A Florida woman who weighs 325 pounds allegedly killed a little girl by sitting on her, the Pensacola News Journal is reporting .
Veronica Green Posey, 64, was caring for her 9-year-old cousin, Dericka Lindsay, over the weekend, when the young girl’s behavior became “out of control,” according to Posey’s later statements to police. Posey then called Grace Joan Smith, 69, and James Edmund Smith, 62, to come to the home and help get Dericka under control. Authorities say that Posey hit Dericka with a ruler, and then a metal pipe. The girl ran to a nearby armchair.
That’s when, Posey allegedly admitted to police, she sat on the young girl in order to “discipline” her. The Smiths allegedly witnessed the abuse and didn’t say anything.
After 10 minutes of the larger woman sitting on her, Dericka said she couldn’t breathe. James Smith later told police that Posey sat on her for an additional two minutes before getting up to check on her. She found the child unresponsive, and called 911 and began performing CPR.
When first responders arrived, they found the girl unresponsive as well. She was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Posey was arrested and charged with homicide and cruelty toward a child. Additionally, James and Joan Smith were both arrested and charged with child neglect for failing to report the abuse, and Grace Joan Smith was charged with cruelty toward a child.
According to the police report of the incident, the Smiths are the parents of Dericka, and Veronica Posey is her cousin.
In an email to the News Journal , Mike Carroll, secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families, said the family had a “previous interaction” with the state’s child welfare system, although he declined to give specifics. He did note, however, that since the agency was aware of the family, it’s possible more could have been done to prevent this alleged murder.
“As the family has a prior interaction with the child welfare system, a thorough quality assurance review will be conducted to review all prior interactions this family has had with the child welfare system.”
According to jail records, Posey posted $125,000 bond and is no longer jailed. Meanwhile, the Smiths are both held on $75,000 bond and were still incarcerated as of Monday afternoon.
[Featured Image by Escambia County Jail]
