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CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL

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CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Empty CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL

Post by TomTerrific0420 Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:36 am

One photograph shows a beautiful baby girl with a fat, happy face.

Another shows a dead 5-month-old with sunken eyes. She weighed 6 pounds. Her autopsy showed no body fat.

Without being told it's the same child, you'd never be able to tell.

When Polk County investigators responded to a call Sunday about a
baby not breathing at the Lakeland home of Tivasha Logan and Chauncey
Gardner, they found more beer than baby food, Sheriff Grady Judd said.
There only were about 2 ounces of formula inside the one can they saw.

The child, Chauntasia Gardner, was pronounced dead nine minutes after deputies arrived.
She had been starved to death by her parents, deputies say. She was in the lowest 1 percentile of weight among children her age.

Logan and Gardner were arrested Monday afternoon. They are being
held without bail on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated
child abuse.
CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL 20328_tivasha-loganCHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL 20329_chauncey-gardner

The couple was shocked that they had been charged with a crime, Judd said.

"They couldn't see what they would do wrong," he said. "We couldn't see what they did right."

The parents had no excuse, Judd said. The other children in the home
were fed, and with food stamps and other income, the couple had the
ability to keep Chauntasia healthy.

The child's grandmother had been aware for weeks that the girl was
sick. The grandmother told Logan to take the baby to a hospital or
doctor, but Logan lied and said she did and that Chauntasia weighed 8
pounds and everything was fine, Judd said.

Logan and Gardner told investigators they didn't realize the baby's
infant formula was supposed to be mixed with an equal amount of water.
The formula, though, came with explicit instructions, Judd said.

The parents told investigators they were mixing the formula with
three times as much water, meaning the child was getting only a third
of the recommended amount of formula at each feeding.

Deputies say they aren't sure at what intervals the child was fed.
The parents said they fed the child 2 ounces of formula every three or
so hours.

Judd said investigators only found five soiled diapers inside the
home, a remarkably low number considering the last garbage pickup had
been days before.

Since the baby had left the hospital, Logan told investigators, she
had tried several times to get an appointment with a doctor but failed
because doctors wouldn't accept her form of Medicaid. But Logan gets
government benefits and received a $674 check on Oct. 1 for
Chauntasia's needs, an arrest report states.

At first, Logan told deputies she noticed Chauntasia had been sick
Wednesday or Thursday, and she didn't think anything of it because the
girl was always skinny, the report states. She said that Sunday
morning, when she found the girl unresponsive, was the first time she
noticed the girl's bones sticking out of her face.

"When asked if she thought about taking the victim to the doctor
when she noticed she was losing weight, Logan reiterated she didn't
think anything of it," the report states.

After the child's grandmother told deputies that Logan had known for
weeks about the girl being sick, Logan told investigators that she
actually noticed Chauntasia losing weight two weeks before her death.

Logan said she was scared that if she took Chauntasia to a hospital,
the hospital would call the Department of Children & Families. She
said she had a scheduled doctor's appointment for Monday – a day after
her child died – and hoped that doctor wouldn't notify DCF about
Chauntasia's condition.

The couple has three other children together – a 4-year-old boy and
two girls, ages 2 and 3. Logan has two other children who live at the
home, ages 6 and 10.

Those five children are now staying with a relative, and DCF will do
its best to make sure they get the help they need and be able to stay
together as a family, DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said.

DCF investigated Logan in four prior cases and Gardner in two of
those cases, none of which involved starving children, Hoeppner said.
The cases involved neglect, particularly in the supervision of
children. The four investigations between 2000 and 2007 revealed some
or no indications of abuse, and the children were allowed to stay with
the couple.

Chauntasia was born premature on May 11 at Lakeland Regional Medical Center. She weighed 2 pounds, 11 ounces.

When she was released from the hospital July 29, she weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces.

When investigators saw her Sunday, Chauntasia weighed nearly 2
pounds less. She hadn't been seen from a doctor since she was
discharged.

An autopsy was conducted Monday morning. With most people, there is evidence of fat in the body, Judd said. The baby had none.

"This child was tortured," he said. "This child simply wasn't fed."

A typical five-month-old female in North America on average weighs
15 pounds, said Dr. Richard Frates Jr., a pediatrician at the Watson
Clinic in Lakeland.

The five month old on average drinks up to 40 ounces of formula a
day, Frates said. The formula has 20 calories per ounce. A baby who is
eating well would ingest an estimated 800 calories in a day, he said.

If feedings aren't going well or the baby can't finish a bottle, "that's a sign that something is wrong," Frates said.

John Livingstone, Hillsborough County Health Department's public
health nutrition program director, said that typically the family of a
5-month-old baby or younger who has been approved for the WIC program
receives enough formula where a parent doesn't need to buy additional
formula. WIC is short for the federal program Supplemental Food Program
for Women, Infant and Children.

Parents receive a WIC check or voucher that allows them to purchase
two months of formula. If the child isn't well, the family may have to
claim the vouchers every month. Program staff usually see the baby at
the initial visit.

If the baby isn't well, an exception may be made, Livingstone said.
Staff may not see the baby until he is six months old to measure, weigh
and assess growth, he said.

A nutritionist usually talks to the family about the use of formula.
There is also literature and the formula cans explain the proper way to
mix baby formula, he said.

"If you don't follow the instruction exactly right, you are going to hurt your baby," Livingstone said.

Gardner, 27, previously was sentenced to a year and a day in prison
for cocaine possession. He spent about six months behind bars and was
released in July 2008.

He also spent about seven months behind bars after being convicted
of fleeing law enforcement and grand theft. He was released in January
2004.

When Logan, 25, was charged Monday, she already was on weekend work
release from jail. She had been arrested for driving with a suspended
license, according to the jail Web site.

"This child should be alive and well … and she's dead," Judd said. "And she shouldn't be. And it makes me very, very angry."
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CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Empty Re: CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL

Post by mermaid55 Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:39 pm

Jailed on charges she fatally starved daughter
Judge: No Bail for Woman in Baby's Starving DeathJ
Tivasha Evan Logan wants out so she can take care of her other children.
CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Bilde11
Published: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 11:54 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 11:54 p.m.

BARTOW | A 26-year-old woman charged with starving her infant to death last year wants out of jail so she can care of her other five young children.

But Circuit Judge Michael Hunter ruled Wednesday that Tivasha Evan Logan, who is facing first-degree murder charges, isn't going anywhere. After a day of testimony, Hunter said prosecutors have ample evidence to hold Logan without bond.

"They say a picture is worth 1,000 words," he said. "Well, these pictures are worth 10,000 words."

Hunter was referring to photographs taken by Dr. Stephen Nelson, chief medical examiner for the Bartow-based 10th Judicial Circuit, before conducting an autopsy on 5-month-old Chauntasia Gardner.

Nelson testified Wednesday the baby barely weighed 6 pounds when she died, which is 13 percent less than she weighed when she was released from the hospital July 30 following her birth. She weighed only 2 pounds, 11 ounces when she was born prematurely on May 11, and remained in the hospital until her weight climbed to nearly 7 pounds.

In Nelson's photographs, Chauntasia's skin was wrinkled and dry from dehydration, he said. Her eyes were sunken and her ribs protruding. "Essentially, she looks like a child from Biafra," Nelson said.

Hunter reiterated that thought in his oral ruling.

"She looks like a person out of Africa or a concentration camp," he said. "I can't comprehend how any reasonable, intelligent person cannot look at this child, or a child that looked like this one did, and not see that the child is starving to death."

Nelson said he found nearly nothing in the baby's digestive system, suggesting she hadn't eaten anything substantial for some time before she was found dead about 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2009.

Detectives said Logan told them she'd noticed her daughter was losing weight about two weeks before the child died, but she feared she would go to jail or lose her other children if she took the baby to a doctor.

Logan and the baby's father, Chauncey Gardner, 28, both are charged with first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child and aggravated child abuse. Gardner remains in custody without bond.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20101215/NEWS/12155084
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CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Empty Re: CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL

Post by mermaid55 Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:43 pm

Logan
08/29/2011 INSERT HEARING FOR THE DATE: 10/6/2011
08/29/2011 Re: STHR--STATUS HEARING BY BRITLEIS
08/26/2011 MEMO OF COURT (SNAPOUT) 8/25/11

Gardner
08/29/2011 INSERT HEARING FOR THE DATE: 10/6/2011

https://www2.myfloridacounty.com/ccm/do/docket?county=53&data=156cffac799e58d6aa2ce48197e59b7d
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Post by mermaid55 Thu Oct 06, 2011 8:36 pm


01/17/2012 08:30:00 JACOBSEN, DONALD G JURY SELECTION BARTOW COURTHOUSE :

https://www2.myfloridacounty.com/ccm/do/docket?county=53&data=e29bec5c1f862ed4883d35225a4042b2
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Post by mermaid55 Wed Jan 18, 2012 2:45 pm

01/09/2012 INSERT HEARING FOR THE DATE: 3/8/2012

https://www2.myfloridacounty.com/ccm/do/docket?county=53&data=e209e63447791a300366149ffb79b490
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CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Empty Re: CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL

Post by angelm07 Wed May 09, 2012 11:43 am

Chauncey Gardner next status hearing:

05/17/2012 08:30:00
STATUS HEARING
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CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Empty Re: CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL

Post by twinkletoes Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:22 pm

Polk woman gets life for baby daughter's starvation death

The Associated Press

10:16 a.m. EST, July 13, 2012

LAKELAND, Florida — A Lakeland woman has been sentenced to life in prison for starving her 5-month-old daughter to death.

A Polk County
judge sentenced Tivasha Logan, 27, on Thursday. She was convicted last
month of first-degree murder and aggravated manslaughter of a child.

The
Ledger of Lakeland reports Logan and the baby's father, Chauncey
Gardner, 29, had watered down the baby's formula, and she wasn't getting
sufficient nutrition to survive. Gardner is awaiting trial for
first-degree murder and other charges. He remains in jail.

Officials say Chauntasia should have weighed about 14 pounds but was 6 pounds when she died. She was found dead Nov. 1, 2009.

Logan's attorney has said his client never intended to harm the child.

articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012...13/.../os-baby-starved-sentencing...
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CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Empty Re: CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL

Post by flash0115 Sat Jul 14, 2012 2:23 am

i do hope that she is never allowed to see her other children again.

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CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Empty Re: CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL

Post by babyjustice Sun Jul 15, 2012 5:43 pm

I hope this poor excuse of a mother actually serves life and that they convict the disgusting father as well. They should give them water to live on the rest of their lives and see how long they make it. I agree with you flash and hope these idiots never get to se the other children and they end up in safe and loving homes.

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CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Empty Re: CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL

Post by willcarney Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:11 pm

Polk County man on trial for daughter's starvation death
Posted: Apr 25, 2013 9:36 AM CDT By Associated Press

BARTOW, Fla. -
A Lakeland man is on trial for first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child charges after prosecutors say he starved his infant daughter to death in 2009.

The Lakeland Ledger reports that Chauncey Gardner's five-month-old baby was found dead Nov. 1, 2009.

A police report said Gardner and the baby's mother, Tivasha Logan, told detectives that they were unaware that they had been feeding the baby an improper ratio of powdered formula to water.

The 30-year-old Gardner has 10 children from several different women, and helped take care of his children when he was able to do so and not in jail or prison.

Logan is serving a life sentence in prison after being found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated manslaughter of a child.

http://www.wfla.com/story/22076209/man-on-trial-for-daughters-starvation-death


Took them long enough to charge the POS dad. This might need a seperate post since the mother has been sentenced?? William
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Post by flash0115 Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:47 pm

How many children have to die before someone does something about this out of control pollinating?

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Post by willcarney Thu Apr 25, 2013 5:28 pm

flash0115 wrote:How many children have to die before someone does something about this out of control pollinating?

"30 years old had 10 children by different woman" This kind of behaviour is common place among the poor, regardless of race. When I was growing up I was taught you don't have sex without being married. Once married you don't have sex with other people. This bahaviour leads to dads that are not usually there for the children as well as abuse, drugs, drinking and other problems.

William
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CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Empty Re: CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL

Post by flash0115 Thu Apr 25, 2013 7:59 pm

William, I agree wholeheartedly. Maybe, I'm too old, but I just can't understand the mindset of these kinds of people. I didn't mean to sound as if i had any particular race in mind.

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Post by twinkletoes Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:12 pm

willcarney wrote:Polk County man on trial for daughter's starvation death
Posted: Apr 25, 2013 9:36 AM CDT By Associated Press

BARTOW, Fla. -
A Lakeland man is on trial for first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child charges after prosecutors say he starved his infant daughter to death in 2009.

The Lakeland Ledger reports that Chauncey Gardner's five-month-old baby was found dead Nov. 1, 2009.

A police report said Gardner and the baby's mother, Tivasha Logan, told detectives that they were unaware that they had been feeding the baby an improper ratio of powdered formula to water.

The 30-year-old Gardner has 10 children from several different women, and helped take care of his children when he was able to do so and not in jail or prison.

Logan is serving a life sentence in prison after being found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated manslaughter of a child.

http://www.wfla.com/story/22076209/man-on-trial-for-daughters-starvation-death


Took them long enough to charge the POS dad. This might need a seperate post since the mother has been sentenced?? William

They charged him right away, he's been in jail ever since.

No separate thread needed, we'll just post his conviction here when it happens.

Can you believe the mother wanted to get out of jail to care for her other 5 children?

Wonder why they starved this poor little baby to death?

I hope he gets life also. Neither should ever walk free again.
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CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Empty Re: CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL

Post by twinkletoes Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:15 pm

They obviously were not taking the poor dead baby for doctor checkups.
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CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Empty Re: CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL

Post by twinkletoes Sat Apr 27, 2013 6:15 am

Jurors Hear Details of Baby's Starvation Death

CHAUNTASIA GARDNER - 5 months - (2009) Lakeland FL Bilde?Site=LL&Date=20130426&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=130429499&Ref=AR&Profile=1410&MaxW=445&border=0
Chauncey Gardner

Friday, April 26, 2013 at 3:40 p.m.

BARTOW | Jurors heard detailed medical testimony Friday about how a 5-month-old Lakeland girl starved to death.

Chauncey Gardner is accused of being partly responsible for not feeding his infant daughter, Chauntasia, enough food to survive.

The baby was found dead the morning of Nov. 1, 2009, at her family's home on Sunshine Drive in Lakeland.

Stephen Nelson, Polk County's medical examiner, told jurors that starvation is a "long process" and in the girl's case took place over "many, many days."

"This is not something that happened overnight," he said.

Nelson performed an autopsy on the girl's body, which weighed about 6 pounds.

He told jurors that her weight should have been about 14 or 15 pounds for her age.

Using a large television screen, the doctor showed jurors photographs of the child's "emaciated" and "very underfed" body.

"The child looks withered," he said.

Nelson described how Chauntasia's ribs and spine were easily visible underneath her loose, wrinkled skin. He noted that her belly appeared sunken.

"The abdomen is flat and almost concave," he said.

Nelson told jurors that he found "less than a thimble full" of a watery substance with flecks of mucus in her stomach.

Chauncey Gardner and the baby's mother, Tivasha Logan, told detectives that they were unaware that they had been feeding the baby an improper ratio of powdered formula to water, which meant the baby's formula had been watered down to the point that the child couldn't get sufficient nutrition to survive.

Logan, 28, also told detectives that she feared taking the baby to a hospital because she didn't want to lose custody of her other five children.

She told detectives that she planned to take the baby to a pediatrician.

The child died the day before that appointment was to take place.

Last year, Logan was found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated manslaughter of a child and was sentenced to life in prison.

During opening statements this week in his trial, Chauncey Gardner's lawyers said Logan was responsible for the girl's death, and she wouldn't listen to Gardner's advice to take Chauntasia to a doctor.

He is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child. If convicted as charged, he also faces life imprison­ment.

Testimony is expected to continue Monday.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20130426/NEWS/130429499/1410?p=2&tc=pg
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Post by twinkletoes Sat Apr 27, 2013 6:23 am

This makes me so angry. They have 5 other children whom they did not starve to death. Any idiot can read the formula and follow directions.

It doesn't appear this little poor tortured baby was even given watered down formula. She was just starved to death, period.
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Post by danbridge Mon Apr 29, 2013 1:26 am

THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE WORST CASES BECAUSE THE SUFFERING THE CHILD SUSTAINED BEFORE SHE DIED. THE GUY LOOKED UNAFFECTED AND NO EXPRESSION OF GRIEF OR SADNESS. ALL THESE GUYS HAVE THAT BLANK EXPRESSION ON THEIR FACE AS IF THEY ARE UNAWARE OF ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED. THE MOTHER WELL, NO COMMENT. STARVING A CHILD IS A SLOW TORTUROUS DEATH AND THATS BEYOND WORDS. javascript:emoticonp('Crying or Very sad')
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Post by twinkletoes Fri May 03, 2013 10:34 am

Lakeland Man Found Guilty in Starvation Case

Jury convicts Chauncey Gardner of manslaughter in infant's death.

THE LEDGER

Published: Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 11:46 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 11:46 p.m.


BARTOW | A Lakeland man was found guilty Wednesday of starving his infant daughter to death.

Chauncey Gardner, 30, had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 5-month-old daughter, Chauntasia.

Jurors deliberated about three hours before finding him guilty on a lesser charge of manslaughter.

He also was found guilty as charged of two other related crimes: aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child.

His punishment will be in the hands of Circuit Judge Donald Jacobsen.

Gardner faces up to 120 years in prison. A sentencing hearing has not yet been set.

At trial, prosecutors argued Gardner and Chauntasia's mother, Tivasha Logan, underfed the baby, and they did not seek medical help when the child became deathly thin.

The girl was found dead on the morning of Nov. 1, 2009, at her family's home on Sunshine Drive in Lakeland.

During closing arguments, Assistant State Attorney Mark Levine described the baby as "wasting away" in a "long, drawn-out process."

"This wasn't something that happened overnight or happened quickly," he said.

Levine told jurors that a child is a parent's "great- est joy" and "greatest responsibility."

"You put your child first," Levine said.

He said there was no excuse for Gardner and Logan to fail in their parental obligations to protect and nurture their child.

A nutrition assistance program ordered more than 300 bottles of ready-to-eat, high-calorie formula for the child, he said.

Chauntasia had been born premature, and doctors wanted her to continue gaining weight.

No one ever picked up the bottles of formula, Levine said.

Instead, Chauntasia was being fed improperly-mixed powered formula that was watered down so much that the child couldn't get sufficient nutrition to survive, according to investigative reports.

Levine accused Gardner of not seeking medical help for his daughter because he was fearful of an outstanding arrest warrant for him.

Using a large television, Levine showed jurors photographs of the girl during her brief life. He noted she had chubby cheeks and big eyes.

Then, he showed photographs of her emaciated corpse with visible signs of her deteriorating condition. Her eyes had become sunken. Her belly was almost concave. Her skin was loose and dry.

"These are things that he is seeing every day," Levine said.

The prosecutor told jurors that Gardner, who has 10 children from six women, didn't have a full-time job so he should have had time to care for his children.

Levine said having a child doesn't make someone a man.

Austin Maslanik, an assistant public defender, objected to Levine's characterizations of his client.

Outside the jury's presence, the judge instructed Levine to refrain from personal attacks on Gardner.

Gardner's lawyer accused prosecutors of trying to tap into the emotions of the jurors to secure a conviction.

Maslanik told jurors that Gardner had no intention of harming Chauntasia, whom he still loves to this day.

"In hindsight, he wishes he had done more," Maslanik said.

He said Logan and Gardner were young, immature and undereducated people in an off-and-on and "dysfunctional relationship."

Maslanik said his client, a nine-time convicted felon, had to perform odd jobs, like cutting hair, automobile detailing and lawn maintenance, in exchange for cash to care for his children.

"He did the best he could to take care of them," Maslanik said.

He insisted Logan was responsible for the child's death because Gardner was no longer living full time in the household, and he didn't know how the child was being underfed.

"Chauncey wasn't there all the time," Maslanik said.

Gardner told detectives in a recorded statement that he was equally sharing all child-rearing duties with Logan, including feeding Chauntasia.

At trial, Gardner testified that he lied to detectives because he was trying to protect Logan.

He said Logan kicked him out of the house after discovering that he was texting another woman.

He said he would occasionally help Logan with the children, but he wasn't there every day. He said he came over for Halloween, and was "shocked" to find Chauntasia's gaunt condition.

Gardner told jurors that he couldn't convince Logan to reconsider her decision not to take their daughter to the hospital. He said she was afraid the child's condition would get her arrested or her other children would be taken away.

Logan wanted to wait until a scheduled appointment with a pediatrician, Gardner said.

He testified that he planned to take the baby to the hospital the next day, but she was found dead that morning.

Last year, Logan, 28, went on trial and was found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated manslaughter of a child. She was sentenced to life in prison.


http://www.theledger.com/article/20130501/NEWS/305015026?p=3&tc=pg
twinkletoes
twinkletoes
Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear

Job/hobbies : Trying to keep my sanity. Trying to accept that which I cannot change. It's hard.

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