Chat – 01 August 2019

Didthe

babysitter

meanto

hurtthe

littlegirl

orwas she

justtrying

tohelp?

UTTER HORROR

14

C

heerfulandbubbly,

DerickaLindsay

wasthelittlegirl

who’drunandhug

herfriends’mums

atschoolpick-up.

Politeonplaydates,she

wasfriendlyto everyoneand

tooknewkidsatschoolunder

herwing.

YetDericka’ssmiling

demeanourhida troubled

homelife.

Sheandheryounger

sisterhadbeenadoptedby

anelderlycouple– Jamesand

GraceSmith.

Butinsteadof being

lovedandcaredfor,it was

theopposite.

Dericka,9, andher

sisterhadrunawayon

multipleoccasions.

Cryinghystericallywhen

theywerepickedupbythe

police,theywerealways

returnedto theSmiths’home

inPensacola,Florida.

Buttheofficersdidnotice

thingsweren’tright.

Ononevisit,theyspotted

thatDerickaandhersister

sleptona stainedmattress

withnobedding.

Still,thegirlsremained

withtheSmiths.

Butthen,inOctober2017,

theemergencyserviceswere

calledto thehouse.

Paramedicsfound

a schoolgirllifelessand

notbreathing.

It wasDericka.

Workingfrantically

to reviveher,theydid

everythingtheycould.

But,afterbeingtaken

to hospital,shewas

declareddead.

A postmortemrevealed

she’dsuffereda heart

attackandasphyxia.She’d

beensuffocated.

Herhealthyweightand

neatlytrimmedfingernails

indicatedshewasa cared-

forchild.Butlooking

deeper,pathologistsfound

brainswelling,bruising,

abrasionsto herhead,neck

andtorso.

Whatonearthhadhappened

to thisdefencelessgirl?

James,62,andGrace,69,

werearrested,butsowas

a thirdwoman.

Veronica

Posey,64,was

theSmiths’

niece,who

oftenhelped

outwith

babysitting.

She’d

beenthere

atthetime

of Dericka’s

deathand

hadbeentheone

to phoneforanambulance.

WhenPoseywasinterviewed

bythepolice,sheadmittedthe

horrifyingtruth.She’dsaton

Derickaforalmost 10 minutes

when,sheclaimed,thegirl

became‘outof control’.

Poseywasanobesewoman,

tippingthescalesat23st.

It wasonlywhensheclimbed

off,thatsherealisedthegirl

wasn’tbreathing.

She’dimmediatelystarted

CPR,butit wastoolate.

It wasanaccident,she

claimed.Sheneverintentionally

meantto harmthegirl.

JamesSmithwassentenced

to 10yearsinprisonforhis

roleinhisadopteddaughter’s

death,afterpleadingno

contestto onecount

of aggravated

manslaughter.

HiswifeGrace

wasdeemedunfit

to standtrial.

AtVeronica

Posey’strial,

inMarch2019,

theprosecution

gaveharrowing

detailsof the

littlegirl’sfinalmoments.

TheysaidthatPoseyhad

beenwokenbya phonecall

fromGracethatday.

GracehadsaidDericka

andher8-year-oldsister

weremisbehaving.

‘Onceherfeethitthefloor

gettingoutof bed,shewas

determined to beat these

children,’ the prosecution

claimed of Posey.

She took a ruler and

a thin pipe, intended to

givethe ruler ‘weight’,

thenwent over to the

Smiths’ home. There,

Posey forced Dericka to

bend over an armchair.

Then she sat on her back,

crushing her chest.

Despite the girl’s

screams that she couldn’t

breathe, Posey continued

to sit on her until she

stopped moving.

‘She died face down in

a chair in her living room,

withher knees on the floor,

lying face down in the seat of

thechair, and the defendant

sitting on top of her,’ the

prosecution said.

‘You’ll hear evidence that

thedefendant admits that she

weighs 320 pounds and this

is a 9-year-old girl.’

An audio tape was

alsoplayed to the court. It

wasthe distressing emergency

callmade from the Smiths’

home by Posey.

‘We have

a 10-year-old

who’s either

faking it or not

breathing right

now,’ she told

the emergency

operator,

getting Dericka’s

age wrong.

She was then

given instructions

by the operator

to perform CPR.

During the call,

Posey claimed that

Dericka had been

swinging a knife

towards her

adoptive parents

earlier that day.

‘She had a knife

and was going to

TO DEATH

‘She died

face down

in a living

room chair’

WORDS: LOUISE BATY. PHOTOS: ESCAMBIA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

THE SMITHS:

Adoptive parents