As punishment, a couple in Tennessee forced their 5-year-old daughter to drink so much grape soda in 2012, her head swelled up to the point of herniating, and she died. Now, as of Monday, ?parents? (if you can call them that) Randall Lee Vaughn, 42, and 59-year-old Mary Lavonne Vaughn, enter into a 35-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to second degree murder and aggravated child neglect.
Hawkins County Sheriff Ronnie Lawson stated:
?They’re going where they belong.?
Hawking County Criminal Court Judge John Dugger accepted the plea deal for the murder of five-year-old Alexa Linboom by the Vaughns. As a result of that deal, Randall and Mary Vaughn will spend the next 20 years in prison before they will be eligible for parole. In addition, they are saddled with 15 years for the abuse charges, with a 60 percent eligibility for release.
For all intents and purposes, for people of their age, 35 years is essentially a life sentence for the Tennessee couple.
According to Attorney General Dan Armstrong, the Vaughns forced their 5-year-old daughter to drink 2.5 liters of grape soda, in addition to water, as punishment for the girl sneaking a sip of her stepmother’s drink. And for sneaking that sip, Alexa Linboom lost her life.
Reports state that the couple did not take the young girl to the hospital four many hours New Year’s day, 2012, despite the girl screaming in pain from her head swelling up due to all the fluids forced upon her. All those fluids proved too much for her. Her head swelled, herniated, and she eventually died, according to autopsy reports.
Armstrong stated that prosecutors intentionally went after a long sentence for the couple, sans parole, not only because of the heinous, senseless nature of the crime, but to also spare Randal Vaughn’s other children the emotion turmoil of a lengthy trial.
The Attorney General said:
“My number one concern was trying to minimize the trauma to the remaining siblings as much as possible, and this seemed to be the best way to do that.”
What do you say about something so senseless and tragic?
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H/T: nydailynews.com
Dylan Hock is a poet, novelist, professor and social activist. He is published in a number of little magazines and has an essay on the muzzling of Ezra Pound included in the anthology Star Power: The Impact of Branded Celebrity. Currently, he also writes and edits for If You Only News, Addicting Info, Green Action News, and Take 10. Follow him on Ello, Google+, LinkedIn, RebelMouse and Goodreads. Hire him for freelance writing and editing work on Elance.
