the community that such conduct will not be tolerated.”

Articles published in the Times-News at the time of Draper’s arrest
quote investigators who said an autopsy of the child revealed numerous
injuries in various stages of healing. Police said the injuries were
consistent with non-accidental traumas and consisted of broken bones and
head injuries.

According to a press release from Hale, Lyle and Russell, retired
Bristol Tennessee Police Department Detective Jack Necessary said “that
was the worst case of child abuse I worked in my entire career.”
http://www.timesnews.net/article/9043361/mother-hopes-wrongful-death-verdict-against-child39s-father-sends-a-message

Poster's Note: I looked up some background on this case and found the following article. This baby killer was very calculating and fooled eveyone even doctors. He's tried to get his sentence modified (probably because he's not enjoying prison) but I hope he's never successful.

People that abuse their children...
A silver-framed photo of a tiny baby with a shock of thick black hair still sits on the mantle in her grandparents' sunroom.
Not too long after the photograph was taken, Bryanna Faith Draper would be gone.

Her grandparents still recall the desperate attempts to nurse the nearly 4-month-old baby back to health, the agony of her death and the torture of the 10 months that would follow without answers.

They wondered whether a genetic disease, a rare reaction to an immunization, a hospital mistake or some mysterious illness had caused her death.

"It was horrible. You imagine everything. It's a nightmare, but you just live it," Kay Wills said as she dabbed at the tears that still come quickly at the mention of her only grandchild.

Wayne Wills, the baby's grandfather, agreed.

"The not knowing will kill you," he said. "We thought we just had a sick child who died. We thought she might have gotten polio from her shots. We thought she might have had a heart problem."

As they ran through endless possibilities in their minds, Wayne and Kay Wills never suspected that Bryanna's death was the result of abuse at the hands of her father, Daniel L. Draper of Bristol Tennessee.

They were kept in the dark about the cause of their granddaughter's death until police received a final autopsy report -- a process that took 10 months.

Their case was just one of many in the past few years that has been slowed by a lack of space, understaffing and shortage of funding for the regional medical examiner's office.

"It wasn't anybody's fault, really," Wayne Wills said of the delay. "Everybody was doing what they could, but it would have been nice if it had been quicker. Knowing was horrible. Not knowing was worse."

Two years after Bryanna's death, her father pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. The 37-year-old former X-ray technician can ask for parole when he is 88.

The family's world began to unravel in April 2000 when Bryanna was 2 months old. That was when the healthy, happy baby suddenly started to suffer from strange symptoms.

Bryanna seemed to be in pain and couldn't keep formula down, her grandparents said. Her mother, Angie, took her to the doctor 15 times but got no answers, they said.

"She spent two weekends in the hospital," Kay Wills said. "She was at the doctor's every day the last week that she died. Someone should have discovered it."

The baby's autopsy would reveal broken ribs, a broken arm and a broken collarbone as well as bleeding in her brain and eyes. But a week before she died, no marks were visible on her body, Kay Wills recalled.

"On the Wednesday before she died, I gave her a bath," she said. "There was not one mark. There were no physical signs of abuse."

In fact, the baby seemed to be getting well just before she died, Wayne Wills remembered.

Bryanna's short life came to an end June 2, 2000. She was rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest; her father claimed she had stopped breathing after choking on formula.

Later, he would admit to police investigators he had picked Bryanna up by the head, smothered her, then thrown her down. He also would admit abusing the baby for weeks before she died -- twisting her arms and legs and striking her head.

The abuse happened while the baby's mother -- a cardiac nurse -- was at work or sleeping and the baby was left in her father's care.

In the 10 months after Bryanna's death, before police shared the final autopsy results with her family, the Willses said the family lived in agony. Their daughter wanted to have another baby but worried she would pass on some fatal genetic defect, her father said.

Worst of all, their daughter continued to live with Draper -- unaware that he had killed their child, they said.

"The only person who wasn't fooled was Daniel," Wayne Wills said.

The pressure on the family became even more intense about three weeks before they learned the autopsy results. It was at that point that he received a copy of the baby's death certificate that listed the cause of her death as multiple trauma, Wayne Wills said.

He pleaded with police and a friend in the prosecutor's office for answers, to no avail, he said.

"They couldn't tell us anything until they got that final report," he said. "Then, they told me exactly what happened."

After he told his daughter about the autopsy results, she confronted her husband at her parents' home.

"All he would admit is that he hit (Bryanna) in the head and that he hurt her," Wayne Wills said. "He said, 'Yes, I hurt her.'"

Draper asked him to take him to talk to police, Wayne Wills said, adding that he has mixed feelings about his former son-in-law, whom he had known for 12 years.

"The Lord worked it out," Wayne Wills said. "It was in his time frame, not ours."

It has been five months since Draper pleaded guilty to murder and was sent to prison. Now, he has filed a motion to have his sentence modified -- a legal maneuver that has brought fresh pain for the Wills family.

But they have tried to move on with their lives. Their daughter since has remarried.

"She has a lot of bad times still," Kay Wills said. "She's trying, but it's hard."

The Willses hope that by sharing their story they will help other families avoid their anguish. They hope the state will provide more funding for the state medical examiner's office so other families won't have to endure such a long search for answers.

"There are certain things that have to be funded," Wayne Wills said. "Fifty years ago, (Draper) might have gotten away with it. What the pathologists do is very important."

Bryanna's grandparents also hope her legacy will be that doctors will look closely for signs of child abuse -- even in cases in which it seems unlikely.

"We've been told that when a baby comes in (to the emergency room) now, someone says, 'What about Bryanna?'" Wayne Wills said. "Our understanding is that on one occasion a child has been saved. That's some comfort.

"Angie worried that for 10 months Bryanna would just be forgotten. She won't ever be forgotten, not only in health care but also in law enforcement."

http://www.bigbigforums.com/vent-whine/279233-people-abuse-their-children.html

i dont understand how no one noticed that this child was being abused. i just dont buy it.