CARLY SAWYER - 5 yo (2009) - Chesapeake VA

Brandy P. Sawyer pleaded guilty Friday to murdering her 5-year-old
stepdaughter through abuse and starvation.
Like her husband a few weeks ago, she wouldn't admit she committed a
crime. They were disciplining Carly Sawyer for wetting herself, she
told police.
Brandy Sawyer hit the child with a belt, according to a statement of
facts she signed as part of a plea agreement in the case.
The Sawyers also made the girl run up and down a staircase and do
push-ups.
They denied her food and tied her hands behind her back so she
couldn't get food out of the refrigerator.
And they stuck her in a cardboard box in the living room, where she
sometimes slept.
An autopsy after Carly's June 11 death revealed much more. Doctors
determined that she died from an inflicted brain injury, exacerbated by
new and old abuse injuries and malnutrition, according to the
statement. Doctors found bruises and scarring over much of her body.
Those included defensive wounds on her arms.
Carly weighed 34 pounds when she died.


Brandy Sawyer, 22, made an Alford plea to first-degree murder, under which she didn't admit guilt but acknowledged
that enough evidence existed to convict her. Under the agreement,
prosecutors won't try her on a felony child-abuse charge. There's no
agreement on sentencing, which could range from 20 years to life in
prison.
Told by Circuit Court Judge Randall D. Smith that as a matter of
procedure she still had to plead guilty or not guilty, she said "guilty"
in a low voice, shaking her head.
Joshua S. Sawyer, 25, Brandy's husband and Carly's father, made the
same deal May 6. He's scheduled to be sentenced
Sept. 13; Brandy Sawyer on Sept. 21.


Paramedics and police answering a 911 call June 10 at the Sawyer's
Oliver Avenue home in South Norfolk found Carly unresponsive. She died
the next day.
In succeeding interviews with police, according to the fact
statement, Brandy Sawyer's story changed. She told police she hit Carly
with a belt, and the upset girl threw herself on the floor, hurting
herself. She later said she went to "pop" Carly with the belt when the
girl threw herself down. Carly often hurt herself by throwing herself to
the floor or against walls, Brandy Sawyer said.
Weeks later, she told police that Joshua Sawyer knocked down Carly,
whose hands were tied after being in the box all day. Brandy Sawyer said
she cut Carly's hands free, and the father kicked the kneeling girl
under the buttocks. Carly didn't get up, she said.
Brandy Sawyer told police that "things got weird" when Carly turned
3, while her other two children were "normal." Carly smeared her
excrement and wouldn't eat in addition to hurting herself by flailing
around. But the parents never took her to a doctor, Brandy Sawyer said.
When a detective described Carly's overall injuries and how she was
treated at home, Brandy Sawyer said, "Well, when you say it like that,
it doesn't sound good."
The detective asked her to explain how to make tying up a 5-year-old
in a box and not feeding her sound good.
"I guess you can't," she replied.