Helmuth said she used to let Amanda watch her adopted 3-year-old.
“She was my babysitter,” said Helmuth. “He came home and said ‘Amanda is mean.’”
Helmuth said he didn’t say why she was mean, but Helmuth noticed the boy would come home hungry.
“Then I find out that the kids had to ask permission for everything,” said Helmuth.
She said her son, Kevin, is blaming himself for not knowing.
“Kevin is like ‘mom, why didn’t they tell me?’ Well, they were scared,” said Helmuth.
She wishes her fear wouldn’t have stopped her from speaking up.
“If you think anything, it doesn’t hurt to make a phone call, just for safety reasons,” said Helmuth. “And if anybody would get upset about that, then there is something wrong.”
She doesn’t want others to feel this same guilt.
“If I checked it out, maybe Skylea would be alive,” said Helmuth.
The thought of her granddaughter’s last moments is haunting her.
“I just wish we could have pulled her out before, and pulled all the kids out before all this,” said Helmuth. “We all miss her, we all love her, but yeah, she is definitely in a better place than living with her.
Grandma of girl allegedly murdered by stepmom saw troubling signs