ALEXA LINBOOM - 5 yo/ Charged: Father and Mother; Randall Lee Vaughn and Mary Lavonne Vaughn - Surgoinville (Knoxville) TN

Update: Child died after alleged 'extreme punishment' of forced soda drinking

Jeff Bobo/ Kingsport Times-News
Posted February 6, 2014 at 2:35 p.m.

SURGOINSVILLE — A Hawkins County couple have been charged with murder for allegedly causing the death of their 5-year-old child in 2012 by forcing her to drink an excessive amount of grape soda and water as punishment.


Randall Lee Vaughn and Mary Lavonne Vaughn


The victim, Alexa Linboom, was allegedly being punished for taking some of her step mother’s grape soda after being told not to.

Attorney General Berkeley Bell told the Times-News that the child’s biological father and step mother forced her to drink as many as 4.5 12-ounce bottles of grape sodas, as well as an unknown amount of water.

“They also failed to take care of the child once she was injured,” Bell said. “Our position is it was a matter of several hours after the child started exhibiting serious symptoms, after the child was screaming out in pain, went into a paralyzed state, and became unconscious.”

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2014/feb/06/update-child-died-after-alleged-extreme-punishment/

Grape soda death: Parents plead not guilty to murdering daughter, 5

By Paresh Dave
February 7, 2014, 11:39 a.m.

A Tennessee couple pleaded not guilty Friday to murder and child abuse charges for allegedly intoxicating their 5-year-old daughter by having her chug more than two liters of water and grape soda, leading to her death.

Randall Lee Vaughn, 41, and Mary Vaughn, 58, of Surgoinsville were arrested this week after a two-year investigation into the death of the man’s daughter and his wife’s stepdaughter.

The Hawkins County Sheriff’s Department said the parents drove an unresponsive and discolored Alexa Linboom to the emergency room Jan. 1, 2012. She died two days later because of "acute fluid/water intoxication." It caused her sodium level to drop, swelling the brain with water and severely damaging it. The death was eventually ruled a homicide.

The Vaughns disciplined Alexa by forcing her to drink about 2.4 liters of fluid, including several 12-ounce cans of grape soda, in a span of one to two hours, according to an autopsy report prepared by the Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University. She was bruised throughout her body and had cuts on her face, the report states.

DOCUMENT: Read the autopsy report

The couple told investigators that Alexa had urinated in her pants and vomited several times before they brought her to the hospital about three hours later. They had tried to feed her oatmeal to calm her stomach, but she passed out while eating. In the car, she did come to and played patty cake, the couple said. Others who knew Alexa told investigators she was a "normal" and "healthy" child.

The report also notes Alexa had moved to Tennessee about three months before her death because of allegations of neglect at her previous, unspecified home.

Both of the Vaughns were charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and two counts of aggravated child neglect.

An obituary in The Rogersville Review said Alexa Rae Linboom was a tomboy who enjoyed coloring, playing with her Barbie dolls, animals and being with her two brothers and three sisters. The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services told the Associated Press that the five remaining siblings were taken into state custody in February 2013.

The couple, who are being held on $500,000 bail, were given an Oct. 20 trial date by a judge and are due back in court for a pretrial hearing in April.

A spokeswoman for the Hawkins County district attorney’s office said prosecutors have not decided what sentence they would seek, with options including life in prison, life in prison without the possibility of parole and the death penalty.  

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-grape-soda-death-tennessee-20140207,0,7707927.story#ixzz2sfsGattx

Trial set in case of child forced to drink soda; 5-year-old died after massive liquid intake

Posted: 02/07/2014
Last Updated: 3 days ago
The Associated Press

ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. - An East Tennessee couple accused of killing the man's 5-year-old daughter by forcing her to drink large quantities of grape soda and water will face trial in October.

Randall and Mary Vaughn were arraigned in Hawkins County on Friday. According to the court clerk's office, the judge ordered that Mary Vaughn be represented by a public defender. Randall Vaughn will seek a private attorney. The couple did not enter a plea.

According to the autopsy report, on Jan. 1, 2012, the Vaughns forced Alexa Linboom to drink about 2.4 liters of soda and water over a one-to-two hour span as a punishment. The massive liquid intake caused her brain to swell and herniate.

The Vaughns are charged with murder, abuse and neglect. They are jailed on $500,000 bond each.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/u-s-world/trial-set-in-case-of-child-forced-to-drink-soda-5-year-old-died-after-massive-liquid-intake02072014