Veronica Posey, 66, was handed a mandatory life sentence Friday after jurors convicted her of killing nine year-old Dericka Lindsay in October 2017. Posey, who was the victim’s cousin, planted her vast bulk on top of the little girl for more than five minutes, depriving Dericka of oxygen and killing her.
The killer, of Pensacola in Florida, kept the little girl pinned underneath her despite Dericka screaming that she couldn’t breathe. Afterwards, a medical examiner said that Dericka had severe bruising on her buttocks, and described the little girl’s body as having suffered ‘injury, on top of injury, on top of injury.’
Dericka was adopted by James and Grace Smith, who are accused of inflicting a catalogue of beatings on the youngster, the Pensacola News Journal reported. On the morning of Dericka’s death, Grace Smith is said to have called Posey to tell her that Dericka and her eight year-old sister were misbehaving. Prosecutor Amy Shea said that Posey fetched a ruler and attached a pipe to it to make it heavier, then headed over to her relatives to batter the children.
Shea told jurors: ‘Once her feet hit the floor getting out of bed, she was determined to beat these children.’ After arriving at her destination, Posey and Grace Smith are said to have begun battering Dericka. When the little girl struggled, Posey sat on her back, with Dericka’s chest crushed against the seat of an arm chair. On getting up after and realising that Dericka wasn’t breathing, Posey called 911. Posey’s defense attorney Michael Griffith tried to claim that the obese killer had only been trying to help the Smiths with Dericka.
He said any older injuries received by the girl had been inflicted by her adoptive parents. James Smith has already been jailed for 10 years for his role in Dericka’s death, with Grace Smith currently suffering mental and physical injuries that have prevented her standing trial.
The killer, of Pensacola in Florida, kept the little girl pinned underneath her despite Dericka screaming that she couldn’t breathe. Afterwards, a medical examiner said that Dericka had severe bruising on her buttocks, and described the little girl’s body as having suffered ‘injury, on top of injury, on top of injury.’
Dericka was adopted by James and Grace Smith, who are accused of inflicting a catalogue of beatings on the youngster, the Pensacola News Journal reported. On the morning of Dericka’s death, Grace Smith is said to have called Posey to tell her that Dericka and her eight year-old sister were misbehaving. Prosecutor Amy Shea said that Posey fetched a ruler and attached a pipe to it to make it heavier, then headed over to her relatives to batter the children.
Shea told jurors: ‘Once her feet hit the floor getting out of bed, she was determined to beat these children.’ After arriving at her destination, Posey and Grace Smith are said to have begun battering Dericka. When the little girl struggled, Posey sat on her back, with Dericka’s chest crushed against the seat of an arm chair. On getting up after and realising that Dericka wasn’t breathing, Posey called 911. Posey’s defense attorney Michael Griffith tried to claim that the obese killer had only been trying to help the Smiths with Dericka.
He said any older injuries received by the girl had been inflicted by her adoptive parents. James Smith has already been jailed for 10 years for his role in Dericka’s death, with Grace Smith currently suffering mental and physical injuries that have prevented her standing trial.
Prosecutors say she will face criminal charges should she ever recover.
from metro.co.uk
*This is unbelievable..I know kids can drive one crazy at times but this is no reason to have someone as heavy as this sit on a small child at all
RIP little one
ReplyDeleteThis is horrifying!
ReplyDeleteRest in peace little Dericka.
How humans behave as monsters beats me!
Wicked woman. She can now go and find who to sit on in prison that’s if they don’t stab her to death.
ReplyDeleteThis is so sad,what a horrible way to die.
ReplyDeleteOh dear..
ReplyDeleteMaybe she never meant any harm
So you must have skipped the part where the report says " from the moment she was up,she was out to beat those kids?"
DeleteRip to little angle
ReplyDeleteSince 2015 the horrific stories of parents killing children have only increased. I have never seen a time in my entire life and I am 45 yrs old this year where parents killed their children with such abandon.
ReplyDeleteEnd
DeleteTimes
Love of man waxeth cold
This is horrible, rip little one
ReplyDelete