CRUEL

9-Year-Old Forced to “Run to Death”

Girl punished for eating candy.

Three days after police say 9-year-old Savannah Hardin was made to run for three hours as punishment for eating a candy bar, authorities in Alabama are saying her death Monday was a homicide. The girl’s grandmother and stepmother are in custody for the punishment that allegedly led the girl to become dehydrated and have a seizure—and now police are saying that the stepmother, 27-year-old Jessica Mae Hardin, gave birth hours after her arrest. She is being held with her mother-in-law on bail of $500,000 each. The Etowah County District Attorney has told reporters that Jessica suffered from a bladder condition that prohibited her from eating chocolate, but that there is not any evidence the condition contributed to her death.