A 64-year old and 325-pound (150-kilogram) Florida woman, Veronica Green Posey, was charged with homicide and cruelty toward a child after paramedics responded to a cardiac arrest call at 1:35 p.m. CT Saturday in the 300 block of Bryant Road.
Upon arrival, the victim, Dericka Lindsay, 9, was found to be unresponsive and was transported to Baptist Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report identified Posey as the girl’s cousin. Posey told deputies she sat on Dericka as discipline “for being out of control.”
During the punishment, Dericka told Posey and two other adult relatives, who are identified in the report as the girl’s parents, that she couldn’t breathe. When Posey got up, Dericka wasn’t breathing. Authorities said Posey called 911 and started CPR on the child.
The arrest report said Grace Joan Smith, 69, and James Edmund Smith, are charged with child neglect.
Grace called Veronica, who is her niece, to her house to help with disciplining the girl, according to the report. She told investigators that Posey hit the girl with a ruler and metal pipe before the child ran to an armchair.
In James Smith’s arrest report, he told the deputy Posey sat on Dericka in the armchair for an estimated 10 minutes before Dericka complained of not being able to breathe. He told the deputy Posey continued to sit on the child for another two minutes before standing up and finding the child unresponsive.
The report later states Posey informed the deputy she weighed about 325 pounds.
Veronica Posey was released Monday on $125,000 bail. The Smiths remained in jail, with Grace Smith’s bond set at $75,000 and James Smith’s bond at $50,000.
