GUILTY IN - Lauren McConniel, 5, starved, tortured to death, Muncie, 2 March 2010

Photos of Lauren McConniel bring jurors to tears

http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20110513/NEWS01/105130344

SNIP:
A juror submitted a written question to Pachloski, asking if hallucinations could be a result or side effect of high sodium levels.

"Yes," the doctor responded.


Witnesses in the trial have provided grim accounts of Lauren's behavior in the final weeks of her life, with episodes that saw her running into walls, biting the tips of her fingers and toes, making herself vomit, trying to eat vomit and feces, and having hallucinations with "little blue bunnies" telling her to be violent.

Additional Links:
Witness says Brittany McConniel vowed to 'break' stepdaughter

http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20110512/NEWS01/105120345

SNIP:
Brittany McConniel, 25 -- on trial this week for neglect of a dependent resulting in death, filed after the March 2010 death of her 5-year-old stepdaughter -- forced the little girl to do jumping jacks for up to 50 consecutive minutes, along with holding heavy objects or running for set periods of time, usually after the child had bathroom accidents, Ryan McConniel told Delaware Circuit Court 5 jurors.

Ryan McConniel: 'I believe she's guilty'

http://www.thestarpress.com/article...onniel-believe-she-s-guilty-?odyssey=obinsite

Told jurors that witnesses, including Ryan McConniel, would testify about extreme punishments Brittany McConniel inflicted on her stepdaughter, including forcing her to hold up cans of vegetables for extended periods of time, do jumping jacks until she collapsed from exhaustion and beating the bottoms of the girl's feet with sticks.

'Only Round One': Other prosecutions possible in Lauren McConniel's death

May 15, 2011
Written by
DOUGLAS WALKER

MUNCIE -- The ongoing trial of Lauren McConniel's stepmother will not represent a conclusion to the official investigation of events that led to the 5-year-old Muncie girl's death last year.

In fact, Brittany McConniel's trial, likely to conclude this week, might end up being a beginning, not the end, in terms of related prosecutions.

As grim details regarding the young victim's final weeks came to light through last week's testimony, the public responded -- in the form of Internet postings, calls to The Star Press newsroom and, in one case, a large cardboard sign, addressed to Delaware County Prosecutor Jeffrey Arnold and left on one of his staff member's vehicles, parked outside the county building.

The most common reaction: With Lauren's father set to plead guilty to a neglect count that could send him to prison for 20 years, and her stepmother standing trial on a charge with a maximum 50-year sentence, why aren't the other adults who lived in the home in which Lauren wasted away also facing charges?

Most of the speculation focuses on 44-year-old Robert E. Lee, Brittany McConniel's stepfather. Witnesses, particularly Ryan McConniel, have described Lee as an active participant in the abuse of the 5-year-old victim, both suggesting and participating in forms of corporal punishment -- acts that many would label torture -- that targeted Lauren.

"This trial is only Round One," Deputy Prosecutor Eric Hoffman said when asked about future prosecutions last week.

~snip~
More details at link:
http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20110515/NEWS01/105150345

A woman who appealed her conviction and sentence for the neglect of a dependent which resulted in the death of a 5-year-old has lost her appeal.

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/crime/woman-loses-appeal-in-child-death-case