GUILTY IN - Skylea Carmack, 10, Gas City, Grant County, 31 Aug 2019 *stepmom arrested* *appeal filed 2022*

[imstilla.grandma]

The child who shared a bedroom with Skylea said that Skylea had been confined to her room for the last week and a half, and she was only allowed to come out to eat and use the restroom.

The child said she last saw Skylea around 4 or 5 p.m. before going on a bike ride. The child said Skylea was cleaning her room when she left, but when she returned at 6 p.m. Skylea wasn’t there. The child said she told Amanda that Skylea was missing, but Amanda just shrugged it off.

Police interviewed Amanda, and she displayed numerous signs of deception and distraught, according to court documents. She refused to give information about what she was doing when the victim went missing. She also failed a polygraph.

On September 4, Amanda walked into the Gas City Police Department at 12:10 a.m. and said she wanted to talk to someone.
Investigators say Gas City girl endured abuse before stepmom strangled her

 

[kay74]

I saw a commercial the other day for online schooling—kids can now “go to school online” for the entire duration, K thru 12. Moo.

Unbelievable!

 

[gitana1]

From first hand knowledge, because I grew up in similar circumstances, I know that children are scared to tell anyone and will not tell the truth. Partily because they don't know the big picture. If she had told her father or her grandmother, for instance, how does she know they will believe her. If they confront AC, all SC knows is there will be hell to pay when she is goes back home.
Family and the children work very hard to try to not aggravate people like AC, she is known to be volatile and violent. In fact she prides herself on not taking any **** from anyone. Most people would not have the courage to step in or have the confidence that CPS would take the kids away permanently, which was the only solution. Even then they may not have felt safe.
She is an angry, vindictive person that most adults would try to pacify because the alternative is so grim. Her friends are good examples, they supported her and enabled her behavior instead of telling her like they saw .
This is only an attempt at an explanation, it is not in any way an excuse. MOO MOO MOO

I'm worried that few actually cared. From what I'm seeing most of the adults sympathized with Amanda and loathed that poor little girl. Her bio mom for one. Other people talking about how this poor murdered child was a liar and a thief.

Grandma is interviewed saying she saw Sky losing weight, her son said Amanda was mean and grandma wasn't allowed inside anymore.

No calls to CPS and no demands to go inside or take the child.

I feel hopeless thinking about the life of that child. If she was lying, stealing and running away it's because she had been devastated by abuse and neglect and hatred.

It's scary to think how many other kids are suffering a similar fate right now as the family scapegoat and punching bag.

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

The kids told police that when they got in trouble, Carmack would make them stand with their face against the wall with their hands in the air.

Sometimes they would have to stay like that for hours.

Other times, the children told police that Carmack would whip them with her pink belt, and confine them to their bedrooms. They would only be allowed to come out to use the restroom or to eat.

One of the children told officers that Skylea had been confined to her bedroom for the last week and a half before she ended up dead.

On Sunday, detectives interviewed Carmack about this alleged abuse, and she initially denied physically disciplining her children.

At one point during the interview, the detective asked her, “did you kill Skylea?”

Carmack didn’t deny it, and just stared at the detective.

Then on Wednesday just after midnight, Carmack walked into the Gas City Police Department and confessed to the strangling death.

Police said she was sitting on the interview room floor sobbing as she recounted to officers what happened.

Carmack said she remembers being on top of Skylea in the white shed while the child was on her back.

She said she started choking her with her hands, but then tied something around her neck.

Once Skylea died, Carmack told detectives she put the girl’s body in a black trash bag and left her in the shed.

The only explanation she gave to police was that she was very angry.

Police then secured a search warrant for the white shed and found Skylea’s body just how Carmack said she left her.

Carmack is due to appear in court in the next few days.
‘I was very angry’; Court documents reveal what happened in strangling death

WOW. I can't even without violating TOS. So I will just leave it at that.
God Speed to LE,and Prosecutor,and the remaing children.

 

[gitana1]

Not only should they be fired,there should be criminal charges,and prison time. Then and only then will we see real change. Hold DCSF,Judges etc accountable for their failures,and decisions. They also need to forget about 'intact Families'. It's insanity. What they are doing is not working. It only gives the abusers more chances to torture,maim,and murder. May as well give drunk drivers a couple fifths,and a car and wait to see what happens, with the way they do things.
Kudos to the States Attourney for having the backbone to dare and go against the machine.
MOO

The sad thing is these kids often fare just as badly in foster care.

 

[Rosiebones]

If her father had only taken her out of that home and put her with his mother, her grandmother, at least she would have been safe. The other children would not have been safe though.
I think they were all afraid of challenging AC who could have made their lives very difficult with her anger, and the fact that she would lash out at anyone with her fury. She had no boundaries. Better to keep her pacified from their point of view.

 

[gitana1]

My children are second generation homeschoolers. My husband and I both were homeschooled as well. My kids are not socially isolated. They have extracurricular activities nearly every day of the week from American Heritage Girls, Boy Scouts, Science Olympiad, ballet, tap, choir, celtic dance, swing dance, choir, speech and debate etc. As well as online French, German and writing courses etc. As well as regular dances and social activities.

I'm so tired of the abuse among other so called homeschoolers. But it's a minority. Part of the reason people want oversight is how will someone know if something is wrong with the home or with the kids? And yet, we know that abuse regarding Skylea was reported multiple times by at least 5 people publicly claiming they reported it. Nothing was done. So how does that solve the problem? I see this over and over again where children end up dead whose families were reported to CPS.

Is the problem really lack of reporting of at risk children or lack of follow up by CPS when children are reported?

Yeah to be fair, we've had a few cases where the kids actually went to school. And it still didn't matter.

But in the vast majority of the cases the kids are "homeschooled" in order to hide abuse. And while most responsible homeschool parents have their kids in multiple extracurriculars that's no requirement. And I do believe there should be oversight. Yearly testing/assessment to see how the kids are doing sounds good to me.

But more important, people need to call in welfare checks on families whose kids seemed to be going through something and were showing up looking abused or neglected and are suddenly yanked out to be homeschooled. That should be a red flag in cases where there are questions about possible maltreatment or earlier calls to CPS.

ETA: i meant in the vast majority is yatemf abuse cases we've had one here. Not overall homeschooling!

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Johnson's family vehemently denied that allegation and Zappala reiterated that Johnson has not been implicated in the case and does not appear to be involved in Nalani's death.

Zappala said that investigators electronically traced Nancy’s path after the alleged abduction, which resulted in the conclusion that she is the only suspect. He also said that it appears that Nalani was not tossed into the park but placed. Sharena was allegedly familiar with the area where the child’s body was found because she brought a rideshare customer there recently, according to KDKA.
Woman With Romantic Ties To Kidnapped Pennsylvania Toddler's Dad Is Sole Suspect In Girl's Death, Authorities Say

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Allegheny County Police Department

 

[155etta]

I have worked with a lot of homeschooled children in capacities such as tutoring and extra curricular activities. I always ask them if they like being homeschooled, and to tell me a little about their daily schedules. One thing I’m always looking for is to see if and what other types of activities these children are involved in, or are they totally isolated.

The main reason I get for kids being homeschooled is that their parents don’t want their child to be exposed to other “bad kids” their age and want to be able to teach them their own values and make sure they are not corrupted by other kids.

Another main reason I get for homeschooling is that the parents are not happy with the teachers or school, and may feel like their child isn’t getting a proper education.

I have seen some very balanced young people who are homeschooled. They go to church groups, athletic events, dance lessons, etc, so they are not totally isolated from the outside world or other kids their age.

So, with the concerns in this day and age about receiving a quality education, as well as the increasing violence in schools, etc., I can understand why some parents make this decision; therefore it’s important to obviously note that all homeschooled children are not suffering behind closed doors. But obviously there are some, if not many it seems who are suffering behind closed doors and this is very concerning.

I would include children with developmental disabilities to the list of why some choose to homeschool. My teenage daughter does online high school. She is high functioning autistic and has anxiety. Public school is not set up in any way for students like her. I do try to get her out in the community as much as I can. We attend a homeschool co-op once a week for various classes and to socialize. We go to a small gym three times a week (she has medical issues as well that make excess weight a problem), we shoot at a local gun range every Monday, and she goes with a community support worker to volunteer at a local humanitarian center every Wednesday. I have to coax or drag her to most of these, lol. She really just wants to stay at and feels safest at home with her dog. I know she needs these other things to have a well-rounded life though.

 

[margarita25]

I would include children with developmental disabilities to the list of why some choose to homeschool. My teenage daughter does online high school. She is high functioning autistic and has anxiety. Public school is not set up in any way for students like her. I do try to get her out in the community as much as I can. We attend a homeschool co-op once a week for various classes and to socialize. We go to a small gym three times a week (she has medical issues as well that make excess weight a problem), we shoot at a local gun range every Monday, and she goes with a community support worker to volunteer at a local humanitarian center every Wednesday. I have to coax or drag her to most of these, lol. She really just wants to stay at and feels safest at home with her dog. I know she needs these other things to have a well-rounded life though.

Absolutely. Much of my work was with kids with autism and developmental disabilities. Thank you for mentioning this, I meant to include that as a major component.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

In a follow-up interview, the child who shared a room with Skylea said she and several siblings went to ride bikes around 4 p.m. Saturday. They returned around 6 p.m., but Skylea was not in their room, and several of her items were missing. When she told Carmack, she shrugged it off. Later, Carmack told the child Skylea had run away again.

Police also interviewed Kevin Carmack, Skylea's biological father. He is a truck driver and told police he was on a drive home from Maryland when Amanda called about Skylea's disappearance. When he got home around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, he went looking for his daughter, who he had last talked to Saturday afternoon about the stolen charm bracelet.

Police said Kevin was cooperative in the interview and shared as many details as possible. He didn't show any signs of deception, unlike Amanda.

The following is from the affidavit:

During the interview the defendant stated that she had killed Victim 1. She stated she does not remember all of the details but she remembers being on top of her in the barn while she was on her back. She started choking her with her hands then she thinks she tied something around her neck. Once she was dead she placed her in a black trash bag and left her in the white shed. She wouldn't explain why she had killed her other (than) she was very angry.
Court documents: Stepmother strangled 10-year-old after girl stole charm bracelet

 

[gitana1]

This is a thought, and I’m not sure if it is plausible or not, but I think it could be helpful if LE or other agencies could check up on children who’s parents have been arrested for things such as DV and drugs. Of course sometimes an abuser may not have a criminal record, but if they do, perhaps this could help some children who are currently living in abusive and violent households.

They have a good program in HI. Healthy Start. They send social workers to offer assistance, an ear, basic parenting advice, etc., medical support, etc., to at risk families. Not to judge or yank kids but to offer help. It's been super successful and I believe was made a federal program with federal funding available to all states to implement it, I believe during the last administration. I'm not sure what happened to it or whether many States implemented it.

We have to be willing to invest money in these programs and not scream about how we don't want the government taking our tax dollars. These things cost money.

But they do save lives.

Hawaii Family Support Institute » Hawaii Healthy Start

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

The sad thing is these kids often fare just as badly in foster care.

:*( yeah but often times these kids get yanked out of decent foster homes,and sent back to the abuser,then murdered.
In spite of the fact that the kids flourish in said foster homes.

 

[margarita25]

I’m reminded of another awful, awful abuse case of a woman who kept her kids isolated at home. There was one older child who tried to run away, wanting to help save her siblings, but iirc the cops brought her back home. The mother then beat and chained her to the kitchen table for the next several years to show the other kids “This is what happens if you try to run away”.

Upstream an article was posted about kids who are sometimes isolated as a scapegoat. In the case I’m mentioning now, the mother forced the other kids to participate in the abuse, which is also sometimes a component in the scapegoat process. I wonder if that occurred here.

The child chained to the table ended up being shot by the mother. Years later the mother tried to remove the bullet so there was no evidence, and the poor girl, living much of her life in captivity, ended up dying from the infection of the home surgery. There was no anesthesia iirc. Another child ending up dying in her “care” from malnutrition after being confined to the closet.

So all the other children were scared to tell anyone and scared to run away. The mother clearly showed them what would happen to them if they did.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

The “noodle spilling incident” really bothers me....a lot. When I was pregnant years ago another mother mentioned in passing that she never got upset when her kids spilled anything because she said “We are all human. We all spill things. It’s just not anything to get upset about. I spill things, you spill things, we all do.” I’m thankful she planted that seed! Kids are kids.....they spill, make a mess, get dirty. It just happens.

Also those few earlier photos of Skylea are so hard to look at - dang she was so much healthier then. I never knew “parents” would withhold food from their kids until I started reading here years ago. What cruelty. And it seems to be done by the “parents” who never seem to miss a meal. How can u despise an innocent kid so much?

 

[Rosiebones]

And AC, by her "parenting" style was raising 7 children who most likely would do the same to their children because they had never experienced or seen any other way of parenting. One woman was producing the potential of 7 more households of the same dysfunction.

 

[gitana1]

I would include children with developmental disabilities to the list of why some choose to homeschool. My teenage daughter does online high school. She is high functioning autistic and has anxiety. Public school is not set up in any way for students like her. I do try to get her out in the community as much as I can. We attend a homeschool co-op once a week for various classes and to socialize. We go to a small gym three times a week (she has medical issues as well that make excess weight a problem), we shoot at a local gun range every Monday, and she goes with a community support worker to volunteer at a local humanitarian center every Wednesday. I have to coax or drag her to most of these, lol. She really just wants to stay at and feels safest at home with her dog. I know she needs these other things to have a well-rounded life though.

It sounds like you're doing everything possible to give your child a good life.

One thing though and no offense meant but in many of the mass murder cases we've seen in the past like Newtown, for example, and Umpqua Oregon, as well as many other cases, parents thought arming and shooting with their neurologically challenged kids (Autism spectrum) was a good way to help them be social and achieve self esteem.

I'm not sure why.

Kids with severe socialization issues and anxiety or isolation problems coupled with communication issues are, IMO, at risk by being introduced to firearms and making that a part of their lives. The ability to regulate one's emotions without help is necessary (IMO) to making firearms safe for the people using them and those around them.

In any event, in this case it's clear that the murderer didn't have altruistic motives for homeschooling. Her social media shows someone with what appears to be emotional disturbance or possible mental health issues. And then we add 7 kids, some with likely behavioral issues from abuse, neglect and family dysfunction. Now she's homeschooling them.

Sounds like a recipe made in hell.

I'm surprised Skylea survived as long as she did.

 

[unicorns&rainbows]

The “noodle spilling incident” really bothers me....a lot. When I was pregnant years ago another mother mentioned in passing that she never got upset when her kids spilled anything because she said “We are all human. We all spill things. It’s just not anything to get upset about. I spill things, you spill things, we all do.” I’m thankful she planted that seed! Kids are kids.....they spill, make a mess, get dirty. It just happens.

You are so right. We all make mistakes and we as the adults have the power to turn those into life learning lessons or into nightmares.

I have a 7 year old step son. I raise monarch butterflies and have been growing milkweed outside. I had a new plant I had been super excited about because it was so healthy and last weekend he brought it in and told me he stepped on it.

You could clearly tell he had pulled it up and had not just stepped on it. He and his dad talked, he told him the truth that he had pulled it out and then had to come and tell me that he had been dishonest and he was sorry.

It was a good opportunity to teach him about why that plant was important to me and then reassure him that it has a really deep taproot so chances are it would grow back, which it has.

Kids just need loved. They need us to have patience and to love them even when they do things that make ZERO sense.

 

[gitana1]

The “noodle spilling incident” really bothers me....a lot. When I was pregnant years ago another mother mentioned in passing that she never got upset when her kids spilled anything because she said “We are all human. We all spill things. It’s just not anything to get upset about. I spill things, you spill things, we all do.” I’m thankful she planted that seed! Kids are kids.....they spill, make a mess, get dirty. It just happens.

Also those few earlier photos of Skylea are so hard to look at - dang she was so much healthier then. I never knew “parents” would withhold food from their kids until I started reading here years ago. What cruelty. And it seems to be done by the “parents” who never seem to miss a meal. How can u despise an innocent kid so much?

Yes to ALL!

I feel it goes back to this general attitude in our country that kids are expected to regulate their emotions and behaviors better than adults and if they don't they should be subjected to corporal punishment or "creative" parenting like humiliation.

My gosh they're babies! They need clear rules, calm reactions to misbehavior, endless repetitive reminders and instructions on how to cope with life and show manners and respect others, humor, patience, hugs, understanding.

I mean listen, I'm the first to admit none of that is easy and I sure am nowhere close to perfect. Everyone one of us has likely lost our cool at some point in some manber. Frankly at times it can be hard for me to bite my tongue, not raise my voice or refrain from being sarcastic. I will admit. I'm human.

But if we start from the postition that none of that is cool, if overall we have a culture where we strive not to do such things and understand that kids really aren't emotionally resilient at all- they're sensitive and easily destroyed- then maybe people like this monster won't get support for her bad parenting and instead their kids will get the support and the parents will get the intervention they need.