Florida Seeks Death Penalty for 2 Adults Accused of Abusing 4 Children for 6 Years
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 7
Florida Seeks Death Penalty for 2 Adults Accused of Abusing 4 Children for 6 Years
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 7
Summary
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said prosecutors will seek execution for Keisha Epps, 51, and Tamra Stewart, 37, over alleged sexual battery and abuse of four children kept in a tractor-trailer cab for more than six years.
Four children — two 5-year-olds, a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old — were allegedly confined most of the time in the truck, denied school for about five years, forced to use cups and paper bags as toilets, and left without regular medical care.
Stewart allegedly sexually abused the two girls for years, admitted to three sexual batteries against one girl, and beat the boys when they confronted him; investigators also found one child had an untreated sexually transmitted infection.
Epps allegedly knew of the abuse, witnessed some of it, and still left the children alone with Stewart; both were arrested Aug. 6 and remain jailed awaiting trial in Duval County.
Florida law permits the death penalty for adults convicted of sexually battering a child younger than 12, making the case a test of one of the state's harshest punishments.
How did four children vanish into a semi-truck for six years without a single school or weigh station noticing their horrific confinement?
What catastrophic systemic failures allowed these abused children to completely disappear from educational and medical safety nets since December 2019?