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Ohio Woman Guilty in Foster Son’s
Death
February 22, 2007
By Terry Kinney
By TERRY KINNEY Associated Press
Writer
BATAVIA, Ohio (AP) _ A jury on
Wednesday convicted a woman of murder for causing the death of a
3-year-old foster son by leaving him bound in a cocoon of blankets
and tape while she went away to a weekend family reunion.
Liz Carroll, 30, was convicted on
seven counts, including involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping,
felonious assault and three counts of child endangerment by the
Clermont County jury. She faces from 15 years to life in prison when
sentencing begins Thursday.
Carroll grimaced and dropped her
head as the verdict was read. Carroll’s defense attorney, Gregory
Cohen, said he would appeal.
‘’They don’t even know my daughter!
None of you even care!'’ her mother, Audrey Sims, shouted after the
verdict.
Prosecutors said they charged
Carroll with murder because she caused the death of her
developmentally disabled son, Marcus Fiesel, by binding him and
leaving him in a closet. They acknowledged, however, it was
unintentional.
Carroll’s husband, David Carroll
Jr., 29, is to be tried separately in March on the same charges as
his wife, along with gross abuse of a corpse. Prosecutors allege
that he burned the boy’s body and dumped the remains in the Ohio
River.
The Carrolls told authorities the
child had wandered off or had been snatched from a park in suburban
Cincinnati, sparking a search by thousands of volunteers that lasted
several days. When authorities began to suspect the story was a
ruse, the Carrolls’ live-in companion, Amy Baker, told them how the
boy died, prosecutors said.
The defense portrayed Carroll as
quiet and submissive, and married to a violent bully.
Baker has not been charged, but
acknowledged that she helped dispose of the child’s body.
Prosecutors agreed not to prosecute her in exchange for her
testimony against the couple, unless evidence shows she had hands-on
involvement in the boy’s death.
The case led to calls for reform
within Ohio’s foster care system. An investigation by the Ohio
Department of Job and Family Services said the Carrolls were
unqualified to care for Fiesel and cited failure to check references
and inadequate home study and follow-up visits.
The state report recommended
increased training, thorough background checks, drug testing and
more data-sharing among agencies, courts and law enforcement as
solutions. Legislators expect to work on reform measures this year.
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