The thoughts and prayers of your co-workers are with you and your family. Our lives are richer having known him. They speculated Andrew might have had pica, an eating disorder characterized by an obsessive appetite and that Andrew accidentally poisoned himself by consuming a fatal amount of sodium. As the verdict was read, Hannah looked horror-struck. Cynthia Hujar-Orr, Gerry Goldstein and John Raley were apart of Overtons appellate team that helped overturn the conviction. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Dabney always took time to talk to people and was a friend to many. Obituary OVERTON, Dabney III, died peacefully on Monday, November 9, 2009 surrounded by family and friends. He was the first one to introduce me to kayaking from Aylett to Walkerton on the Mattaponi. This is where Andrew used to sleep, Isaac told me softly as he led me into the boys room. I am a better person for knowing him. Until Proven Innocent: the Hannah Overton Story And then there was the abnormally high sodium level, coupled with Hannahs account of feeding him Creole seasoning after he had misbehaved. He will be missed. Larry turned them down. A colleague of mine who attended the trial told me that the prosecution described Andrew again and again as a normal child, and that is a great distortion of the truth. My friend Dabo - thanks for the fun at Washington and Lee but mostly for these last few years when your selflessness and wisdom were refreshing to see and experience. I always knew I'd be able to catch up with him on occasion at the Village Starbucks. Andrew spent his first night at the Overtons modest ranch-style house on Mothers Day, when he was two months shy of his fourth birthday, and he seemed to quickly grow attached to his new family. Dabney Overton III (1963-2009) - Find a Grave Memorial He was a good friend and a great dancer!! (He was subsequently fired by CPS after having three car accidents on the job in less than six months.) It is a small thing for one who has suffered so greatly.". The sodium content of Zatarains is not listed on its packaging. Prosecutors exploited that uncertainty in final arguments, asserting that Andrew did not have pica. He was a great classmate and teamate at St Christopher's. Dabney and I were great friends while I lived in Richmond back in the late 80s - Browder,Russell days. Most striking to the Overtons, and to their neighbors and friends, was his preoccupation with eating. Overton, who has long maintained her innocence, spent seven years in prison for the young childs death. hannah overton obituary Following college, he worked as a financial consultant and more recently as a consultant for Terrestar Networks. Despite appearances, however, he was hardly a reprobate. New medical evidence shows that Hannah Overton did not force her 4-year-old foster son Andrew Burd to ingest large amounts of salt, causing his death in 2006 and her to serve a life sentence. I will take that trip and take my friends spirit with me. Andrew continued eating until he threw up. That Larry is able to be with the children at all, much less raise them, is a huge blessing, he told me. Finally, Jimenez stated, I do not believe that there was sufficient evidence to indicate that Hannah Overton intentionally killed Andrew Burd. In response, Eastwood penned an affidavit, asserting that she did not engage in any misconduct. The Overtons daughters, four-year-old Isabel and three-year-old Ally, reported back to their parents that the new boy in their class needed a family. By that point, they had already been shown numerous photos of Andrews small, bruised body postmortem. Overton has accused Eastwood of acting unethically in her case, something Eastwood has denied repeatedly. Dabney will be missed by so many. Obituary | Alton Overton | Ashby Funeral Home As a frequent witness for the state in child abuse cases, Cortes was not in the habit of reaching out to defense attorneys, but he was so angered by the verdict that he picked up the phone. Losing his patience, Larry took the sheets to the familys fire pit and burned them. Myron Overton Obituary (1935 - 2013) - Bakersfield, CA - Legacy Despite Eastwoods zeal, there were still basic questions that the prosecution could not explain. Kids loved her. Hannah Ester Hall Overton (1660-1732) - Find a Grave Memorial Hannah Overton announced the birth of her sixth child,Gabriela Aliana, this week in a Facebook post that described a difficult delivery. She and her Menu. Please enable scripts and reload this page. If Hannah had been looking for a way out, she would have called the adoption agency and told them that she and Larry couldnt go through with it. Hess was unmoved. As long as I can make a nonfrivolous argument, Ill make it, but nothing in my job prevents me from praying for a more just outcome., There have been a few tear-filled nights because one of the kids misses Andrew, Larry said. Dabney was born on July 31, 1963 and grew up in Essex County, Va. Hannah Marie Hurtin Overton (1823-1901) - Find a Despite all the pain, she told me that if she could do it over again, she would not change their decision to bring Andrew into their home. Hannah was seven when Saenz was arrested in 1984 and charged with a singularly horrific crime: the bludgeoning death of a sixteen-year-old girl whose nude body was discovered at the waters edge on Padre Island. He reached Doug Norman, who was part of the prosecution team at Hannahs trial and who is now responsible for fighting her appeal. My deepest sympathy to his family on the loss of a truly extraordinary person. "I could never thank my attorneys enough for fighting endlessly to prove my innocence and bring me home," she said. Making him sleep on plywood burning sheets, becoming so enraged she forced him to have 23 teaspoons of hot pepper, and then watched him die in agony.. We dont know precisely how she got it down Andrew, but we know that he was very, very obedient, Eastwood told the jury, standing before the TV news cameras that Judge Longoria had allowed inside the courtroom. She had told the jury of the boys unusual habitsthe inappropriate eating, the obsessive picking and scratching, the head bangingbut her version of events had been tainted by the specter of abuse. Taken together, the disparate details formed a disturbing picture. Dabney will be missed by a wide range of supportive friends and family. Lane and her children moved to the East Texas town of Lindale, where a missionary organization, the Calvary Commission, allowed them to live in a modest apartment on its grounds free of charge. Sending a prayer to all his family & friends. He was a good guy and a good friend. While he was relieved not to have to serve prison time, the discrepancy between his wifes punishment and his own left him stupefied. Larry with (from left) his children Ally, Isaac, Sebastian, Emma, and Isabel. The court ruledher trial lawyers were ineffective, and sent her case back to be retried. She is also pregnant with her sixth child. On October 2, 2006, 29-year-old Hannah Overton and her husband, Larry brought Andrew Burd, their four-year-old foster son whom they were in the process of adopting, to a hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas after the boy stopped breathing. And its full of great reads, yall. Dabney will be missed by many. Both womens accounts were problematic; Gonzalez had never made a statement to police and was testifying from memory after nearly a years worth of negative media coverage, while Zapata had failed to mention anything about Hannah smirking when she wrote her initial report about the incident. But he was adamant that the boys death had not been accidental. He was born on April 2, 1940 in Little Rock, Arkansas to the late Lewis Franklin and Dwight Katherine Overton. Rather than let him remain in his wheelchair most of the day, as previous caretakers had done, Hannah kept him moving; she took him into his familys pool to stretch and used massage to loosen his contracted muscles. The website is updated daily, frequently with exonerations that occurred in the past. Thendistrict attorney Jimenez did not publicly disclose the reasons for the termination, but it occurred one week after Eastwood informed her superiors that she had been romantically involved in the past with a sex offender; she reported that she feared the information had been used by the offenders defense attorney to get him probation in a criminal case. H-E-Bs True Texas BBQ Restaurant Is Slipping, West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country. Larry had also tried to rouse him by giving him a warm bath. He will be remembered fondly. Its free. The next morning, Corpus Christi police detective Michael Hess paid a visit to Kathi Haller, the Overtons next-door neighbor, who knew the family well. We truly thought his obsession with food was a behavioral issue, not a medical one, Larry said. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to his family and many friends. 1 x 120' / Produced for Discovery Networks. Not until Sebastian was born did doctors discover that his only impairment was a hole in his heart, which healed on its own. The passenger side of their old Ford van was not equipped with an air bag, and Hannah, who had pulled down her seat belt so she could turn to talk to the kids, was jolted forward, her face hitting the dashboard. Shana Druckerman contributed to this report, 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Pleading out to that was much better than having my children grow up without a mother or a father. In exchange for his plea, Larry was given five years probation and a $5,000 fine. I am so sorry to hear the news. Early in the pregnancy, Hannah and Larry were informed that the boy would likely have Down syndrome. (A subsequent investigation by the attorney generals office found that no crimes had been committed. If you would like a copy via email, please let me know. I regret that I didnt push harder from the beginning to find out what was wrong with himthat I believed his problems were just due to his previous abuse and neglect, and that, when I finally decided he needed to see a doctor about his pica, we didnt get him in quicker. When I pressed her to explain why she and Larry had not called 911, she leaned forward, as if pleading with me to understand. Our paths crossed later in life and we renewed our friendship. His tantrums grew longer and more extreme, and he often banged his head against the floor. Our thoughts, hugs and prayers are with you. He was a gentle and kind person always willing to help others. In his role as single dad, he is aided by his extended family and his many friends from Calvary Chapel, who pitch in to do cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, and babysitting. I am so sorry to hear of Dabney's sudden passing. He seemed a peaceful man. Larry outside his family's home, in Corpus Christi, on November 22. And anyone who loves dogs as much as Dabney did is a special soul indeed. The Registry also maintains a more limited database of known exonerations prior to 1989. The detective had been alerted to Andrews grave condition when the boy was transported to a nearby hospital the previous afternoon and, as was protocol, had begun looking into the circumstances surrounding the boys unusual and rapid decline. on our list, Other She was born April 24, 1945 to Dabney Overton Sr. and Henrietta Mallory Overton and grew up in Warsaw, VA. She was graduated from St. Margaret's School in 1963 where she was awarded the Bishop's Prize all four years. Orra formidable legal mind whose work recently helped exonerate Michael Morton, a Williamson County man who was wrongly convicted of his wifes 1986 murderhad begun preparing a writ of habeas corpus, a last-ditch effort to persuade the courts to review Hannahs case. Right, a photo of Andrew Burd held by Larry Overton. His other passion was his beloved dogs. He was a member of Mt. But as the afternoon wore on, his symptoms grew troubling; his breathing became congested, and he became less and less responsive. She is also qualified to receive insurance and education benefits. And Eastwood was fired from the DAs office in 2010. (CPS had not yet sent them his Social Security card, which they needed to get him insured.) On their honeymoon, they stopped at the orphanage in Reynosa, where Hannah wanted Larry to meet some of the children she had told him so much about. He struck up a correspondence with Hannah, but she did not warm to him until their paths crossed again at a year-long missionary training school outside Tyler, when she was nineteen and he was a more clean-cut twenty. And a succession of witnesses, nearly all of them members of Calvary Chapel, recounted Andrews unusual eating habits and Hannahs attentive parenting. Hannah: i was and remain so sorry to hear about Dabney's unfortunate death. Our condolences to his family and friends. With her first husband, whose name was Stephens, she lived in Iowa, and had one daughter. I feel happy. Hannah R. (Saem) Overton (born 1977) - Texas When Gilmore polled the jury afterward, all twelve members stated that they had found Hannah guilty of capital murder by omission for not acting quickly enough to save Andrew; none believed that she had poisoned him. I was shocked and saddened to hear of Dabney's premature death last week. Dabney was born on July 31, 1963 and grew up in Essex County, Va. Hannah Spencer Haile (1937 - 1981) - Genealogy - Geni Family Tree And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. They said Andrew was going through a very difficult time, she said. One of her favorite books to revisit is Ruth. (A former pastor of Hannahs had advocated reprimanding children when they were dishonest by putting a single red pepper flake on their tongues.) . I was assured that they would be seeking lesser charges. During the trial, he said, I sat at the courthouse for five days, waiting to testify. He moved unsteadily, and he was so clumsy that Hannah had him wear a life jacket whenever he splashed around in their inflatable kiddie pool. My two boys will remember him always as "that tall man with the super cool motorcycle". Report an error or add more information about this case. . Jonah Lee Overton Obituary It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Jonah Lee Overton (Charlotte, North Carolina), who passed away on January 21, 2023, at the age of 92, leaving to mourn family and friends. That Andrew had sustained a head injury was based on the presence of a half-inch area of hemorrhaging under the scalp. Hannah, my sister, Carolyn, and John and I are very sadden to learn about Dabney's passing. Overton spent seven years in prison after she was sentenced in 2007 to life without parole for the death of 4-year-old Andrew Burd, a boy she had planned to adopt with her husband. By the time Hannah took the stand, jurors appeared to have made up their minds. If anything had been wrong, I would have known it, she insisted. Those charges were not considered double jeopardy because Overtons conviction was overturned by the higher court on the basis of ineffective counsel, which granted her a new trial. I knew it would probably make him sick, but I wanted him to understand why we were setting limits, Larry explained. We met when he was helping her move. Heritage Funeral Home 3700 Forest Lawn Dr, Matthews, NC 28104, Weddington Methodist Church 13901 Providence Rd, Weddington, NC 28104. According to Overtons attorney, Cynthia Orr, the Texas comptroller told Overton on Tuesday that she would receive a check for $573,333.33 as compensation her for her wrongful incarceration. Tell I'm not saying goodbye but that I will see you later. Weeping, they told the children that their brother had gone to be with Jesus. . After the Overton family heard the news yesterday, they said they celebrated with a family dinner at Hannah's mother's home, "with nothing hanging over our heads.". Does anybody remember that? Echovita offers a solidarity program that gives back the funds generated to families. Patricia Gonzalez, a nurse at the urgent care clinic, told the jury that Hannah had not behaved like a panic-stricken parent and had had a smile on her face as she performed CPR on the boy. Fernandez determined that the boy had died as a result of acute sodium toxicity, with blunt force head trauma as a contributing factor. But at a hearing on the defenses motion for a new trial, Eastwood stated under oath that Cortes had always been a passionate advocate for the prosecution; he had even remarked to her that he thought Hannah should fry. Cortes does not dispute that story. Its somebodys worst nightmare, Hannah Overton told ABC News in an earlier interview. Overton, 38, was convicted in 2007 after being accused of force-feeding young Andrew Burd enough salt to kill him, even though she had no previous problems with the law and was raising four children and was pregnant with a fifth. I feel sad. Michael, who had been born prematurely, was severely impaired; he had cerebral palsy, was blind, and could not walk or talk. Shortly afterward, at three-thirty, Hannah called Larry and asked him to come home since Andrew was vomiting and she needed his help. I was so shocked and saddened to learn today of Dabney's sudden and all too premature death. Reaching for his shoes, he announced, I can do all things. Larry remembered, We felt like we were really making headway with him.. He was a nice guy. He displayed hyperactive behavior and possibly had some cognitive delays as well. The doctors assessment of Andrew as developmentally delayed was significant because it dovetailed with Hannahs testimony. . Hess remained skeptical of Hannahs account. I kept denying that Hannah could do such a thing, she told me. Sister Overton grew up in Tuscumbia and lived most of her life in Florence. That Sunday, October 1, Larry took the other kids to church while Hannah devoted some extra attention to Andrew. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. I miss everything, she later wrote to me. He inspired me to take up running, and to go from owning 1 dog to 2! But Saenzs account of his whereabouts on the evening of the murder did not jibe with the evidence, and blood that matched the victims type was discovered inside his van. Sitting in the courtroom, she tried to explain how she had failed to recognize that Andrews condition was life-threatening. I wish his family well. By that point, Hannah had completely broken down emotionally.. On October 2, 2006, 29-year-old Hannah Overton and her husband, Larry brought Andrew Burd, their four-year-old foster son whom they were in the process of adopting, to a hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas after the boy stopped breathing. A very special person has been taken from our midst and is and will be greatly missed. The physician only said that the scratch marks he had noticed on the boys neck had been caused, he believed, by another person. I am sad that I won't see my friend Dabney again in this life here on Earth. It should be noted that during the entire conversation, Hannah Overton showed almost no emotion, he later wrote in his police report. "Wow, we don't even know where to begin," Hannah Overton told ABC News exclusively after she heard that her case had been dismissed and she would not have to endure another trial. But I told prosecutors five months before the trial that I believed Hannah had no intent to kill him and that this was not a capital murder case. Every Saturday for the past several years, Larry has ridden his motorcycle from Corpus Christi to the Murray Unit, the maximum-security womens prison west of Waco where Hannah is incarcerated: a squat, concrete building walled off from the world with cyclone fencing and coils of razor wire. Still, the overall impression was a damning one. She and Larry were under tremendous financial strain, she admitted, but she stressed that they had rushed for help as soon as they realized how critical Andrews condition was. Overton spent seven years in prison for the murder of a young foster child that she says she didn't commit. In 2011, Overtons appellate attorney, Cynthia Orr, filed a state petition for a writ of habeas corpus seeking a new trial. Andrew had never been diagnosed with pica, Rotta reminded jurors. This is a child that came in [to the emergency room] in cardiopulmonary arrest and was dying. I visited Hannah at the Murray Unit one bright, cloudless afternoon, when the warden granted her a few hours to speak with me. Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. December 22, 1930 - A Right-wing Cabal Took Over Odessas Municipal Government. Plant a tree to honor the memory of your loved one.