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

[MJPeony]

Those poor kids. My heart breaks for them. I hope they get placed in a safe,and loving environment now.

I do too.

I’m concerned in this case however. JMO, but there seems to be almost no safe and loving adults in their circle. The grandmother, and the ex-husband of a previous wife are the only 2 I’ve read about. And neither of them would be granted custody of all 6 remaining siblings.

So then they’d end up in foster care presumably. Where I doubt they’d be able to stay together. I sure hope there ends up a better outcome.

 

[155etta]

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.

I understand your concern about firearms. My daughter is 18, high functioning with no intellectual deficits. She has an interest in law enforcement. She has taken the Women On Target class taught by our local Unified Sportsman's Club and sponsored by the NRA (not looking to start any debates here). She has taken archery classes taught by our local sheriff's deputies and took first place in her 4-H Archery Competition. We live in small town Idaho where target shooting is both a recreational and competitive activity enjoyed by all ages and families alike. We live in an isolated area and my husband is not at home for large chunks of time. My daughter and I are here alone. We do have firearms in the house for sport and protection and everyone in the house is trained to handle and use them.

Edit: spelling

 

[Kittybunny]

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.

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.

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

This is just infuriating. And heartbreaking. Obviously her father saw nothing wrong with a child being confined to a bedroom FOR A WEEK AND A HALF? Or he was too busy to notice? Completely abdicated all responsibility of all these children to this woman. Come on! I would say he should be charged for child neglect and abuse for letting this go on, but we already know that won't happen. It's always the children who pay the price for horrible dysfunctional parents.

ETA: I just read that he was a truck driver. OK maybe he wasn't around a lot, but at least let your mom see them, check on them. You lived with and chose this woman as the mother. Her dysfunction was SO VERY obvious. He should have known it wasn't right! But maybe he was just as dysfunction, I don't know.

 

[oviedo]

I'm curious as to her reason for finally confessing? Perhaps Skyleah's death has saved 6 other children because surely one of them would be next IMO? She must have walked her out to the shed if that was the place of the murder - how many times had she done that before? Reminds me of the old saying - I'm going to take you out to the woodshed - but that would have been a spanking not choking and murder. JMO

 

[imstilla.grandma]

According to court documents, Amanda told investigators that she discovered Skylea had stolen a charm bracelet from one of the kids, then searched her bedroom and found the bracelet.

On Sept. 1, First Child Advocacy Center interviewed the six other children that live in the house. Three of the children are Amanda Carmack’s children. The other three are her brother’s children.
Woman strangled stepdaughter following fight over charm bracelet

 

[Rosiebones]

This is just infuriating. And heartbreaking. Obviously her father saw nothing wrong with a child being confined to a bedroom FOR A WEEK AND A HALF? Or he was too busy to notice? Completely abdicated all responsibility of all these children to this woman. Come on! I would say he should be charged to for child neglect and abuse for letting this go on, but we already know that won't happen. It's always the children who pay the price for horrible dysfunctional parents.

I have not decided how hard to be on SC's father. He is an over the road truck driver and out of the house over night or late into the night. He would have to sleep when he returned from a trip. He is reported to have called his daughter that afternoon although we don't know what was said between the two of them.
I never told my father what went on when he wasn't around and he worked long hours and with bedtimes etc. I wouldn't see him for several days in a row. We did go to school though which probably saved my life.
He might only have known what AC told him and he himself acknowledged that she was hot tempered. He may only have wanted some peace.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

moo: My guess - the charm bracelet belonged to one of evil stepmother’s children.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

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.

Very good (and scary) point. Shudder.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

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.

I was a step parent for nine years and had no clue what I was getting into. It was difficult and they were great kids! It sounds like u and your husband are a great example of teamwork and fairness in the parenting dept!

 

[Rosiebones]

There are many child victims here because of her violence.

Where will her own three children be placed now?
Why were her brother's children with her, where are their parents?
Those children have her ongoing violent parenting, the horror of that afternoon and now their family, such as it was, is split up entirely and they KNOW what happened to SC.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Had Skylea been homeschooled her entire life?

Had she always lived with her father and stepmom?

When did the other 3 children come to live with them? And wouldn’t DPS/CPS have been checking on those children if they had been taken away from their parents (in jail or wherever)?

And what happened to the 3 year old that Amanda used to baby sit? How long ago was that?

 

[gitana1]

:*( 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.

That too. I think often that happens with relatives or friends who are given care of the child. And the child is doing so well. Like Noah McIntosh. Just one small example. Jhessye Shockley was another. So many. And the. They're forced to go back to an abuser. Treated like bouncing balls.

 

[kay74]

So Skylea was the only unrelated child of hers and she probably took a lot out on this little girl because she was her husband's ex-wive's child. Sick.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Police found Skylea's body about 3 a.m. Wednesday, curled tight in the bottom of a trash bag. A pair of multicolored pants were knotted around the child's neck.
Court docs: Stepmom killed Gas City girl over charm bracelet. Abuse, confinement marked her last hours.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

But a motive isn't their main concern right now, Slocum said -- their job is to follow the evidence, and all of it leads back to the stepmother.

"In law enforcement, our main focus is who and how, not why," he said. "Trying to rationalize why someone would kill a 10-year-old? There's no rationale for that. That's just an act of cowardice."
10-Year-Old Found Strangled to Death, Police Eye Stepmom

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Meanwhile, the victim's biological mother, Staycee Smith, took to Facebook to express her frustration. "Someone has to know something," she wrote in a post. "I feel useless like a sitting duck [not] doing enough to help find my baby."
Stepmother strangled 10-year-old Indiana girl to death before throwing body in shed and telling family that she ran away

 

[imstilla.grandma]

According to the affidavit, an autopsy showed that clothing, apparently a pair of pants, was found “tied very tight” around Skylea’s neck. A pillow, blanket and backpack were found inside two bags within the trash bag containing the body.
Indiana woman formally charged in stepdaughter’s killing

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

There are many child victims here because of her violence.

Where will her own three children be placed now?
Why were her brother's children with her, where are their parents?
Those children have her ongoing violent parenting, the horror of that afternoon and now their family, such as it was, is split up entirely and they KNOW what happened to SC.

It's not just SC it's Nationwide. Children getting abused and murdered, and the system allows it.
MOO

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The six other children who were in the home are now in the care of Child Protective Services.
Indiana woman arrested in death of 10-year-old stepdaughter

 

[gitana1]

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.

I just love this. Perfect example of reasonable, reassuring parenting that shapes kids sense of ethics, compassion and respect for others. Beautiful.