Miranda Michelle Lynch: Alabama Woman’s Trailer Park Beating Death Was Over EBT Food Stamps

Miranda Michelle Lynch, a 34-year-old Alabama woman, was found dead over an EBT Food Stamp card. Authorities say Miranda Lynch was kidnapped, beaten, and savagely killed over two days by a roommate and two other acquaintances after she refused to give them information about the EBT card. Police say the women had planned to steal the food stamp benefits after Miranda Michelle Lynch’s boyfriend, the card holder, was critically injured in a car accident days before. Authorities have not publicly identified the boyfriend, according to AL.

On August 7, police officers were called to a trailer park in Bessemer, Alabama, where they found the body of a white woman dead on the bathroom floor. The victim was identified as Miranda Lynch, a woman who had been living at the trailer home with her boyfriend and a woman named Karen Kirby. According to police, the woman sustained injuries to her head and was badly beaten all over her body. Officers were dispatched to the trailer park when a concerned neighbor contacted 911 after hearing women screaming inside the mobile home.

Karen Kirby, the 57-year old renter of the home, told police that she had argued with Michelle Lynch just before she struck her. But law enforcement officials were shocked to learn that Karen Kirby, along with her daughter, 39-year-old Susan Otts, killed Miranda Michelle Lynch when she refused to give up any information about her boyfriend’s social security number or his EBT Food Stamp card.

Another woman, identified as 43-year-old Tamara Giarusso, of Bessemer, was also implicated in the murder. According to police, Tamara Giarusso and Susan Otts were friends. The plan to steal the EBT benefits began on August 5, when Lynch’s boyfriend was involved in a car crash while on his way to pick up the benefits. The boyfriend sustained critical injuries and had to be hospitalized. The plan was to design a fake EBT card, using the man’s personal information, including his social security number. The identify theft plan escalated to murder when the women became enraged after Lynch refused to help them.

Karen Kirby, Susan Otts, and Tamara Giarusso were arrested and charged with kidnapping and capital murder. They are currently in the Jefferson County Jail, according to NBC 13. EBT Food Stamp cards are plastic cards that look like debit cards. Years ago, they replaced the paper food stamps. EBT cards fall under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also referred to as SNAP benefits.

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