I have mitigating testimony that I think would have been very useful to your client, he said in a voice mail he left for Gilmore. The court ruledher trial lawyers were ineffective, and sent her case back to be retried. Until then, she said, Andrew was doing nothing that my other kids hadnt done with the flu. Overton's case drew national attention and she was the subject of the documentary "Until Proven Innocent.". He is survived by : his children, Valerie Overton Castano (John), Glenn Overton (Donna) and Allen Overton (Amy); his grandchildren, Morgan Castano Petty (Kyle), Jordan Castano, Zack Castano (Andie), Julia Overton Kahsar (Alex), Alyssa Overton McSteen (Dylan) and Drake Overton; his great grandchildren, Overton Petty, Cotten Petty, Davant Petty, Preston McSteen and Layton Kahsar; his brothers-in-law, Bruce Preston Cotten and Grant Cotten; his friends, Jimmy, Sarah Trado, Joyce, Jerry Dellinger, Betty Jo Mullis and Bob Butler; and also, Scott and Tana Lloyd. Top: A family birthday celebration in the summer of 2006. Frantic, Hannah began administering CPR in the backseat. Financially, the accident had come at a precarious time; Larry had recently purchased his bosss landscape lighting business, and he needed to put in long hours just to make ends meet. I also could never begin to thank those who supported us, prayed and prayed for us, and walked with us along the entire way, Overton said. Ill put it this way. Hannah: i was and remain so sorry to hear about Dabney's unfortunate death. In October 2006 a four-year-old from Corpus Christi named Andrew Burd died mysteriously of salt poisoning. Overwhelmed, the Overtons sought guidance in prayer. (A subsequent investigation by the attorney generals office found that no crimes had been committed. Hannah, we are all so sorry for the loss of your brother. My friend Dabo - thanks for the fun at Washington and Lee but mostly for these last few years when your selflessness and wisdom were refreshing to see and experience. Hannah Overton spent seven years in prison until her conviction was overturned. We thought that he would stop turning to food for comfort when he learned that he could trust us. To try and curtail Andrews compulsive eating, they put him in time-outs, though to little effect. Larry and Hannah caught him trying to eat cat food, crayons, toothpaste, glow sticks, tufts of carpetinganything he could get his hands on. With her first husband, whose name was Stephens, she lived in Iowa, and had one daughter. He had so many interests and was loyal to those he knew and was involved with, especially those he sailed with as that is where I knew him. When Andrew was two-and-a-half years old, CPS determined that he was in immediate danger, according to an affidavit, and he was put in foster care. Once a month, Larry loads the kids into his van and they make the trip together, although on those visits, no contact is allowed. Veteran defense attorney John Gilmore, whom the Overtons had retained using funds raised by their church, was stunned to learn of the arrests from reporters, who called asking for comment. In loving memory of Jonah Lee Overton, I was lucky enough and feel so honored to have been loved by Dabney. We truly thought his obsession with food was a behavioral issue, not a medical one, Larry said. He seemed to enjoy having brothers and sisters to play with, and the Overton kidsespecially the girls, who doted on himwere enthralled by the new arrival. Once reunited with their childrenwho were terrified by the ordealLarry and Hannah had to break the awful news to them about Andrew. During the consultation the attorney can discuss whether our firm can assist you. Box 70, Millers Tavern, Va.; St. Christopher's School, 711 St. Christopher's Road, Richmond, Va. 23226; or the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 1108 E. Main St. Suite 1600, Richmond, Va. 23219. Hannah managed to clean him up, but when she reiterated that he would have to wait until lunchtime to eat, he defecated on the floor again. Zion Church of the Brethren. Gilmore and his defense team, which included two civil attorneys versed in the intricacies of medical testimony, tried to counter the prosecutions claims that Hannah had poisoned Andrew and purposely delayed medical treatment. Find Hannah Overton obituaries and memorials at Legacy.com Jonah Lee "Pete" Overton Obituary (1930 - 2023) | Charlotte, North Carolina I asked Hannah if her faith had been shaken by Andrews loss and the suffering that she and her family had experienced. 2023 www.caller.com. Advertisement. Support The National Registry of Exonerations , The Contribution of Forensic and Expert Evidence to DNA Exoneration Cases, Race and Wrongful Convictions in the United States, 2022, Government Misconduct and Convicting the Innocent, Witness Recantations: Preliminary Findings, May 2013, Exonerations in the United States: 1989 - 2012, Tell us about an Exoneration that we missed. hannah overton obituary He moved unsteadily, and he was so clumsy that Hannah had him wear a life jacket whenever he splashed around in their inflatable kiddie pool. If anything had been wrong, I would have known it, she insisted. Before she was led away in handcuffs, the couple embraced for several minutes, overcome with emotion. Its not even a consideration, she said. She and her family do so much good with nothing. I'm not saying goodbye but that I will see you later. So it is the context and the totality of the injuries that worried me. At first, the transition with Andrew went smoothly. The next morning, Corpus Christi police detective Michael Hess paid a visit to Kathi Haller, the Overtons next-door neighbor, who knew the family well. Hannah Overton, exonerated in boy's death, welcomes new baby to family Funeral service for Wendell Leon Overton, 81, of Cullman, will be 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, November 24, 2021 in the Cullman Funeral Home Chapel. There is no photo or video of Jonah Lee Overton.Be the first to share a memory to pay tribute. But was this churchgoing young woman a vicious child killer? Looking for any information that might bolster the appeal, Orr requested access to the prosecutions case file. That official statement granted her access to state funds that are provided to the wrongfully convicted and also prevented her from being tried for the crime again. That left Overton entitled to seek state compensation funds for thewrongful conviction. Funeral arrangement under the care ofHeritage Funeral Home. OVERTON, Dabney III, died peacefully on Monday, November 9, 2009 surrounded by family and friends. They chattered about an upcoming birthday party and discussed the merits of their favorite colors, finishing each others sentences between slurps of soup. Meny Lukk national monument bank uk; will arnett brothers and sisters On their honeymoon, they stopped at the orphanage in Reynosa, where Hannah wanted Larry to meet some of the children she had told him so much about. Andrews behavior worsened that September, after the family was involved in a car accident. A comment someone made was that it appeared that this child had been in a fight with a porcupine, the physician stated. We met when he was helping her move. . A committed Christian, he had gone on mission trips with his family since he was a child, including a fourteen-month stint in Papua New Guinea and several treks across Mexico. The states case would be predicated in part on the findings of Ray Fernandez, the Nueces County medical examiner, who ruled Andrews death to be a homicide. Sign . In anticipation of his arrival, Larry built a three-tiered bunk bed for Andrew and the two Overton boys: Isaac, who was seven years old, and Sebastian, who was two. The following evening, Andrew was dead. He was always happy, Hamil testified. He found that they fit a narrow profile: they were between the ages of one and six, they had been in the foster system or were from abusive homes, and they had pica. I feel so fortunate to have spent time with him. After her shift ends in the late morning, there are letters to write home, in which she tries to stay present in her childrens lives by choreographing what she can from a distance. Every Easter and Christmas holiday was spent at the Reynosa orphanage, whose wards were primarily the unwanted children of prostitutes who worked the nearby red-light district. Andrews preoccupation with eating intensified, and he began getting out of bed at night to forage for food in the kitchen. I enjoyed each conversation we had about fishing, sailing and other things we both were interest in. See our Cookie Policy. He felt at ease around her; his favorite thing to do was sit on her lap and rest his mouth on her cheek, and she gladly obliged. I believe that the same God who made him is with him now in the most immediate sense. Her husband, Larry, took aplea deal for a lesser charge in the case and was given probation. Hess had given me his word that he would tell me if and when warrants were going to be issued, so that Hannah and Larry could turn themselves in. Instead, law enforcement officials had apprehended the Overtons by making a felony traffic stop, a practice usually reserved for suspects believed to be armed and dangerous. There have been a few tear-filled nights because one of the kids misses Andrew, Larry told me later. He visited us in the country and brought his serinity along. Former prosecutor Anna Jimenez, who had assisted Eastwood as second chair at Hannahs trial, subsequently wrote a letter to Orr claiming that a sheaf of medical records that Eastwood had asked her to fax to an expert witness before trial had not included the documents that Orr had uncovered. He had a speech delay and spoke haltingly, sometimes with a stutter, but every week, when his Sunday school classmates went around in a circle to say their prayer requests, he made the same wish aloud: that he would be adopted. In October 2006 a four-year-old from Corpus Christi named Andrew Burd died mysteriously of salt poisoning. News reports that followed, prominently featuring their grim-faced mug shots, cast the Overton home as a house of horrors. There was a dead child, he observed. That was the most uncomfortable service I have ever done. Larry turned them down. . That Larry is able to be with the children at all, much less raise them, is a huge blessing, he told me. Despite all the pain, she told me that if she could do it over again, she would not change their decision to bring Andrew into their home. Now, she is 8 years old. Or had the tragedy claimed its second victim? She is also pregnant with her sixth child. I remember him as a fun loving gentle person that loved life. I feel sad. Push him? Throughout the interrogation, which spanned more than two hours, Hannah insisted that she had never harmed Andrew. They asked us, Can you pray that we have discernment and wisdom in helping him through this?. I dont see what caused the high salt content. So she had to find a way out. (Hess did not respond to interview requests for this article but has previously denied Hallers version of events.) But after Hannahs conviction, the DAs office offered him several plea deals, each of which required him to acknowledge that he had intentionally caused Andrews death. Please allow 24 hours for your entry to be reviewed for appropriate content. Andrew liked to eat every day, all day, any time, she said. What little is known about Andrew Burds early life is contained in a slim Child Protective Services case file that chronicles the boys descent into the child welfare system. Richard and his wife had tried all sorts of tactics to deter him: redirecting his attention, putting gloves on him, even restraining his hands. But just as the prosecution could not show exactly how Hannah had forced Andrew to ingest a lethal dose of salt, neither could the defense give precise details for how the four-year-old had come to have so much sodium in his body. Andrew accompanied his foster mother to services every Sunday, and with his thatch of blond hair and beaming grin, he was hard to miss. Hannahs father was the Reverend Bennie Saenz, an evangelical preacher in Corpus Christi whose fall from grace profoundly altered the course of her childhood. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Yet if anyone was up to the task, most everyone agreed, it was the Overtons, and Hannah in particular. Its not even a consideration, she said. Skip to main content. Dabney will be missed by a wide range of supportive friends and family. Does God want a child to go to bed hurting, in pain, fearful, being looked at by closed-circuit television? After a week-long trial, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to 23 years in prison. The Carvers, like most members of Calvary Chapel, never doubted her innocence. The absence of their mother and their late brother was quietly acknowledged. May your memories bring you comfort. Finally she relented, heating up what she had on hand: leftover vegetable-beef soup flavored with Zatarains Creole Seasoning. I have shared a memorial tribute I wrote about Dabney with all who've asked. Dabney always took time to talk to people and was a friend to many. Andrews foster mother, who had provided refuge to roughly three hundred children over three decades, was also supportive. There's also a pen pal program and Overton is often featured inFacebook videos in which she talks about ways to help women in prison. The burden on the state to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt was, Gilmore told me, perhaps less than it should have been. Hannah Overton is expected to receive compensation for wrongful incarceration. Given that Hannah was suspected of poisoning Andrew with Creole seasoning, the suggestion that the Overtons had used pepper to discipline their children raised immediate concerns. On several occasions his fits had grown so extreme that she had resorted to asking a male parishioner to physically remove him from the classroom until he could regain self-control. When Emma took her first steps, Larry brought her to the parking lot outside the county jail so that Hannah could watch from her cell above. The world was a better place because of him. Witnesses outside the home said they had seen Andrew's bizarre habits, too. Orra formidable legal mind whose work recently helped exonerate Michael Morton, a Williamson County man who was wrongly convicted of his wifes 1986 murderhad begun preparing a writ of habeas corpus, a last-ditch effort to persuade the courts to review Hannahs case. The death of a childparticularly a sudden, unexplained death in which abuse is suspectedevokes strong emotions, even among seasoned investigators, doctors, forensics experts, and prosecutors. She was native of this place and had been twice married. The paperwork Orr now forwarded to him, which showed that Andrews stomach contained a great deal of water, only confirmed the clinical directors initial conclusion. Dabney was born on July 31, 1963 and grew up in Essex County, Va. He was preceded in death by his mother, Hannah Spencer Haile Overton and infant brother, Charles. Larry had also tried to rouse him by giving him a warm bath. Sorry to hear of Dabney's passing. Those charges were not considered double jeopardy because Overtons conviction was overturned by the higher court on the basis of ineffective counsel, which granted her a new trial. Im very thankful that this compensation is finally coming through, Overton told ABC News. She's since createdSyndeo Ministries tohelp prisonerstransition back into society. Dabney was born on July 31, 1963 and grew up in Essex County, Va. They were no different from other children their age: exuberant, funny, guileless. He reached Doug Norman, who was part of the prosecution team at Hannahs trial and who is now responsible for fighting her appeal. Prosecutors had accused her of givingthe boy a mix of water and spicy seasoning that contributed to the high levels of sodium in his system. The jury was not just going to let her walk. Capital murder carries two possible punishments in Texasthe death penalty or life without paroleand the district attorneys office had already decided not to seek death. Dear God, thank you for the soup, Isaac said, his head bowed, his eyes closed tightly. The salt poisoning case earned international attention because many believed she was wrongfully convicted and her story was featured in the 2017 documentary, Until Proven Innocent. ABC News has followed Overton's and her husband's story since her original 2007 trial. Dabney is survived by his sister, Hannah Overton; and nieces Emma and Lizzie Schmidt, all of Tappahannock; a half-sister Mallory Overton McKendry of Jacksonville, Fla.; and his father, Dabney Overton Jr. of Harrisonburg. She and her husband Larry lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, and served faithfully in their church. Yet the jury had never heard from him. The website is updated daily, frequently with exonerations that occurred in the past. Hess disavowed Garcias account at a court hearing regarding the Overton children, and prosecutors never entered Garcias affidavit into evidence or called him to testify at Hannahs trial. May God bless you and. Whenever he got scaredand there was a long list of things that petrified him, from swimming to large crowds to the sound of balloons poppingthe Overtons worked to help him overcome his fears, reassuring him that they loved him and that he was in safe surroundings. Melinek, the defenses expert witness, testified about pica and an array of factors that could have contributed to Andrews death, including undiagnosed diabetes. Unlike the three physicians who had testified for the prosecution, Cortes was the only doctor who had seen Andrew before his hospitalization; he had evaluated the boy during a routine checkup when Andrew was three years old and still living with Hamil. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. But both mother and daughter are doing fine. Dinner was potato soupIts good and filling, and its cheap, Larry told mewhich the kids dived into after saying grace. Absolutely not, Hannah shot back. Report an error or add more information about this case. It is unlikely that any intervention would have made a significant difference as Andrew had already taken the most critical step to save himself [by consuming] copious amounts of fluid, he wrote. Just as she had hoped, they would have six children. He would have been witness number one for the defense, Gilmore told me. Its somebodys worst nightmare, Hannah Overton told ABC News in an earlier interview. My two boys will remember him always as "that tall man with the super cool motorcycle". He acted more like a toddler than a preschooler, they noted; if he wanted an object, he pointed to it and grunted. She was even slighter in person than I had expected, and as she related the events of the past five years in her soft voice, she looked hopelessly out of place in her white prison jumpsuit. Hannah Overton, far right, sits next to her attorney, Cynthia Orr, center, and prosecutor, Doug Norman, April 26, 2012, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Isaac read John 9 aloud while Larry helped him sound out the difficult words (synagogue, Pharisees). With guns drawn, police officers had surrounded Hannah and Larrys car as they returned from an errand, forcing them to the ground and handcuffing them. Echovita offers a solidarity program that gives back the funds generated to families. The kids took me out back, where they jumped on the trampoline and played hide-and-seek in the salt grass. Hess suspicions had developed the previous evening during an interview with Hannah, who had consented to talk to him without an attorney present. Myron attended Longfellow elementary, Panama Union and Kern Overton's original trial attorneys admitted at an appeals hearing that they had made errors. Theres An App for That. Receive obituaries from the city or cities of your choice. I knew Dabney as a friend of my daughter, Stephanie. Other couples they knew who had adopted foster children assured them that their kids had outgrown similar eating issues, and the Overtons assumed that, with time, Andrew would outgrow his as well. Today I will thank God that I knew Dabney, if only a little. memorial page for Hannah Ester Hall Overton (1660-1732), Find a Grave Memorial ID 160804572; Burial Details Unknown; . As long as I can make a nonfrivolous argument, Ill make it, but nothing in my job prevents me from praying for a more just outcome., There have been a few tear-filled nights because one of the kids misses Andrew, Larry said. Overton had to have a blood transfusion and her new. Two years later, the Overtons learned that their adoption application had been approved and that Andrew would be joining their family. Overton was released on bond in December 2014 after a Texas appellate court overturned her conviction and life sentence. The importance of saying "I love you" during COVID-19, Effective ways of dealing with the grieving process, Solutions to show your sympathy safely during the Covid-19 pandemic. We will always remember him fondly as a fellow Friend of Bandy Field. Obituary: Wendell Leon Overton (Updated) - The Cullman Tribune He will be missed by his many friends. More outspoken was Andrews Sunday school teacher, who sat Hannah and Larry down and told them that he was a troubled kid. He was a Southern Gentleman and true Virginian who touched the hearts of many. (Hannahs mother and stepfatherwhom the courts had named managing conservators of the childrenwere then able to return them to Larrys custody.)