Starvation of Stephine Devine

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
This is Human Wreckage, a podcast that
explores the lives shattered,the questions left behind, and
the uncomfortable truths buriedbeneath tragedy.
Today's story is not easy totell, and it shouldn't be.

(00:57):
Those who knew the familywhispered another, and somewhere
in between, a haunting silencethat no one seemed willing to
break.
Stephine was just a toddlerbarely walking, just starting to
speak.
She should have had years ofscraped knees, birthday candles,
and bedtime stories ahead ofher.
Instead, she became a name on acoroner's report and a painful

(01:18):
question mark for everyone whocared.
In this episode, we dig intowhat happened to Stephine Devine
what was said, what was ignored,and why justice, for some, still
feels just out of reach.
Because behind every statisticis a story, and behind this one
is a little girl who deserves somuch more.
Stephine Devine, too, was bornprematurely at twenty nine weeks

(01:39):
in 2010.
She suffered complications thatresulted in a lack of oxygen to
the brain and cerebral palsy.
She underwent occupationaltherapy to improve her delayed
motor skills and had a dailydose of medication which would
help prevent infections.
Despite her disability, Stephinewas making progress.
She was seeing an occupationaltherapist, Charlotte Weinberg,

(02:01):
who said that Stephine waslearning to feed herself and was
making great progress in herability to crawl and sit up on
her own.
The last time Charlotte sawStephine was in June of 2012.
Over the course of the nextmonth, she tried desperately to
get in contact with Stephanie'smother, Brandy Devine, but to no
avail.
On the 13th of July, 2012,Brandy put Stephine in her crib

(02:23):
and closed the door.
Despite the fact that Stephineneeded constant attention,
Brandy would later say shedidn't open the bedroom door
again until three days later.
Brandy had spent the past threedays smoking methamphetamine in
the apartment.
According to Brandy, she smokedmeth because it wakes me up and
makes me clean the house.
When she checked on Stephine,unsurprisingly, she was dead.

(02:45):
She had been closed inside abedroom for three days with four
cats, no medication and no foodor water.
A neighbor, Lydia Whitworth,heard Brandy screaming, and she
rushed to her apartment toinvestigate.
The baby's dead, said Brandy.
Lydia went into the back bedroomwhere she found Stephine in her
crib, lying on her back with hereyes rolled back in her head.

(03:06):
She was dead.
She was totally gray.
Her diaper was full of poop andurine, and it was all on the
bed, Lydia recollected.
Brandy called 9 1.1 andexplained that her daughter was
unresponsive.
Medical personnel arrived at theapartment at 1100 Block Denaire
Avenue.
When they entered the bedroom,they were hit by an overwhelming

(03:27):
smell of cat urine.
Feces covered the clutteredroom.
Stephine was lifted from thecrib, but it was already too
late.
She was declared dead at thescene.
A pathologist determined thatStephine had died from
dehydration and malnourishment.
Her skin was red from lack ofwater, and her abdomen was so
caved that her spine wasvisible.
The pathologist also determinedthat she had been dead for a day

(03:49):
or two when found on thesixteenth of July.
There was no evidence of food orwater in the stomach at all,
said pathologist doctor EugeneCarpenter.
Following Stephine's death, aneighbor named Carlton Whitworth
came forward to say that he knewStephine and her siblings were
being neglected.
They were always dirty and wouldrun to my fridge looking for
food.

(04:10):
I felt bad for them and had asleepless night last night
wondering if I should havecalled CPS.
But it's different out here.
I live in a no snitching zone,he said.
Brandy told police that when sheput Stephine to bed, she had a
slight temperature, but saidthat this was a common side
effect of the medication.
Brandy claimed that she didn'tknow how her daughter had died,

(04:30):
and at one point duringquestioning, even suggested that
her death may have had somethingto do with the cats.
During her interrogation,Stephine said she had four
hundred dollars left on herelectronic benefit transfer
card, which is an electronicversion of food stamps.
Despite this, she hadn'tpurchased any groceries that
weekend and also told police shecould only feed her children

(04:51):
once a week because she didn'thave transportation.
You were able to find dope lastnight.
Why couldn't you get your kidssome food?
said Detective JustinWilliamson.
Furthermore, Brandy said she hadexpected her other six-year-old
daughter to take care ofStephine and feed her.
However, when her other daughterwas questioned, she said she had
tried to check on her sisterover the course of the three

(05:12):
days, but was forbidden fromentering the room by Brandy.
During Brandy's trial, hermother, Shanda Gomes, defended
her, stating she loved them, shewas good with them.
She told the jury that Brandyhad tested positive for meth
when she gave birth to hersecond oldest daughter, but said
she believed that Brandy hadquit meth around a month before
Stephine died.

(05:33):
Dr.
Eugene Carpenter, who performedthe autopsy, told the jury that
Stephine showed signs oflong-term malnutrition.
He said that she was about toturn three years old yet was the
size of a one year old.
At the time of her death, sheweighed just fourteen pounds.
Her skin was like red dough,which was a sign of dehydration.
He described how Stephanie wouldhave suffered a slow and

(05:55):
agonizing death.
During closing arguments, deputypublic defender Marcus Mumford
didn't contest the child crueltyand meth charges, but alleged
that Brandy didn't know that notfeeding her child would result
in death.
According to Mumford, Brandy wascriminally negligent but didn't
commit homicide.
Deputy District Attorney John R.
Maine refuted this argument,however, and said that Brandy

(06:18):
knew her actions could havegrave results.
He said that there was plenty offormula in the home and Brandy
had fed her other children overthe three days.
The jury of six women and sixmen deliberated for around an
hour before Brandy was foundguilty of second degree murder.
During the sentencing hearing,Brandy addressed her family.
I accept full responsibility formy actions.

(06:39):
I want to apologize to everyonewho has been affected by my
actions, she said.
Brandy Williams was sentenced tofifteen years to life in prison.
Stephine Devine was only twoyears old.
She didn't get a chance to growup, to leave her mark on the
world in the way most of us do.
But in her absence, she leavesbehind questions hard ones,
about who failed her, about whoshould have stepped in sooner,

(07:02):
about the systems, the silence,and the shadows that too often
swallow the most vulnerableamong us.
We may never get all theanswers, but what we can do is
refuse to look away.
Stephine wasn't just a casefile, or a headline, or a moment
of outrage that fades with time.
She was a child, and if herstory reminds us of anything,
it's this behind every tragedyis a human life small, fragile,

(07:26):
and deserving of protection.
Thank you for listening to HumanWreckage.
If you know something, if you'veseen something, say something.
Because the truth doesn't diejust because someone's too young
to tell it.
I'm Thomas.
Be safe, be kind, and keepasking questions.