REMEMBRANCE OF HANNA WILLIAMS VIA FACEBOOK
Hana Williams died of malnourishment and hypothermia after her adopted parents starved, beat and forced her outside.
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They killed their adopted daughter through systematic abuse. Now a Washington couple will go to prison.
A jury convicted Larry and Carri Williams of manslaughter in the death of Ethiopian-born Hana Williams.
The starving girl died naked in the cold and rain in the family’s backyard in 2011.
She was discovered lying face down in the mud.
SCOTT TERRELL/AP
Carri Williams reacts after she was found guilty of homicide by abuse and manslaughter in the death of her adopted daughter, Hana, on Monday, in Mount Vernon, Wash.
“She came to America, you know the American dream and all those sort of things, and you know it was more like ‘Nightmare on Elm Street,’†Prosecutor Rich Weyrich said, according to KOMO News.
The Skagit County jury found Larry Williams guilt of first-degree manslaughter. Carri Williams was found guilty of homicide by abuse as well as manslaughter.
The jury couldn’t reach a decision on a homicide by abuse charge against the husband.
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SCOTT TERRELL/AP
Larry Williams was found guilty of manslaughter in Hana’s death, but jurors couldn’t reach a decision on a charge of homicide by abuse.
The couple faces life in prison, but could be sentenced to less.
Larry and Carri Williams adopted Hana in 2008 from Ethiopia. The little girl hoped for a better life, but entered a world of vicious punishment.
During the trial, witnesses testified the Larry and Carri Williams tortured, beat and starved Hana as well as an adopted younger brother, Immanuel, the Seattle Times reported.
Her new parents saw her as “rebellious†and forced her to sleep in a locked closet, wash outside with a hose and use an outhouse as her bathroom.
REMEMBRANCE OF HANNA WILLIAMS VIA FACEBOOK
Hana thought she was headed for a better life when Larry and Carri Williams adopted her in 2008 from Ethiopia.
Hana lost 30 pounds in the last year of her life, weighing just 78 pounds when she died, the paper reported. She was 5 feet tall and believed to be 13 years old.
Prosecutors said Hana was starved, beaten and forced outside in May 2011. She collapsed in the mud.
An autopsy found she was malnourished and suffered a stomach infection.
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JUSTICE FOR HANA VIA FACEBOOK
A Facebook page pays tribute Hana, who was discovered face down in the mud behind her adopted parents’ home.
Defense attorneys argued Larry and Carri Williams’ questionable parenting tactics didn’t amount to a crime.
The trial was delayed several times so experts could exhume Hana’s body and try to confirm her age from her teeth and bones.
There was no documentation of her birth available from Ethiopia.
Prosecutors recommended 14-18 years in prison for Larry Williams and 27-37 years for Carri Williams, the paper reported.
The husband and wife were also convicted of an assault charge for the abuse of Immanuel.
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