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This Day In History: Casey Anthony Is Released From Prison In 2011

By Louis Babcock
Published on: 08:58 PST, Jul 17, 2016

Casey Anthony was given a new lease on life when she was released from prison on July 17, 2011. Anthony’s release from the Florida prison occurred two weeks after a jury shocked the country and found Casey not guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter.

The trial into the death of Caylee Marie Anthony kept people in the United States on the edge of their seats as the trial unfolded on TV and across the internet. The Anthony saga began on June 16, 2008. It was on this date that Caylee was last known to be alive.

Once information into the investigation began to become public knowledge, it was becoming clear that Casey Anthony may have been involved in the death of her daughter. It took Casey 31 days to file a missing person’s report with the local police department. Waiting a month to report a 2-year-old as a missing child raised many red flags. Police questioned Casey Anthony as to why she waited so long to declare her daughter as a mission person. Casey claimed that Caylee was kidnapped by her nanny and the nanny made threats against Caylee’s life. These threats, Casey claims, are the reasons why she did not contact law enforcement sooner. The police did not buy Casey’s story.

On October 14, 2008, Casey Anthony was charged with lying to police, and first-degree murder. Building a solid case against Anthony was going to be difficult without any evidence, or the body of the missing girl. That would all change on December 11, 2008, when the body of Caylee Anthony was discovered in the woods, just under a mile away from Caylee’s grandparents home.

Caylee Anthony’s murder trial began in May of 2011. Casey Anthony was officially charged with murdering her daughter, Caylee. The prosecution stated that the method used to kill Caylee consisted of Casey giving her daughter chloroform and securing her mouth shut with duct tape. Prosecutors believed that Casey did not want to be a mother and that she killed Casey in order to no longer have to be responsible for another life besides her own. Prosecutors showed pictures of Casey who appeared to be out with friends, celebrating, being happy, and enjoying life during the exact same time that her daughter was missing.

Caylee’s body did not leave behind many clues. When the body was found, the decomposition process had taken its course and destroyed much of the evidence that could have tied Casey directly to her daughter’s death. Experts were not even able to determine when Caylee died. Jury deliberation began on July 5, 2011.

Eleven hours later, the jury came back with a verdict of not guilty on the counts of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child. Casey Anthony was found guilty of lying to law enforcement while they were conducting a murder investigation. The judge presiding over Casey’s trial, Belvin Perry, Jr., sentenced Casey to four years behind bars. This penalty is the maximum amount of time for a person to serve in prison for lying to police. Having been in jail since 2008, Casey was given credit toward her four-year sentence and with the help of being a model prisoner, Casey Anthony was allowed to be released on July 17, 2011.

After the case was over, numerous lawmakers worked together to draft a law that would make it a felony for any parent to not report their child as missing as soon as possible.

Do you think Casey Anthony got away with killing Caylee?

[Photo by Joe Burbank/AP Photo, Pool]

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