GUILTY VA - Carly Sawyer, 5, starved & beaten to death, Chesapeake, 10 June 2009

[jjenny]

That beautiful little girl should have been cherished and treated to fun experiences and dressed up and made to feel secure. Think of how wonderful her life could have been if she'd had different parents. If her mom thought she was being abused or neglected, she should have been right there making sure it didn't happen, not selfishly living a separate life. As for the dad and stepmom, obviously they're sadists. I know we keep saying it, but what is wrong with people??? :furious:

Her mother tried looks like several times to get custody but the custody was awarded to the bio-dad.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

It was a very bitter custody battle. The maternal grandparents had Carly for a while during the divorce and would have taken her again if given the chance.
But the father and step mother chose to instead abuse her and treat her like a dog instead of giving her to people who would love and protect her.

Like I've said before, I've met the K's before and they are great people.

I hope our community will support them in their efforts to get enough money to travel to VA in September so they can see these 2 sentenced.

 

[mysterygirl]

What a pretty little girl she was.......RIP angel.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Now I can't stop thinking about this case again. It stayed on my mind for months after it happened.

Who could do what these two did to her???
I mean, what on Earth could make someone want to do this or have some sort of sick desire to do it? She was so tiny and beautiful.

Makes me sick.
I wish I could go to VA too. I'd love to see them go down for this. They should never see daylight again.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Here is a website dedicated to Carly. Has a lot of beautiful pictures and a lot of info.
Even has an update tab.

http://carlyelizabethsawyer.com/

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Looking through Carly's pictures, this one really tugged on my heart strings.

Being a Louisiana girl, I can tell you, almost EVERY little girl born in Louisiana or born to LSU fans elsewhere in the world, has been dressed in an LSU cheerleader outfit and photos have been taken. I have several of my DD.

This one brought tears....

 

[believe09]

See this case raises the same feelings of frustration that I felt when I first read it-you want to unring the bell, you know? You want them to give her back to her grandparents before they came up with this plan of torture and murder.

 

[2goldfish]

See this case raises the same feelings of frustration that I felt when I first read it-you want to unring the bell, you know? You want them to give her back to her grandparents before they came up with this plan of torture and murder.

BBM

I know the feeling but didnt think of such a good way of putting it.

sometimes that's the worst part, that there were OPTIONS. it never had to get that bad.

those are the abusers I really have to control my morals over.

 

[mysterygirl]

Looking through Carly's pictures, this one really tugged on my heart strings.

Being a Louisiana girl, I can tell you, almost EVERY little girl born in Louisiana or born to LSU fans elsewhere in the world, has been dressed in an LSU cheerleader outfit and photos have been taken. I have several of my DD.

This one brought tears....

I'm with you on that! My daughter has worn one......those pics are heartbreaking.

Abuse and murder of a child is bad enough......but then to have it as a prolonged agony, I'll never understand that level of evil. Her bio mom and family seem to love her and ache greatly. It could have been so different, I just don't get it.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Sorry Salem for any added work I caused by useing the grandparent's full last name. I don't know what I was thinking.
I guess I had read it over and over in news articles and did not think it was a big deal.

But, I see now that it could be.

Again, sorry.

Praying for the K's. I hope they can go to VA in September.

 

[nervous_nellie]

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/06/girls-father-was-investigated-abuse-other-states

Even if there is a substantiated case, social service agencies in other states aren't obligated to pass case information along to another state, Coyle said.

And "there's no way the agency in North Carolina would have known that they had moved" unless the agency was providing the family services at the time, Coyle said.

She said it is "very easy" for cases to get lost between states.

"The obligation is on the friends and family and parents of the child to make sure the system follows that child," Coyle said.


i dont understand how they can blame the family...if a child has a caring, responsible family they probably wouldnt be in social services in the first place. imo i had forgotten about this case. im glad they went with the guilty pleas... scum. how in the world could they have been so mean/evil to do what they did to this little girl. it just doesnt compute with me with any of these cases. the "parents" really deserve the death penalty imo. i just keep wondering when this kind of crap and the 's that perpetrate it on innocent children are going to start suffering equal punishment for murdering their children. :furious:

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Sentencing coming up in a couple of weeks for these two evil ones.
Brandy will be sentenced on Sept. 21 I believe. Joshua will be sentenced about a week before Brandy. (from what I can gather).

Still praying for the K's and everyone devistated by this.

 

[nervous_nellie]

thanx for the update kimberlyd125

 

[Kimberlyd125]

thanx for the update kimberlyd125

You are most welcome!

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Just saw a FB post from one of my friends that the "Dad" got life. Looking for the info now.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/10/chesapeake-father-gets-life-abuse-death?cid=mr

Chesapeake father gets life in abuse death

Joshua S. Sawyer will serve life in prison for the abuse-and-neglect murder of his 5-year-old daughter, Carly, a Circuit Court judge ruled Monday.

Carly died in June 2009 after being beaten, starved and tied up some nights in a box. She weighed 34 pounds at the time of her death. Officials determined that she had been battered long before she died from a brain injury inflicted in her South Norfolk home.

Judge Randall D. Smith gave Joshua Sawyer the maximum sentence allowed under state law. If he is ever put on geriatric release, Sawyer will be kept on supervised probation for three years.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

From the same link:

Brandy Sawyer's sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 10.


Dr. Wendy Gunther, an assistant chief medical examiner, said Carly's autopsy showed she had been beaten all over her body, including her head. She had been abused for some time, as evidenced by the range of bruises under her skin, some of which looked like she had been hit with a belt buckle.

Carly also had suffered nutritional neglect, Gunther said. She had no food in her small bowel, had a shrunken liver, and had light hair on her body like that typically seen on an anorexic.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Oh my goodness...his mother tried to say it was from post traumatic stress from being a marine.


From Link:

Defense attorney Greg McCormack called on Carolyn Sawyer, Joshua's mother, to testify that her son was a good student who, as a boy, volunteered as an altar server in his Catholic church.

In 2002 he joined the Marines and was sent to Africa and Iraq, Carolyn Sawyer said. In Africa, part of his job was to screen videos showing violence, including footage of a man being beheaded, she said. Eventually, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

ETA: Way to stand up for your abused granddaughter lady!!!

At least he will rot! It was the maximum sentence allowed.

One down, one to go. Brandy is next!!!!

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Justice is coming baby! Rest in peace.

 

[alsmom]

I hope the step witch gets as much time as the bio dad. I hate seeing women get lighter sentences because of their gender.

I am so disturbed by these cases where there is someone that wants the child and the other party fights tooth and nail to get the child and then kills them. These aren't cases where a parent is overwhelmed financially or emotionally and has no one to turn to. It's as though they don't want the child but are too selfish to let anyone else have the child. It's all about winning to some people. I seriously don't get it, but I do know it happens way too often.

Such sadistic cruelty is too much for my brain to fathom.