Witnesses: Boy had insatiable appetite
By Mary Ann Cavazos (Contact)
Friday, August 31, 2007
http://www.caller.com/news/2007/aug/31/witnesses-boy-had-insatiable-appetite/
CORPUS CHRISTI — Several witnesses in the capital murder trial of Hannah
Overton testified Friday that 4-year-old foster child Andrew Burd had an
insatiable appetite that often caused him to eat food from the floor and
trash can.
Overton, 30, is accused of forcing the boy to drink a mixture of water
and Cajun spices as punishment on Oct. 2. Five witnesses that took the
stand are members of Calvary Chapel Coastlands, the same church the
Overtons and the boy’s former foster mother Sharon Hamil attend.
Nueces County Medical Examiner Ray Fernandez ruled the boy’s death a
homicide, saying he died from salt poisoning and contributed blunt head
trauma.
But Overton’s attorneys have challenged that ruling saying Andrew may
have had an eating disorder and ate something on his own to cause the
toxic sodium levels.
“I would have to hide the trash can from him,” said Christina Velasquez,
a children’s church overseer. “He was always hungry.”
Velasquez recalled Andrew often threw tantrums and in one particular
incident repeatedly struck his head against a wall at church.
Testimony ended about noon to allow the jury an early start on the Labor
Day weekend.
Prosecutors have said Overton and her husband Larry, who also is charged
with capital murder, did not call 911 after the boy became unresponsive
and waited more than 1 1/2 hours before taking him to Driscoll
Children’s Urgent Care Clinic on Saratoga Boulevard.
Andrew, who the Overtons were in the process of adopting, was taken to
Christus Spohn Hospital South and later Driscoll Children’s Hospital,
where he died the next day.
The Overtons have five biological children, the youngest born in January.
Corpus Christi Police Detective Michael Hess, a doctor and a social
worker all have testified that Overton told them she gave Andrew the
mixture of spices and water after he ate a bowl of chili and wanted more.
From the trial’s start defense attorneys have said Overton was unfairly
targeted.
Richard Miotti, one of four church elders, said police and officials
with Child Protective Services harassed Overton and used intimidation.
“They’re demeanor at both hospitals and the police station was very
aggressive,” Miotti said.
When Miotti received a call from Dawn Wallace, who lived with the
Overtons at the time, asking for advice on whether or not to give a
statement to Hess, he told her to have one of Overton’s lawyers present.
On Thursday, the church’s pastor Rod Carver, testified he felt Hess and
several CPS officials tried to intimidate him at Andrew’s funeral.
“I felt they were staring me down,” Carver said, adding he also had a
confrontation with Hess after the memorial service.
Hess has testified he followed proper police procedure throughout the
investigation and focused on the evidence.
In a recorded police interview, Overton told Hess that the night before
the boy was hospitalized she and her husband removed the sheets and
mattress from his bed after he defecated and smeared it around. Andrew
spent that night sleeping on plywood on the bed frame and later on the
floor with a blanket, Overton said in the interview.
Photos showed a closed circuit camera pointed at Andrew’s bed frame,
which had exterior plywood and his burned sheets in the backyard
barbecue grill.
The trial will resume at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in 214th District Judge Jose
Longoria’s courtroom.
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....
CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.
every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*
Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
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