He inspired me to take up running, and to go from owning 1 dog to 2! If he had Downs, that was the blessing that God had chosen to give us, Larry said. She and her family do so much good with nothing. Cynthia Hujar-Orr, Gerry Goldstein and John Raley were apart of Overtons appellate team that helped overturn the conviction. Overton, who has long maintained her innocence, spent seven years in prison for the young childs death. All rights reserved. Overton spent seven years in prison before the Texas Court of Appeals overturned her capital murder charges on September 17, 2014. Four months later, on October 2, 2006, Andrew fell suddenly and acutely ill while he was alone with Hannah. Hess and a group of CPS workers were standing in the back with dark glasses on, their arms crossed, scowls on their faces, Carver said. One paramedic recounted how he had seen two sores on Andrew that looked to me like cigarette burns because they were round. Another paramedic also believed the sores were cigarette burns, though he admitted he had only looked at them from a distance. Fernandez, the medical examiner, said he had observed burnlike scarring on Andrews arm that had likely been caused by contact with a hot surface. But neither Larry nor Hannah smoked. Haller, who took notes documenting her conversation with Hess and later testified about it under oath, recalled the detectives certainty that Hannah had tried to kill Andrew. He will be remembered fondly. He had the heart of a lion and graciously allowed me into his circle of friends. I could never thank my attorneys enough for fighting endlessly to prove my innocence and bring me home.. Round-trip, the journey is 632 miles. The following day, family court judge Carl Lewis awarded temporary custody to Hannahs mother and stepfather. Send your deepest condolences with fresh flowers. a few minutes before we actually took him in, she testified. The Overtons rushed him to a nearby urgent care clinic after his breathing became labored and he stopped responding to their questions, but by the time they arrived, he had fallen unconscious. We were in it for the long haul.. A church elder, who was himself an adoptive parent, invited the Overtons to dinner one night and encouraged them to consider bringing Andrew into their home. I am glad to have had the chance to know him and will pray for your family during this difficult time. Hannah was sure I would eventually come around. Judge rejects claims in salt-poisoning case - MySA I wouldnt give up that time we had with him and that he had with us., As we sat across from each other in the dayroom, Hannah and I discussed her case and the anguish that had consumed her following Andrews death. Much loved daughter of Andrew and Susan, dearly loved sister of. How can one person get probation and another get life without parole for the same thing? Larry said. But the damage was done: that Hannah had confessed to force-feeding Andrew and beating him was repeated, uncorrected, on the local news. Why Does He Get to Make That Call? The defense presented the jury with a medical mystery. 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. My two boys will remember him always as "that tall man with the super cool motorcycle". Andrew liked to eat every day, all day, any time, she said. A memorial service will be held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Miller's Tavern, Va. on Sunday, November 22nd at 2 p.m. 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. Before they started a family, Hannah worked as a private-duty nurse for disabled children, and her longest assignmentwith a four-year-old named Michael Subialdeabecame as absorbing to her as her time in Reynosa. Hannah and the girls, who complained of feeling achy, were taken to the hospital in an ambulance while Larrys parents picked up the rest of the family and, after dropping Larry off at the hospital, took the boys to a nearby Whataburger. At the time, Overton had four children and was pregnant with a fifth, and had no prior trouble with the law. He will be dearly missed. I am sorry to hear of Dabney's passing. Yet the Overtons were not too concerned. So I got to see that.. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. As a former private-duty nurse, Hannah felt equipped to handle the challenges of a foster child; she had spent several years caring for special-needs children, some of whom were profoundly disabled. I worked with him at Branch, Cabell many years ago. Love Carl Robertson, My thoughts and prayers are with you in your time of grief. Hannah Overton - National Registry of Exonerations The Overtons daughters, four-year-old Isabel and three-year-old Ally, reported back to their parents that the new boy in their class needed a family. But after the girls, the Overtons conceived their fourth child, Sebastian. "After further review of all the evidence and meeting with her defense attorneys and everyone involved, my office decided that we're going to dismiss the case and include language in there that would actually indicate that she's not guilty of the charge that we charged her with, or the previous administration," Gonzalez said at the time. The boy was diagnosed with a toxic salt overdose and died the following day. Overtons current defense attorney, Cynthia Orr, told ABC News she was thrilled to get the call from Skurka announcing his motion to dismiss had been granted by the judge. Isaac read John 9 aloud while Larry helped him sound out the difficult words (synagogue, Pharisees). Obituary - Middle Island, L.I., December 5 - Mrs. Hannah M. Overton died yesterday morning after a short illness. It was, Hannah and Larry would later remember, one of the happiest times in their lives. Yet to find her guilty, theyd had to believe that she knew he would die if she did not get him immediate medical attention. I was so shocked and saddened to learn today of Dabney's sudden and all too premature death. 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 wish you and your family my sincere condolences. And we do have some evidence of bruising to his nose [which could indicate] his nostrils were squeezed and he was made to drink it.. 3 Memories Hannah Overton Overton Hannah Jayne Passed away peacefully at Thorpe Hall on the 23rd December 2018 aged 28 years. Larry Overton was also charged with murder, but after his wife's conviction, he was offered a plea deal and was given probation. I realized that it was something serious . 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. Prosecutors exploited that uncertainty in final arguments, asserting that Andrew did not have pica. Anyone who knew Dabney loved him. Standing just five feet tall, with wide-set brown eyes, a girlish laugh, and a warm, easy manner, Hannah was almost childlike herself. He was preceded in death by his mot Gilmore urged Hannah more than once to agree to have the jury consider a lesser charge, but she was uneasy with what she perceived as an underlying suggestion of wrongdoing. The obituary was featured in Peterborough Telegraph on January 3, 2019. 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. My husband Al and I were shocked and saddened to hear of Dabney's death. . Cortes believed that Andrews death was accidental. The Registry provides detailed information about every known exoneration in the United States since 1989cases in which a person was wrongly convicted of a crime and later cleared of all the charges based on new evidence of innocence. New medical evidence shows that Hannah Overton did not force her 4-year-old foster son Andrew Burd to ingest large amounts of salt, causing his death in 2006 and her to serve a life sentence. 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. Tell Andrews behavior worsened that September, after the family was involved in a car accident. There have been a few tear-filled nights because one of the kids misses Andrew, Larry told me later. Andrew seems very happy in this home.. Or had the tragedy claimed its second victim? Does God want a child to go to bed hurting, in pain, fearful, being looked at by closed-circuit television? A more thorough investigation would have uncovered ample evidence to suggest that Andrew had an undiagnosed eating disorder, raising the possibility that he had unintentionally consumed too much salt on his own. The nondenominational church, on the south side of Corpus Christi, drew many young evangelicals with its emphasis on a verse-by-verse understanding of the Bible, and Larry and Hannah were well-regarded members. The following evening, Andrew was dead. Making him sleep on plywood burning sheets, becoming so enraged she forced him to have 23 teaspoons of hot pepper, and then watched him die in agony.. Not long after his arrest, a grand jury upgraded the charges against him to capital murder, and he feared that he too might face life in prison. We welcome new information from any source about exonerations already on our list and about cases not in the Registry that might be exonerations. What a great sense of comfort to know that I could be greated on the other side by such a kind person. He will be missed. When they took him along on errands, they had to keep him from eating the old gum and cigarette butts he found on the ground. Looking for any information that might bolster the appeal, Orr requested access to the prosecutions case file. Hannah Overton, far right, sits next to her attorney, Cynthia Orr, center, and prosecutor, Doug Norman, April 26, 2012, in Corpus Christi, Texas. And its full of great reads, yall. us about an exoneration that we may have missed, Correct an error or add information about an exoneration Both sides worked hard independently to determine the truth and achieve justice for the Overton family, the entire family. He was kind and gentle with me, and he made himself available no matter how busy he was. I figured, Well, weve got to start with one, so lets see how far we get. Isabel, and then Ally, followed. She is awakened every morning at 2:45 a.m., rarely sleeping well; the overhead light above her bed never shuts off, and announcements blare throughout the night over the loudspeaker. Nueces County jurors believed she failed to seek medical care for her foster son in a timely manner. In the classes they had been required to take by CPS to become adoptive parents, they had been warned that foster children often hoarded food and were more likely to have eating disorders. Haller was stunned by the accusation. At the clinic, she continued giving him mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions until paramedics took over, but the four-year-old lay motionless. Please call me at your earliest convenience.. The case boils down to a woman who basically tortured a child, Eastwood continued. Because he felt cold? He suspected that as the boys condition worsened, Hannah had fallen victim to what he calls stress blindness, a phenomenon he had witnessed many times during his 42 years of practicing medicine. In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Dabney's memory to Aylett Country Day School, P.O. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to his family and many friends. We thought that he would stop turning to food for comfort when he learned that he could trust us.. She was born April 24, 1945 to Dabney Overton Sr. and Henrietta Mallory Overton and grew up in Warsaw, VA. She was graduated from St. Margaret's School in 1963 where she was awarded the Bishop's Prize all four years. She and her husband Larry lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, and served faithfully in their church. CPR had also been performed for an extended period by Hannah and later by medical personnel, who had squeezed the boys nose and administered chest compressions for 35 minutes. Dabney was born on July 31, 1963 and grew up in Essex County, Va. God bless you Dabney, we'll miss you. But as devoted Christians, their desire to adopt a foster child was rooted in faith more than in practicality. The defense presented the jury with a medical mystery. He introduced me to Bandy Field and our Labs also became friends. I didnt realize the seriousness of the situation. Eastwood questioned how Andrew had come to have scratches on his neck. That Sunday, October 1, Larry took the other kids to church while Hannah devoted some extra attention to Andrew. Find the obituary of Hannah Mason "Tess" Overton (2019) from Gunnedah, NSW. As I read the comments of so many I realize he touched everyone's lives just the same. Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. December 22, 1930 - My infrequent visits to my home of Richmond were always highlighted when I ran into Dabney and spend some time to catch up with one another. Overton spent seven years in prison before the Texas Court of Appeals overturned her capital murder charges on September 17, 2014. I would often see him riding with all the dogs in the back of the car. Andrews standard answer whenever he was asked to perform a simple task was Sorry, I cant, but Hannah was heartened one day that summer when he deviated from the script. 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. But at a hearing on the defenses motion for a new trial, Eastwood stated under oath that Cortes had always been a passionate advocate for the prosecution; he had even remarked to her that he thought Hannah should fry. Cortes does not dispute that story. May your memories bring you comfort. They had also watched the video of Hess questioning Hannah, during which she described calling a paramedic friend in Oklahoma for guidance when the boys condition deteriorated, and even using her cameras flash to check if his pupils were reactive, but never calling for an ambulance. He was a loyal Red Sox Nation member and I a Yankees Universe devotee. Andrews adoption hadnt been finalized, Haller said. 1 x 120' / Produced for Discovery Networks. Authorize the publication of the original written obituary with the accompanying photo. 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. Haller . Or had the tragedy claimed its second victim? Inside the Bro-tastic Party Mansions Upending a Historic Austin Community, The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools. By that point, Hannah had completely broken down emotionally.. I am over the moon that Hannah has been granted compensation by Texas for her wrongful imprisonment, Orr told ABC News. Its about trusting God and seeing how he is a god of redemption and restoration, she said. Ill put it this way. She had only one sibling, a brother who was seven years her junior, and a father who was largely absent from her life. In his role as single dad, he is aided by his extended family and his many friends from Calvary Chapel, who pitch in to do cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, and babysitting. The sheets were filthy, and he was getting poop everywhere. Mom convicted in salt poisoning death to get nearly $600K for wrongful Hannah Overton, exonerated in boy's death, welcomes new baby to family One of the recent fundraising efforts involves providing "chill towels" to incarcerated women this summer because most Texas prisons are without air conditioning. I always knew I'd be able to catch up with him on occasion at the Village Starbucks. Andrew had an enraged mother who didnt, I dont think loved him the way that she loved her own biological children, former Nueces County prosecutor Sandra Eastwood said at trial. Until Proven Innocent (2016) - IMDb My husband, Tom, and I were deeply saddened to hear of Dabney's sudden passing. I wasnt thinking, obviously, or I would have just taken him to the hospital, Hannah told the detective. Hey dear, so sorry to hear this newstake care of yourself and your familythinking of you!! She also described her unease with Eastwoods trial strategy, claiming the prosecutor had told her that they would not be calling Cortes because a record in his file indicated that Andrew had behavioral problems. 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. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. 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. 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. Shortly afterward, at three-thirty, Hannah called Larry and asked him to come home since Andrew was vomiting and she needed his help. Just as she had hoped, they would have six children. If I failed in my duties of disclosure before the Hannah Overton trial (which the record corroborates I did not), then so did Ms. Jimenez., Orr filed the writ in April 2011, and soon afterward San Antonio Express-News reporter John MacCormackwhose reporting has raised questions about the fairness of Hannahs convictionmade a routine call to the office to gauge the reaction to the recent developments in the case. Every Saturday for the past several years, Larry has ridden his motorcycle from Corpus Christi to the Murray Unit, the maximum-security womens prison west of Waco where Hannah is incarcerated: a squat, concrete building walled off from the world with cyclone fencing and coils of razor wire. — -- Murder charges against Hannah Overton, a south Texas mother of five who had been convicted in the 2007 salt poisoning trial in the death of her foster son, have been dismissed by the . . I am a better person for knowing him. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family during this difficult time., With love and warm memories of our Cousin Pete. When a four-year-old from Texas died mysteriously of salt poisoning, his foster mother, Hannah Overton, was charged with capital murder and sent to prison for life. At four, he spent most of his time playing with Sebastian, who was two, rather than Ally, who was his own age, and his motor skills lagged far behind those of his peers. My prayers to the family. Hannah was less impressed, given that Larrywho, at sixteen, was an enthusiastic fan of Christian punk rockwas sporting a nose ring and a blue mohawk. Hannah, my sister, Carolyn, and John and I are very sadden to learn about Dabney's passing. Hannah Overton announced the birth of her sixth child, Gabriela Aliana, this week in a Facebook post that described a difficult delivery. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. Hannah Overton Archives - Texas Monthly (CPS had not yet sent them his Social Security card, which they needed to get him insured.) But was this churchgoing young woman a vicious child killer? In loving memory of Jonah Lee Overton, Zion Church of the Brethren. Mr. Overton was a U. S. Army Veteran and a member of the First United Methodist Church in Bryant. My job requires me to be an advocate for the state. I visited Hannah at the Murray Unit one bright, cloudless afternoon, when the warden granted her a few hours to speak with me. He. Hannahs supporters included a young churchgoer named Dawn Werkhoven, who had lived with the Overtons the year leading up to Andrews death. On October 2, 2006, 29-year-old Hannah Overton and her husband, Larry brought Andrew Burd, their four-year-old foster son whom they were in the process of adopting, to a hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas after the boy stopped breathing. News reports that followed, prominently featuring their grim-faced mug shots, cast the Overton home as a house of horrors. But I told prosecutors five months before the trial that I believed Hannah had no intent to kill him and that this was not a capital murder case. (More shocking details on abuse suffered by four-year-old before death, began one breathless report.) Submit an Obituary . information about the Registry, False or Misleading Forensic Evidence, Official Misconduct, Inadequate Legal Defense. In October 2006 a four-year-old from Corpus Christi named Andrew Burd died mysteriously of salt poisoning. When Michael put his fingers in his mouth, she would call his name softlythere was no anger in her voiceand he would smile and slowly slide his fingers out, Richard said. Murder Charges Dropped Against Hannah Overton, Texas Mom - ABC News Hannah - Please accept our sincere condolences on your loss. (Haller, their next-door neighbor, has since moved to Houston.) He was preceded in death by his mother, Hannah Spencer Haile Overton and infant brother, Charles. This was usually on a road trip up or down the Valley. For the most accurate data, please search on the Detailed View page.