October 1, 2023 • 49 mins
Hi True Advocates, Today we have a special guest host. My friend Laine from Suffer the Little Children Podcast. Laine focuses on child abuse and child murder cases from all over. She is an advocate for children that I admire. She was one of the earlier shows to cover Jacob's story. Please do me a favor and show her some love. Please let her know I sent you!
https://sufferthelittlechildrenpod.com/
This is the story of Ame Deal. Trigger warning this case deals with child abuse and child murder. Thanks for listening and stay safe New Mexico.
Support the show through any of the links here.
Support Angels Voices Silenced No More
Photos from today's episode can be found here.
References:
San Francisco International Business Times, AZ Central, AZFamily.com, Phoenix New Times, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Lighting Their Way Home blog, Wikipedia, Justice for Ame Deal on Facebook, East Valley Tribune, WebSleuths, The New Republic, 12 News, New York Times, CNN
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-consequences-true-crime--4347262/support.
https://sufferthelittlechildrenpod.com/
This is the story of Ame Deal. Trigger warning this case deals with child abuse and child murder. Thanks for listening and stay safe New Mexico.
Support the show through any of the links here.
Support Angels Voices Silenced No More
Photos from today's episode can be found here.
References:
San Francisco International Business Times, AZ Central, AZFamily.com, Phoenix New Times, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Lighting Their Way Home blog, Wikipedia, Justice for Ame Deal on Facebook, East Valley Tribune, WebSleuths, The New Republic, 12 News, New York Times, CNN
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-consequences-true-crime--4347262/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Are you passionate about justice. Doyou believe that every voice deserves to be
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of victims families. Join us increating a New Mexico where justice prevails.
Together, we can empower victims andensure that no voice is silenced. Visit
Angels Voices m dot org today todonate and learn more. Hatred advocates.
It's me Lane from Suffer at theLittle Children podcast. Eric asked me to
come on the show today while he'son hiatus, to tell you about the
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unthinkably tragic case of ten year oldAmy Deal. I'm Lane, and this
is true Consequences. Shirley and DavidDeal were married in nineteen ninety six.
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They had two children together before nearthe end of nineteen ninety nine, Shirley,
who reportedly had some unspecified disabilities,discovered she was pregnant again. At
the time, Shirley said she wasdating another man, so she never actually
knew if David was truly the fatherof this baby. Shirley's daughter, Amy
Lynne Deale, was born on Julytwenty fourth, two thousand, in Monongahela,
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Pennsylvania. Amy's birth certificate listed DavidDeale as her father. Around two
thousand four, Shirley and her threechildren moved in with David's family in Midland,
Texas. The family included David's mother, Judith Deale, and his sister,
Cynthia Stoltzmann, as well as Cynthia'steenage daughters Amandia and Samantha. During
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her time in Midland, Shirley claimedthe family abused her, but not her
children. She said she was likea slave to the Deal family, forced
to do everything around the house,and they also hit her, called her
names, and deprived her of sleep. After two years of this, Shirley
said she was kicked out of thehome, fleeing without her children and moving
in with a man in Iola,Kansas. In two thousand ten, the
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Deal family relocated from Texas to Phoenix, Arizona. This was nothing new to
them. From nineteen eighty eight throughtwo thousand ten, the family moved twenty
eight times to various places across NewMexico, Texas, Pennsylvania, Utah,
Wisconsin, and Arizona. In Phoenix, the family lived in Squalor in a
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small, decrepit home near thirty fifthAvenue and Broadway Road, which, according
to some residents of the area,is an extremely poor neighborhood where people basically
kept to themselves and avoided calling thepolice about anything shady going on in the
neighborhood in case they themselves might getcaught doing something that would get them in
trouble. By July of two thousandeleven, the Deal Stoltzman residents overflowed with
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adults and children, all of whomwere allegedly home schooled. There were so
many people living on the property thatthey had to set up rudimentary tents in
the backyard to accommodate all of them. Some of the adults on the property
included Amy's grandmother, sixty two yearold Judith Deal, Amy's aunt forty four
year old Cynthia Charlie Stoltzman, Cynthia'sdaughter, twenty three year old Samantha Lucille
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Rebecca Sammy Allen, Samantha's husband,twenty three year old John Michael Bud Allen,
Amy's father, David Martin Deal,David's daughter, twenty year old Cassandria
Cassie Deal, Cassandria's boyfriend Travis Naylor, and a woman named Debbie Smith.
At its maximum, the property wasreportedly home to twenty four people at once.
(04:39):
At the time of Amy's death.According to defense attorney Rob Reinhardt,
who would later represent one of Amy'saccused murderers, there were eleven members of
the extended family regularly living either inthe house or in tents in the backyard,
although five or six others came andwent, one of whom was Amy's
father, David. His sister,Cynthia Stoltzman, was actually Amy's legal guardian.
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Even so, her daughter Samantha,who had never made it past fourth
grade, was essentially in charge ofcaring for Amy, her thirteen year old
brother, and her twelve year oldsister. Samantha and her husband, John,
both of whom were twenty three,also had four biological children of their
own. The family's life in theirPhoenix home was essentially pandemonium. Children roamed
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with next to no supervision, walkingup and down the street wearing nothing but
diapers. The house itself reeked ofurine. It was full of garbage and
filth both inside and out. Itwas infested with cockroaches and littered with used
feminine hygiene products and tissues. Onthe morning of July twelfth, twenty eleven,
Phoenix Police received a call reporting aninjured child. The first person to
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respond was Officer Albert Selice, whorecognized the house because he had responded to
the same address a week or soearlier on reports of a large group of
kids throwing rocks. The officers tothe front door, which opened as he
reached it, and he saw alarge black dog charging him. A woman
immediately yelled for him not to shootthe dog. Officer Selice later realized how
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strange it was that the woman wasmore concerned about the dog's safety than that
of the injured child in question.Entering the house, the officer found ten
year old Amy deal on a bluetowel next to a wet patch of urine,
curled up with her knees to herchest and hands formed into claws.
Immediately he recognized Amy from the rockthrowing call, and he could tell right
away that she was dead. Herlips were as blue as the towel beneath
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her, and her skin was beginningto discolor. Her body was already stiffening.
Next to Amy's body was a plasticfoot locker, which was a virtually
air tight plastic container measuring thirty oneinches by fourteen inches by twelve inches.
The plastic bin had previously been usedto store Amy's older sister's barbie collection before
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it outgrew the container. Officer Selisesaid Amy's body was positioned as if she
had been inside the foot locker,trying to push the lid off from the
inside. At first, Amy's familyclaimed she had accidentally locked herself into the
box, while playing hide and seekafter the adults were asleep. Her aunt
Cynthia told k n XVTV on Julythirteenth, she was an awesome hider.
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Let me tell you, you know, there's places that she would squeeze into
that I wouldn't think my dog could. I spent last night crying most of
the night. I don't break downwell in front of other people, but
when I'm by myself, I canlose it really easy. Even the children
in the home recited the same storyas if they had been coached to lie
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about the incident. Immediately, investigatorsdoubted this story, suspecting foul play and
child abuse. They noted that Amy'sbody was filthy, her clothing soiled,
and their remarks on her right kneeresulting from being jammed against the inside of
the container lid all night. Sothe container had latches that held the lid
on, there was no way tolatch these from the inside, and with
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any pressure from within, the lidwould have easily popped off without the latches
engaged. Finally, statements from otherresidents of the deal home about the abuse
they had witnessed gave police a prettyclear picture of what was going on in
that house. When Officer Sialicse tookJudith's statement, he was disturbed by the
lack of emotion Amy's grandmother showed.As he walked a few doors down to
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take Amy's twelve year old sister's statement. He passed Cynthia, who told him
Amy was dead as she continued walkingpast him. The officer knew Cynthia hadn't
even been at the house when paramedicsdeclared Amy's death, leading him to wonder
how Cynthia could have known that already. Officer Silese described the twelve year old
as hesitant to talk, stiff asa board, and not looking him in
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the eye as she echoed the samestory the rest of the family was telling,
except she said she had gone tobed at nine pm. He had
a strong feeling she knew what happened. Officer Selsee took an initial statement from
John Allen as the young man saton a swing, behaving like nothing had
happened. John told the officer thatafter he and his wife, Amy's cousin,
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Samantha, went to bed at oneam, some of the kids,
including Amy, his three year olddaughter, and Amy's twelve year old sister,
continued playing hide and seek and Amylocked herself into the box. He
suggested his three year old daughter,who he said loved to lock things as
a prank, must have padlocked thebox. While John was being questioned,
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his story changed multiple times. Itwas clear to investigators that he was covering
for his wife. During breaks andquestioning at the police station, investigators left
John and Samantha alone in an interviewroom, which the couple apparently didn't know
was being recorded. While discussing howtheir hide and seek story had fallen apart,
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John said to Samantha that they shouldhave come up with a solid story
as a family so no one wouldhave to take the fall. Gradually,
under further questioning, John began admittingto bits and pieces of the story.
He finally told police he had clampedAmy into the box and jostled her around.
He admitted he had used the boxseveral times prior to that night,
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and that each time when Amy wasreleased, she was sweaty but conscious.
Years later, at John's trial,Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Jeanette Gallagher would tell
the jury that statement indicated John knewputting Amy into the box was dangerous because
there was not enough air to sustainlife. The only way air could get
into the box was through holes thesize of a pencil tip located under the
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handles. Finally, John admitted tolocking Amy into the container on the night
of her death, while Samantha stoodby and did nothing. He told investigators
that Amy was first forced to dobackbends and maintain the position for two to
three torturously long hours as a formof punishment. When she fell, he
physically put her back into the position. After he grew bored of that punishment,
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John forced Amy to do jumping jack's. Around one am, John told
Amy to go outside and get thefootlocker. Already overheated and sweating profusely,
Amy was then forcibly crammed into thebox. Samantha expressed concern that Amy might
escape, so John latched the boxshut and secured it with a padlock he
had taken off the backyard fence.Detectives asked John about the padlock, which
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was missing. Eventually he admitted tohiding it. John and Samantha left Amy
in the box in the garage,where the temperature was above ninety five degrees
fahrenheit for the entire night. Johntook the key with him when he and
Samantha went to bed, leaving Amyconfined in the tiny box to die.
He said they had planned to goback and check on her in an hour,
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but they didn't because he just didn'tget up. If you're wondering what
awful infraction Amy could have committed toearn such a severe punishment, brace yourselves.
Several of the other children had beengiven popsicles on that sweltering July day,
when temperatures were well above one hundreddegrees fahrenheit, and ten year old
Amy, who wasn't given a popsicle, dared to take one from the freezer
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without permission. One of the familymembers later told police, quote Amy lies,
Amy, steeles Amy needs to bepunished. The next morning, when
the family opened the box at aroundeight am to release Amy, they discovered
she had suffocated to death, soakedin her own sweat and urine. They
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waited about a half hour before someonefinally called nine one one. John's admission
led to the arrest of several familymembers on July twenty seven, twenty eleven.
Judith Cora Deel and Cynthia J.Stoltzmann were charged with kidnapping and multiple
counts of child abuse. Samantha andJohn Ellen were charged with first degree murder,
conspiracy to commit child abuse, andmultiple counts of child abuse. All
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four were held in Maricopa County jail. Bond was at one million dollars each
for Samantha and John and five hundredthousand dollars for Judith and Cynthia. The
other children in the home were placedinto protective custody. The family's black lab,
Bella, was confiscated from the crimescene by the Arizona Humane Society,
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where she was later adopted by astaff member. On July twenty ninth,
two eleven, then thirty eight yearold Shirley Anne Deal found out about her
ten year old daughter's death when afriend on Facebook brought it to her attention.
She then read the details online atthe Arizona Republic's website. She said
she couldn't stop crying after she foundout that Amy had died at the hands
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of the same people Shirley had escapedyears before. She told a reporter that
she wanted Amy's killers treated the sameway her daughter was, and that she
hoped they would all receive life sentences. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, who
prosecuted the case, initially announced theindictment of the four adults on August tenth,
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two eleven, saying his office wouldspare no effort in seeking justice for
Amy. An autopsy conducted by theMaricopa County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Amy's
death was a homicide caused by asphyxiationcompounded by heat, exhaustion, and dehydration.
Amy, who was less than amonth away from her eleventh birthday at
the time of her death, wasunderweight at only fifty nine pounds. The
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average weight for an eleven year oldgirl is just under eighty pounds. Court
records said that Amy was chronically hungryfrom being denied food. If she took
food from the refrigerator, she wouldbe punished and abused. Stealing food was
the reason she most frequently got introuble. Another reason was supposedly lying.
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Reportedly, Amy's abuse began when shewas only four years old, almost as
soon as she became part of thehousehold. According to court documents, not
only was Amy the only one abuseof the twelve children in the home,
but the other children would do thingsintentionally to get her into trouble, which
is unfortunately not uncommon in situations involvingscapegoating or targeted child abuse. Other members
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of the family, including children,tend to pick up the pattern and join
in the abuse of the targeted child. They most often do this to align
themselves with the abusers and avoid abusethemselves. Amy was tormented by virtually everyone
who lived in that house. Shewas likely chosen as the family's scapegoat because
David did not believe she was hisbiological child, so she was considered an
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outsider. The family heaped blame andshame on this poor little girl, hitting
her, torturing her, depriving herof adequate nutrition, and then punishing her
for stealing food Phoenix. Neighbors ofthe Deal family said Amy was often physically
and verbally abused by the family,who they considered unusual. They frequently heard
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adults yelling expletives at the children,and they often saw children from toddlers to
teenagers playing outside as late as twoam. One neighbor told a reporter that
she knew immediately that Amy's death wasnot an accident. We knew right of
where it wasn't zim because the waythey used to punish the little girl maker
walk up and down the street barefootedand stuff. Oh yeah, I used
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to do a lot of stuff toher. Keep in mind this punishment took
place while temperatures and Phoenix reached onehundred fourteen degrees fahrenheit. Asphalt can get
from forty to sixty degrees hotter thanthe surrounding air temperature. Unbelievably, none
of the neighbors reported any of theirobservations to authorities. Prior to Amy's death.
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Several said they considered calling police,but they didn't because they didn't want
to break up the family. Ifever, there was a family that needed
breaking up, it was this one. I'll pause here for a quick sponsor
break. Police revealed that Amy hadbeen placed into the foot locker at least
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five times over the thirty days leadingup to her death. In addition,
other methods of abuse employed by thefamily, according to police, included beating
Amy with a board they called thebuttbuster, lashing her with a belt,
and forcibly dumping hot sauce into hermouth. She was sometimes chained like a
dog or restrained inside a dog crate. Once, when Amy was picking up
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dog feces in the yard, shemissed some. Her aunt Cynthia, punished
her for this by rubbing the dogfeces on the little girl's face and forcing
it into her mouth. Other membersof the household described to investigators the abuse
they witnessed toward Amy, who wasforced to sleep in a shower stall with
no pillow or blanket as punishment foroccasionally wetting the bed. The bathroom was
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considered her bedroom. She was notgiven any bedding because they didn't want her
to wet it. Wetting the bedat eleven years old can be a symptom
of regression, which severe abuse cancause. One witness and temporary resident of
the back yard told police he overheardCynthia screaming at Amy in her shower stall
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bedroom while she beat the little girlfor wedding herself. Other witnesses spoke of
seeing Samantha shove Amy into the footlocker, after which John would kick the box,
pick it up, and flip itover with Amy inside. Another temporary
resident told investigators that about six monthsprior to Amy's death, he had heard
screaming from inside the foot locker whileCynthia sat on top of it playing on
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her laptop. As I mentioned,the family reportedly lived in several places over
the course of Amy's nearly eleven years. At one point they lived in Ogden,
Utah, where Amy was permitted toattend school. According to Phoenix Police,
they were given access to Utah courtrecords documenting alleged child abuse. Arizona
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court records show that in Utah,Amy was listed as an abused neglected child.
Those records include three instances where thefamily was investigated, including allegations of
lice, a belt used for discipline, and a bump on Amy's head.
Amy's second grade teacher, Jeline Boydston, told a reporter that Amy's family members
told her they didn't really think Amybelonged to them. Jeline described Amy as
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a bright and inquisitive child who cravedthe attention of adults and constantly came to
school dirty, sometimes with head lice. Once Amy came to school with cat
yurine soaking her shoes, and theschool counselor helped her clean up and provided
her with clean shoes. The schoolcounselor, Jody Hanson, said the school
had contacted the local Division of Childand Family Services, or DCFS several times
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in regard to Amy and the otherchildren in the home. Jody said it
was clear that Amy was the scapegoatof the family. Jeline said she was
aware that d c FS worked withthe family and tried to help them clean
up the home and learn parenting skills, but none of the children were removed,
as is too common in child abusecases. As soon as the school
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got in touch with DCFS, Cynthiawithdrew Amy from school. Arizona CPS had
no prior contact with the family orwith Amy herself, which is likely because
the children were supposedly homeschooled, meaningAmy had no contact with mandatory reporters.
There was some evidence that at leastsome type of schooling was going on in
the home. The garage seemed tobe used as a classroom, in which
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folders were found for each of thechildren. In Amy's folder, investigators found
many pages of sentences Amy was apparentlyforced to write repeatedly as punishment. The
sentences included I will answer when talkedto, I will not steal food from
the little ones, and I willlearn to clean my room. John Allen's
parents lived in Ogden, Utah,where John was raised. After their son
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and his wife were arrested, John'smother, Mary Joe Allen, released a
statement expressing the family's shock and horrorthat their son could live in and contribute
to the deplorable environment in the Dealfamily's Phoenix home. She said they never
saw any evidence of abuse while Johnlived with the Deals in Ogden, but
that since the move to Phoenix,John became increasingly isolated from his parents.
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They encouraged their son to cooperate withthe police and thanked everyone who prayed for
their family. A reporter spoke withJohn's father, Michael Allen. Michael described
John as a good son. Johnworked at the Standard Examiner's press room,
where he was known as Little Bud, and he wanted to work with computers
some day. He married Samantha,who lived across the street, in two
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thousand and nine. Michael said Johnseemed to be doing great until he called
his parents from jail. Michael tolda reporter that his son was very repentant
and that Amy's death was an accident. He and Samantha had meant to let
Amy out of the box, butthey fell asleep. Kenneth Greased, a
Pennsylvania man who had dated Amy's mother, Shirley, came forward shortly after Amy's
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death, telling reporters he believed hewas Amy's real father. He had a
relationship with Shirley, he said,while she was separated from David Deal and
lived in the same apartment complex asKenneth, even though David's name was on
Amy's birth certificate. Kenneth said hetried to raise the little girl as his
own daughter while he and Shirley livedtogether for three and a half years.
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Kenneth reminisced about Amy, remembering thatshe loved to sing so much that they
bought her a karaoke machine. Overthe years, he said he tried to
track Amy down, but because theDeal family constantly relocated, it was nearly
impossible. As far as why Amywas singled out for abuse, Kenneth also
believed it was because the Deals didnot believe she was related to them.
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On February twenty second, twenty twelve, another member of the Deal Stoltzman family
was arrested as well. Twenty fouryear old Amandia Joanne Mandy Stoltzmann, Cynthia's
daughter and Samantha's sister, was arrestedin Glendale, Arizona, after others gave
statements about witnessing Amandia abusing Amy.Amandia did not live in the Phoenix home
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with the family. She was chargedin Texas for incidents that took place while
she lived with the family in Midland. The reports alleged that Amandia watched while
family members choked Amy, and thatshe herself hit Amy, kept her chained
up outside overnight wearing a dog collar, and kept her in a dog crate.
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It was also alleged that Amandia scrubbedAmy's face with a wire brush as
punishment for lying, kicked the littlegirl in the face, and forced her
to drink extremely spicy hot sauce.Amandia initially denied the allegations, but police
said she later admitted to them,as well as much more. Amandia reportedly
told police that she witnessed her mother, Cynthia, throw Amy into the swimming
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pool, where Amy's arms flailed whileher head was under water. Amy was
said to be petrified of water.When Amy came up for air, she
was crying, coughing, and choking. Amandia also admitted to forcing Amy to
crush aluminum cans with her bare feet, sleep in a pan made for a
shower floor, and eat food thathad been doused in brutally spicy hot sauce.
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She told of not allowing Amy togo to school or play with other
children, and forcing her to stayhome when the rest of the family went
somewhere. Amandia said she began keepingAmy in the dog crate as early as
two thousand five. While Amandia admittedto almost everything, she denied using the
wire brush on Amy's face and kickingher young cousin in the face. Amandia
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was initially arrested on three counts offelony child abuse. Amy's father, fifty
two year old David Martindale, wasarrested on July sixth, two thousand twelve,
on suspicion of dangerous crimes against children, four counts of child abuse,
and three counts of kidnapping. Detectivesalleged that witnesses told them David was the
first to use confinement as a punishmentfor Amy using a dog kennel. David
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was also accused of throwing the footlocker with Amy inside into the back yard
pool because she kept crying and yellingthat she couldn't breathe. As you'll recall,
the only holes that admitted air intothe box were about the size of
a pencil tip and located under thehandles. David denied abusing Amy, but
he did describe his daughter to detectivesas a Pillsbury doughboy looking thing and said
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that she had mental problems that frustratedthe family. I don't know if it's
true that Amy did have any mental, behavioral or learning challenges. The day
after David's arrest, because of errorson the statement prepared by the Phoenix Police
Department, it was ruled that therewas no probable cause to hold him.
He was re arrested on July ninth, twenty twelve, after County Attorney Bill
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Montgomery presented his case to a grandjury and a warrant was issued for one
felony count of child abuse. Atthe time of david second arrest, Phoenix
police found twenty dollars worth of marijuanain his back pocket, so he was
charged with one count each of possessionof marijuana and drug paraphernalia. There was
a U haul truck in front ofthe residence when police arrived to arrest him,
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leading officials to believe that David waspreparing to flee. He was held
on a two hundred fifty thousand dollarscash only bond. In April of twenty
thirteen, all charges against Amy's cousin, Amandia Stoltzman, were dropped at the
request of prosecutors. Maricopa County Attorney'sOffice spokesman Jerry Cobb refused to elaborate on
the reasons for the decision, onlytelling reporters that there wasn't enough evidence to
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proceed, despite the probable cause affidavitsaying Amandia had admitted to much of the
alleged abuse. Cynthia Stoltzman, Amy'saunt and legal guardian, faced two counts
of child abuse, one count ofattempted child abuse, and two additional abuse
charges. She was accused of throwingAmy into the cold, murky backyard swimming
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pool several months before her death,forcing Amy's head under water, and sitting
on the footlocker while Amy was confinedinside as a supposed punishment for stealing food.
In April of two thousand thirteen,Cynthia took a plea deal, pleading
guilty to two counts of child abuseand one count of attempted child abuse.
Cynthia's mother, Amy's grandmother, JudithDeal, faced two counts of attempted child
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abuse and up to thirty years inprison. She wasn't charged in Amy's death,
but she was accused of hitting hergranddaughter with a paddle, putting hot
sauce into her mouth, and forcingher into the footlocker as discipline. Judith
also took a plea deal, pleadingguilty to attempted child abuse. Amy's father,
David Deal, pleaded guilty on Apriltwenty fourth, two thirteen, to
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attempted child abuse and marijuana possession.David was sentenced to fourteen years in prison.
David Deal, a z DIC inmatenumber two eight one five eight two,
is housed at Kingman Prison in MohaveCounty, Arizona. He is scheduled
to be released on July eighth,twenty twenty four. On September thirteenth,
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twenty thirteen, Cynthia Stoltzman received asentence of twenty four years in prison.
Judith Deal was sentenced to ten years. They both received lifetime probation. Judith
Deal, a z DOC inmate numbertwo eight four two eight six, was
sent to Perryville Prisons, San CarlosUnit in Goodyear, Arizona. The Arizona
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Department of Corrections lists her as inactiveand shows that her release date was February
twenty third, twenty twenty due toabsolute discharge, which means she was released
to complete her sentence of probation.Judith is the only person convicted in Amy's
death who has been released from prisonthus far. Her daughter, Cynthia Stoltzman
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Azy doc inmate number two eight fourtwo eight seven, currently resides in Perryville
Prison in Goodyear, Arizona, inits Santa Cruz unit. Cynthia's release date
is set as July third, twothousand thirty six. Samantha Allen's trial began
in May of two thousand seventeen,when images of Amy's corpse were shown to
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jurors. Some hung their heads whileothers openly wept. Amy's skin and lips
were discolored, and her hands hadformed into claws. The bottoms of the
little girl's feet were caked with dirt, her body was wet, and her
hair was matted. Inside the box, there was just under an inch of
brown liquid. Her knees were bruisedand indented. Prosecutor Janette Gallagher produced first
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the actual box itself, wrapped inplastic to preserve the item as evidence.
She also used a mannikin the samesize as Amy to demonstrate how the little
girl could not fit comfortably inside thebox. Testimony from retired Phoenix police detective
Kenny Porter described Amy's condition from beingfolded and forced into the box overnight.
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He described red marks on her kneesthat indicated the box's lid had pressed against
her skin for some time. Photosshowed red marks, dirt and debris on
her neck, and hemorrhaging under hereyelids, as well as the bruising and
red indentations on her knees, indicatingthat the ribbing on the inside of the
box's lid had pressed into her skin. Jurrors heard audio of Samantha's initial police
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interview, in which she told policethe box was Amy's most famous spot to
hide in and that she often fellasleep inside. During that interview, Samantha
told police her three year old daughterdiscovered Amy's body in the box that morning,
and that the adults had not knownAmy was in there. When Amy's
older sister, who was twelve atthe time of Amy's death, testified,
(30:44):
she refuted to claim Samantha maid inthe video, telling Jurrors that despite her
statement in two thousand eleven to thecontrary the children had not played Hide and
Seek the knight of Amy's death.She said that she, her brother,
and Amy were given popsicles for doingtheir chores, but she later saw the
adults yelling at Amy for having herpopsicle. She said that her sister was
made to stand against the wall withher head back and her hands in the
(31:07):
air, demonstrating the position for thejurors. Then, she said, while
the rest of the family ate dinner, Amy was forced into the backbend position
for hours, crying and saying shewas in pain. That was the last
time she saw Amy before the restof the kids went to bed. At
that time, the teenager said hercousin Samantha and her husband John were in
(31:29):
the living room painting little cars theyhad built. The teenager, who was
not named to protect her identity,also said she was lying to protect her
family when she corroborated the hide andseek story. After her sister's death,
Samantha's defense attorney, John Curry,tried to dump one hundred percent of the
blame on John Allen, saying,not only did Samantha not actively participate in
(31:51):
Amy's murder, but she didn't evenknow what was happening. Nonetheless, on
June twenty sixth, twenty seventeen,Samantha was found guilty of first degree murder.
Nine days later, the jury determinedthat Samantha was eligible for the death
sentence, which meant her actions wereespecially cruel and heinous. Prosecutor Gallagher said
the physical and mental anguish Amy sufferedinside the box would qualify as an aggravating
(32:15):
circumstance. During Samantha's sentencing hearing inAugust, defense attorney Curry blamed the woman's
behavior on her mother, Cynthia Stoltzmann, and the environment in which Samantha had
been raised. He said her worldwas dominated by her family and that she
had no wider frame of reference,suggesting that because Samantha hardly knew anyone outside
(32:36):
her family, she did not knowthat locking Amy in the box was wrong.
Psychiatrists for the defense found Samantha sufferedfrom depression, attention deficit disorder,
exposure to parental child neglect, andimpairments in brain and moral development, leaving
her with below average intelligence. MisterCurry explained to the jury that Cynthia,
(32:57):
who set the tone and culture,of the house was samantha moral compass,
and that his client had told policethat her driving moral belief was honor thy
mother and father. He told thejury that Samantha had lost two husbands over
her insistence on moving in with herfamily. He said that this sense of
family loyalty was what caused Amy's death. Samantha's first husband, Joe Evans,
(33:20):
testified that he met Samantha and Cynthiain two thousand and six when they came
through a McDonald's drive through in Utahwhere he was working. He began dating
Samantha shortly thereafter and witnessed the family'sliving conditions firsthand. Joe testified feces on
the walls, cockroaches drying on thewalls, food on the floor. Joe
(33:45):
described a crowded home filled with severaladults and multiple children, some of whom
had lice. He and Samantha wouldsometimes babysit the children, including Amy,
who was the best behaved. Gutof those three children described a fourth.
She was moderately quiet, but stillno happy. She never really caused any
(34:09):
problems or anything like that. Joeand Samantha were married in April of two
thousand and seven after dating for aperiod of months. He testified that they
endured a miscarriage, which he saiddeeply affected Samantha, and that their relationship
ended not long after they were marrieddue to Samantha's frustration that Joe did not
want to move in with her family. Joe testified that while he was with
(34:31):
the family, Samantha was nice toAmy and did not abuse her. Were
there ways in which this Deal's Stoltzmannfamily struck you as being like a cult?
Yes? Now, if he didn'tfit in with them, then you
were just cast aside. Cynthia alsotestified at her daughter's sentencing hearing, saying
her parents, Judith and Arthur Deal, divorced when she was twelve, and
(34:53):
Judith remarried several times, not forlove, but for financial support. The
prosecutor question Cynthia, were ever madeaware that Samantha was using the box on
Amy? You had found out thatSamantha was using the box on Amy?
What would you have done? Toldhim? Not too, I already had
(35:13):
put the box out. Describe Amyin how she was when she come out
of the box. She was Amy. I mean, I don't know what
to say. I mean, itdidn't look to me like she was in
any sort of distress other than shecried because she didn't want to be in
it. Mister Curry tried to discreditCynthia's earlier testimony, in which Cynthia stated
that she never told Samantha it wasacceptable to use confinement in the footlocker as
(35:36):
disciplined for Amy, and that onlya few family members knew that it had
been used that way. He showedclips of young family members telling Phoenix police
about the abuse that Amy suffered inthe months and years before her death.
After watching the clip, Samantha,who had previously contended that only she,
Cynthia, and David were responsible fordisciplining Amy, admitted that all of the
(35:57):
adults in the family were involved inthe long term term abuse of her cousin.
Prosecutor Gallagher read a one paragraph impactstatement from Amy's mother, Shirley Deal,
written to a judge in twenty thirteen. It read quote, I just
wanted everyone in Arizona to know howI feel about what happened to my daughter.
Learning how she suffered in the boxwas devastating and it's something that would
(36:20):
never leave me. I struggle sadnessand depression because of Amy's murder. I
am so depressed from the time Iget up until I go to bed at
night, I go to the doctorall the time. I wish she was
here with me, day and night. I've not forgiven you and never will.
The only thing you deserve is whereyou are going when you leave this
earth. The death penalty is toogood and too easy for you. I
(36:43):
want you to suffer till death,just like you did to my sweet little
Amy. They need to put youall on dog chains and feed you dog
feces as you did to my baby. Ultimately, the jury determined that the
horror of Amy's murder outweighed any possiblemitigating factors, including Samantha's age, her
dysfunctional childhood, and her lack ofa prior criminal record. She was sentenced
(37:06):
to death. Superior Court Judge TeresaSanders sentenced Samantha to an additional seventy six
years because of the aggravating factors inthe case, including the especially cruel nature
of the crime, the age ofthe victim, the presence of an accomplice,
her husband, and the fact thatSamantha was in a position of trust
to Amy. She was given creditfor the over two thousand days she had
(37:28):
already spent in custody. When theverdict was read, Samantha dropped her head
and cried on her attorney, misterCurry's shoulder. After Samantha's sentencing, jurors
said, a lot of it comesback to the lack of remorse. I
was waiting for something from her,that was her chance to plead for her
life, and it just stashire.We just felt that at some point she
(37:54):
wasn't as a passive person as wethought. I think the hardest thing for
all of us was the victim andlearning about what her life really entailed,
the years of abuse that she suffered. Samantha Allen, AZYDOC, inmate number
three two zero seven to five seven, is now listed as Samantha your REARTI.
(38:17):
She resides in Perryville Prison in Goodyear, Arizona, where Cynthia is also
housed. Samantha is one of theonly three female death row inmates in Arizona,
all of whom are housed in Perryville'sLumly Unit. I'll pause here for
another quick sponsor break. John Allen'strial began on October thirtieth, twenty seventeen,
(39:00):
or his charges, which included threecounts of child abuse, one count
of attempted child abuse, and onecount of first degree murder. In his
opening arguments, Prosecutor j. Rademacherpainted a chilling picture of the morning of
Amy's death, describing the little girlpolice found already dead on her back on
a towel in the living room.Her hands were raised to her shoulders,
(39:22):
the fingers frozen into claws. Herankles and finger nails were purple, her
skin yellow, her lips blue andpulling away from her teeth. Her hair
was matted and her clothing wet,which they soon realized was because she had
been locked into that black box,where they saw about an inch of liquid,
the bodily fluids of the dying girl. Prosecutor Rademacher reminded the jury that
(39:45):
all of this took place over apopsicle. In his opening argument, defense
attorney Rob Reinhardt said that John didnot intentionally kill Amy, breaking down for
the jury the reason why felony murderis not the same as premeditated murder.
It is instead a death that happensin the course of another crime being committed.
(40:05):
In this case, that crime waschild abuse. These jurors were shown
photos of the crime scene, consistingof multiple rooms, each more cluttered than
the last, as well as thegarage, class room, and the tent
village in the back yard. Again, Prosecutor Jeanette Gallagher produced the plastic foot
locker in the courtroom, asking thejury to consider why John hid the padlock
(40:27):
if he didn't know he had committeda crime, or why he had told
his wife he was turning himself inif he didn't know a crime had been
committed. While Detective Gregg McKay wason the stand, jurors were shown his
initial interview with the defendant, inwhich John eventually confessed to locking Amy in
the box several times previously, aswell as doing so at about one a
m. On the morning she died. When he saw her the next morning,
(40:51):
John said in the interview she wasface up with her legs hanging out
of the box. He told detectivemcckay that day that he tried to perform
CPR on During the same interview,John told the detective that Amy was more
difficult than the other children, sayingshe had a tendency to lie, steal
food, and fail to complete herchores her punishments. He told the detective
(41:13):
included making her due backbends, pouringhot sauce into her mouth, spanking her
with the buttbuster, and forcing herinto the box in which she ultimately died.
John told the detective that as Amy'slegal guardian, Cynthia was also her
main disciplinarian. Former Maricopa County ChiefMedical Examiner doctor Philip Keane explained the ruling
(41:34):
of suffocation as Amy's cause of deathand demonstrated stuffing a cloth doll the same
size as Amy into an exact replicaof the foot locker. He gave clinical
testimony about how Amy would have struggledto breathe finally becoming unconscious and ultimately dying
inside the box. In their closingstatement, prosecutors reminded the jury that John
had such little regard for Amy's lifethat he and Samantha went to sleep while
(41:59):
Amy was trapped in that tiny box, suffocating to death in her own bodily
fluids. During the defense's closing arguments, mister Reinhardt said that John accepted responsibility
for his actions. He argued thatJohn, who he reminded jurors, was
the father of four young children himself, did not intend for Amy to die,
saying the other adults in the homehad created the abuse of culture in
(42:22):
the family and were simply manipulating Johninto participating. He asked the jury to
consider if John might only be guiltyof negligence or recklessness, which would not
be enough to warrant a murder conviction. The jurors and John's trial deliberated for
less than a day before coming tothe unanimous verdict guilty on all counts.
(42:42):
John's sentencing hearing took place two weekslater on December seventh, twenty seventeen.
At the hearing, John broke downsobbing as he told Judge Aaron O'Brien otis
go on to say that I'm sorry. What happened was an exit. John
(43:04):
continued, calling himself an idiot anda jerk, apologizing to Amy, her
family, and his own family,and saying he shamed all of them.
The judge said, in my entirecareer, I think I have not seen
too many cases that I can sayhave been worse than this one. This
was one of the most unnecessary deathsof a child I've ever seen. With
(43:31):
that, John Michael Allen, agedtwenty nine, was sentenced to death by
lethal injection plus at least thirty sixyears in prison for child abuse and conspiracy
to commit child abuse. When thesentence was announced, John initially did not
react, staring at his hands.He could not get up from the defense
table afterward, holding his head inhis hands and weeping for at least five
(43:53):
minutes. After the judge left thebench outside the courtroom, John's sister with
reporters saying, just for my brotherto be in this situation, satns my
heart. It breaks my heart inme. He didn't say anything when he
could have, but he made amistake and now he's going to pay for
(44:14):
it with his life. John Allen, a ZDC inmate number three two three
one six seven, is serving hissentence in aim In Prison in Florence.
Arizona death Row is located on Ayman'sBrowning Unit, but curiously, John is
housed in Aymon's Rinning unit. Johnand Samantha Allen are the first married couple
(44:34):
ever to be sentenced to death inArizona. It remains to be seen if
they will ever actually be put todeath. The last execution in the state
took place in July of twenty fourteen. The appeals process in a death penalty
case can take twenty years or longerafter an inmate is sentenced. In twenty
twenty, the Arizona Supreme Court ruledon an appeal alleging jurors in John Allen's
(44:58):
trial handed down a sentence that wastoo harsh. The justices dismissed that idea,
saying capital punishment was warranted because Amy'sdeath was especially cruel. They did
expunge three of John's child abuse convictionsafter determining the trial court applied the sentencing
enhancements improperly. The court vacated John'ssentences on intentional child abuse, conspiracy to
(45:21):
commit child abuse, and reckless childabuse, but his death sentence was upheld.
The three child abuse charges were remandedback to the trial court for resentencing
at a future date. Samantha iscurrently awaiting a ruling on her current appeal,
which is due on October second,twenty twenty three. Her last appeal
ended in twenty twenty two, whenher convictions and death sentence were affirmed,
(45:45):
but her sentence for child abuse wasremanded back to the trial court for resentencing.
Amy's death caused enough public outrage tocall attention to Arizona's flawed child welfare
system, which led to a massiveoverhaul of that system and the creation of
several new laws. Soon after Amy'scase, Prosecutor Montgomery advocated for Detective Greg
(46:06):
McKay, who was appointed as directorof the agency now known as DCS in
February of twenty fifteen. During apress conference in December of twenty seventeen,
Montgomery said he gathered a very smalldegree of consolation that Amy's death was not
in vain because it served as acatalyst for change. He said that under
McKay's leadership, DCS had done aone hundred eighty degree turnaround, making changes
(46:30):
that included more transparency and the abilityto more quickly provide information about child deaths
and near fatalities, which was impossiblein twenty eleven when Amy died. McKay
also spoke saying he vowed not tolet children die in vain. In his
new position, McKay had the abilityto effect thousands of children's lives in a
(46:50):
positive way. He went over someof the improvements the agency had made,
including lowering caseloads from upwards of onehundred fifty per staff member to around twelve
or fifteen, a backlog of formerlyaround sixteen thousand cases being reduced to around
two hundred eighty and drastically lowering fostercare numbers. Both men stressed that more
(47:10):
work needed to be done, includinginvolving the public to a greater degree when
it came to reporting suspected neglect andabuse, not to mention parents providing better
parenting. Greg McKay stepped down asDCS director in July of twenty nineteen to
become the chief operating officer of ChildHelp USA, a nonprofit agency helping victims
(47:31):
of child abuse nationwide. Even thoughAmy may not have experienced love during the
last several years of her life,she is cherished and adored now, both
by those who knew her and bythose of us who never met her but
refused to let her memory die.Jelene Boydston, Amy's second grade teacher,
told a reporter she didn't want Amyto be remembered as an abused girl who
(47:53):
died in a box, but asa beautiful human being. Family members on
Facebook have mentioned that Amy had acontagious giggle and that her favorite snack was
corn curls. A former neighbor inUtah talked about how Amy was a sweetheart
who liked singing and playing in thesprinkler. She said her family still set
(48:13):
off fireworks on July twenty fourth,Amy's birthday in her honor. Ross Lunsford,
former principal at James Madison Elementary inOgden, Utah, recalled Amy always
had a smile on her face andthat she was the kid in school that
every teacher wanted to take home.He fondly remembered how Amy would attach herself
to his leg and refuse to letgo as he walked down the hallway.
(48:37):
That's it for this episode. Thankyou for having me, and if you
feel so inclined, please check outmy podcast, Suffer the Little Children,
on your favorite podcast platform on YouTubeand at Suffer the Little Children pod dot
com. I've been your guest hostLane and it's been my honor to tell
you Amy's story. Thanks for listening, and stay safe New Mexico.
Are you passionate about justice. Doyou believe that every voice deserves to be
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Together, we can empower victims andensure that no voice is silenced. Visit
Angels Voices m dot org today todonate and learn more. Hatred advocates.
It's me Lane from Suffer at theLittle Children podcast. Eric asked me to
come on the show today while he'son hiatus, to tell you about the
(01:08):
unthinkably tragic case of ten year oldAmy Deal. I'm Lane, and this
is true Consequences. Shirley and DavidDeal were married in nineteen ninety six.
(02:00):
They had two children together before nearthe end of nineteen ninety nine, Shirley,
who reportedly had some unspecified disabilities,discovered she was pregnant again. At
the time, Shirley said she wasdating another man, so she never actually
knew if David was truly the fatherof this baby. Shirley's daughter, Amy
Lynne Deale, was born on Julytwenty fourth, two thousand, in Monongahela,
(02:23):
Pennsylvania. Amy's birth certificate listed DavidDeale as her father. Around two
thousand four, Shirley and her threechildren moved in with David's family in Midland,
Texas. The family included David's mother, Judith Deale, and his sister,
Cynthia Stoltzmann, as well as Cynthia'steenage daughters Amandia and Samantha. During
(02:46):
her time in Midland, Shirley claimedthe family abused her, but not her
children. She said she was likea slave to the Deal family, forced
to do everything around the house,and they also hit her, called her
names, and deprived her of sleep. After two years of this, Shirley
said she was kicked out of thehome, fleeing without her children and moving
in with a man in Iola,Kansas. In two thousand ten, the
(03:09):
Deal family relocated from Texas to Phoenix, Arizona. This was nothing new to
them. From nineteen eighty eight throughtwo thousand ten, the family moved twenty
eight times to various places across NewMexico, Texas, Pennsylvania, Utah,
Wisconsin, and Arizona. In Phoenix, the family lived in Squalor in a
(03:30):
small, decrepit home near thirty fifthAvenue and Broadway Road, which, according
to some residents of the area,is an extremely poor neighborhood where people basically
kept to themselves and avoided calling thepolice about anything shady going on in the
neighborhood in case they themselves might getcaught doing something that would get them in
trouble. By July of two thousandeleven, the Deal Stoltzman residents overflowed with
(03:53):
adults and children, all of whomwere allegedly home schooled. There were so
many people living on the property thatthey had to set up rudimentary tents in
the backyard to accommodate all of them. Some of the adults on the property
included Amy's grandmother, sixty two yearold Judith Deal, Amy's aunt forty four
year old Cynthia Charlie Stoltzman, Cynthia'sdaughter, twenty three year old Samantha Lucille
(04:15):
Rebecca Sammy Allen, Samantha's husband,twenty three year old John Michael Bud Allen,
Amy's father, David Martin Deal,David's daughter, twenty year old Cassandria
Cassie Deal, Cassandria's boyfriend Travis Naylor, and a woman named Debbie Smith.
At its maximum, the property wasreportedly home to twenty four people at once.
(04:39):
At the time of Amy's death.According to defense attorney Rob Reinhardt,
who would later represent one of Amy'saccused murderers, there were eleven members of
the extended family regularly living either inthe house or in tents in the backyard,
although five or six others came andwent, one of whom was Amy's
father, David. His sister,Cynthia Stoltzman, was actually Amy's legal guardian.
(05:01):
Even so, her daughter Samantha,who had never made it past fourth
grade, was essentially in charge ofcaring for Amy, her thirteen year old
brother, and her twelve year oldsister. Samantha and her husband, John,
both of whom were twenty three,also had four biological children of their
own. The family's life in theirPhoenix home was essentially pandemonium. Children roamed
(05:24):
with next to no supervision, walkingup and down the street wearing nothing but
diapers. The house itself reeked ofurine. It was full of garbage and
filth both inside and out. Itwas infested with cockroaches and littered with used
feminine hygiene products and tissues. Onthe morning of July twelfth, twenty eleven,
Phoenix Police received a call reporting aninjured child. The first person to
(05:47):
respond was Officer Albert Selice, whorecognized the house because he had responded to
the same address a week or soearlier on reports of a large group of
kids throwing rocks. The officers tothe front door, which opened as he
reached it, and he saw alarge black dog charging him. A woman
immediately yelled for him not to shootthe dog. Officer Selice later realized how
(06:11):
strange it was that the woman wasmore concerned about the dog's safety than that
of the injured child in question.Entering the house, the officer found ten
year old Amy deal on a bluetowel next to a wet patch of urine,
curled up with her knees to herchest and hands formed into claws.
Immediately he recognized Amy from the rockthrowing call, and he could tell right
away that she was dead. Herlips were as blue as the towel beneath
(06:36):
her, and her skin was beginningto discolor. Her body was already stiffening.
Next to Amy's body was a plasticfoot locker, which was a virtually
air tight plastic container measuring thirty oneinches by fourteen inches by twelve inches.
The plastic bin had previously been usedto store Amy's older sister's barbie collection before
(06:57):
it outgrew the container. Officer Selisesaid Amy's body was positioned as if she
had been inside the foot locker,trying to push the lid off from the
inside. At first, Amy's familyclaimed she had accidentally locked herself into the
box, while playing hide and seekafter the adults were asleep. Her aunt
Cynthia told k n XVTV on Julythirteenth, she was an awesome hider.
(07:20):
Let me tell you, you know, there's places that she would squeeze into
that I wouldn't think my dog could. I spent last night crying most of
the night. I don't break downwell in front of other people, but
when I'm by myself, I canlose it really easy. Even the children
in the home recited the same storyas if they had been coached to lie
(07:42):
about the incident. Immediately, investigatorsdoubted this story, suspecting foul play and
child abuse. They noted that Amy'sbody was filthy, her clothing soiled,
and their remarks on her right kneeresulting from being jammed against the inside of
the container lid all night. Sothe container had latches that held the lid
on, there was no way tolatch these from the inside, and with
(08:05):
any pressure from within, the lidwould have easily popped off without the latches
engaged. Finally, statements from otherresidents of the deal home about the abuse
they had witnessed gave police a prettyclear picture of what was going on in
that house. When Officer Sialicse tookJudith's statement, he was disturbed by the
lack of emotion Amy's grandmother showed.As he walked a few doors down to
(08:28):
take Amy's twelve year old sister's statement. He passed Cynthia, who told him
Amy was dead as she continued walkingpast him. The officer knew Cynthia hadn't
even been at the house when paramedicsdeclared Amy's death, leading him to wonder
how Cynthia could have known that already. Officer Silese described the twelve year old
as hesitant to talk, stiff asa board, and not looking him in
(08:50):
the eye as she echoed the samestory the rest of the family was telling,
except she said she had gone tobed at nine pm. He had
a strong feeling she knew what happened. Officer Selsee took an initial statement from
John Allen as the young man saton a swing, behaving like nothing had
happened. John told the officer thatafter he and his wife, Amy's cousin,
(09:11):
Samantha, went to bed at oneam, some of the kids,
including Amy, his three year olddaughter, and Amy's twelve year old sister,
continued playing hide and seek and Amylocked herself into the box. He
suggested his three year old daughter,who he said loved to lock things as
a prank, must have padlocked thebox. While John was being questioned,
(09:31):
his story changed multiple times. Itwas clear to investigators that he was covering
for his wife. During breaks andquestioning at the police station, investigators left
John and Samantha alone in an interviewroom, which the couple apparently didn't know
was being recorded. While discussing howtheir hide and seek story had fallen apart,
(09:52):
John said to Samantha that they shouldhave come up with a solid story
as a family so no one wouldhave to take the fall. Gradually,
under further questioning, John began admittingto bits and pieces of the story.
He finally told police he had clampedAmy into the box and jostled her around.
He admitted he had used the boxseveral times prior to that night,
(10:13):
and that each time when Amy wasreleased, she was sweaty but conscious.
Years later, at John's trial,Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Jeanette Gallagher would tell
the jury that statement indicated John knewputting Amy into the box was dangerous because
there was not enough air to sustainlife. The only way air could get
into the box was through holes thesize of a pencil tip located under the
(10:35):
handles. Finally, John admitted tolocking Amy into the container on the night
of her death, while Samantha stoodby and did nothing. He told investigators
that Amy was first forced to dobackbends and maintain the position for two to
three torturously long hours as a formof punishment. When she fell, he
physically put her back into the position. After he grew bored of that punishment,
(11:00):
John forced Amy to do jumping jack's. Around one am, John told
Amy to go outside and get thefootlocker. Already overheated and sweating profusely,
Amy was then forcibly crammed into thebox. Samantha expressed concern that Amy might
escape, so John latched the boxshut and secured it with a padlock he
had taken off the backyard fence.Detectives asked John about the padlock, which
(11:26):
was missing. Eventually he admitted tohiding it. John and Samantha left Amy
in the box in the garage,where the temperature was above ninety five degrees
fahrenheit for the entire night. Johntook the key with him when he and
Samantha went to bed, leaving Amyconfined in the tiny box to die.
He said they had planned to goback and check on her in an hour,
(11:48):
but they didn't because he just didn'tget up. If you're wondering what
awful infraction Amy could have committed toearn such a severe punishment, brace yourselves.
Several of the other children had beengiven popsicles on that sweltering July day,
when temperatures were well above one hundreddegrees fahrenheit, and ten year old
Amy, who wasn't given a popsicle, dared to take one from the freezer
(12:09):
without permission. One of the familymembers later told police, quote Amy lies,
Amy, steeles Amy needs to bepunished. The next morning, when
the family opened the box at aroundeight am to release Amy, they discovered
she had suffocated to death, soakedin her own sweat and urine. They
(12:30):
waited about a half hour before someonefinally called nine one one. John's admission
led to the arrest of several familymembers on July twenty seven, twenty eleven.
Judith Cora Deel and Cynthia J.Stoltzmann were charged with kidnapping and multiple
counts of child abuse. Samantha andJohn Ellen were charged with first degree murder,
conspiracy to commit child abuse, andmultiple counts of child abuse. All
(12:56):
four were held in Maricopa County jail. Bond was at one million dollars each
for Samantha and John and five hundredthousand dollars for Judith and Cynthia. The
other children in the home were placedinto protective custody. The family's black lab,
Bella, was confiscated from the crimescene by the Arizona Humane Society,
(13:16):
where she was later adopted by astaff member. On July twenty ninth,
two eleven, then thirty eight yearold Shirley Anne Deal found out about her
ten year old daughter's death when afriend on Facebook brought it to her attention.
She then read the details online atthe Arizona Republic's website. She said
she couldn't stop crying after she foundout that Amy had died at the hands
(13:37):
of the same people Shirley had escapedyears before. She told a reporter that
she wanted Amy's killers treated the sameway her daughter was, and that she
hoped they would all receive life sentences. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, who
prosecuted the case, initially announced theindictment of the four adults on August tenth,
(13:58):
two eleven, saying his office wouldspare no effort in seeking justice for
Amy. An autopsy conducted by theMaricopa County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Amy's
death was a homicide caused by asphyxiationcompounded by heat, exhaustion, and dehydration.
Amy, who was less than amonth away from her eleventh birthday at
the time of her death, wasunderweight at only fifty nine pounds. The
(14:22):
average weight for an eleven year oldgirl is just under eighty pounds. Court
records said that Amy was chronically hungryfrom being denied food. If she took
food from the refrigerator, she wouldbe punished and abused. Stealing food was
the reason she most frequently got introuble. Another reason was supposedly lying.
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Reportedly, Amy's abuse began when shewas only four years old, almost as
soon as she became part of thehousehold. According to court documents, not
only was Amy the only one abuseof the twelve children in the home,
but the other children would do thingsintentionally to get her into trouble, which
is unfortunately not uncommon in situations involvingscapegoating or targeted child abuse. Other members
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of the family, including children,tend to pick up the pattern and join
in the abuse of the targeted child. They most often do this to align
themselves with the abusers and avoid abusethemselves. Amy was tormented by virtually everyone
who lived in that house. Shewas likely chosen as the family's scapegoat because
David did not believe she was hisbiological child, so she was considered an
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outsider. The family heaped blame andshame on this poor little girl, hitting
her, torturing her, depriving herof adequate nutrition, and then punishing her
for stealing food Phoenix. Neighbors ofthe Deal family said Amy was often physically
and verbally abused by the family,who they considered unusual. They frequently heard
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adults yelling expletives at the children,and they often saw children from toddlers to
teenagers playing outside as late as twoam. One neighbor told a reporter that
she knew immediately that Amy's death wasnot an accident. We knew right of
where it wasn't zim because the waythey used to punish the little girl maker
walk up and down the street barefootedand stuff. Oh yeah, I used
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to do a lot of stuff toher. Keep in mind this punishment took
place while temperatures and Phoenix reached onehundred fourteen degrees fahrenheit. Asphalt can get
from forty to sixty degrees hotter thanthe surrounding air temperature. Unbelievably, none
of the neighbors reported any of theirobservations to authorities. Prior to Amy's death.
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Several said they considered calling police,but they didn't because they didn't want
to break up the family. Ifever, there was a family that needed
breaking up, it was this one. I'll pause here for a quick sponsor
break. Police revealed that Amy hadbeen placed into the foot locker at least
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five times over the thirty days leadingup to her death. In addition,
other methods of abuse employed by thefamily, according to police, included beating
Amy with a board they called thebuttbuster, lashing her with a belt,
and forcibly dumping hot sauce into hermouth. She was sometimes chained like a
dog or restrained inside a dog crate. Once, when Amy was picking up
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dog feces in the yard, shemissed some. Her aunt Cynthia, punished
her for this by rubbing the dogfeces on the little girl's face and forcing
it into her mouth. Other membersof the household described to investigators the abuse
they witnessed toward Amy, who wasforced to sleep in a shower stall with
no pillow or blanket as punishment foroccasionally wetting the bed. The bathroom was
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considered her bedroom. She was notgiven any bedding because they didn't want her
to wet it. Wetting the bedat eleven years old can be a symptom
of regression, which severe abuse cancause. One witness and temporary resident of
the back yard told police he overheardCynthia screaming at Amy in her shower stall
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bedroom while she beat the little girlfor wedding herself. Other witnesses spoke of
seeing Samantha shove Amy into the footlocker, after which John would kick the box,
pick it up, and flip itover with Amy inside. Another temporary
resident told investigators that about six monthsprior to Amy's death, he had heard
screaming from inside the foot locker whileCynthia sat on top of it playing on
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her laptop. As I mentioned,the family reportedly lived in several places over
the course of Amy's nearly eleven years. At one point they lived in Ogden,
Utah, where Amy was permitted toattend school. According to Phoenix Police,
they were given access to Utah courtrecords documenting alleged child abuse. Arizona
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court records show that in Utah,Amy was listed as an abused neglected child.
Those records include three instances where thefamily was investigated, including allegations of
lice, a belt used for discipline, and a bump on Amy's head.
Amy's second grade teacher, Jeline Boydston, told a reporter that Amy's family members
told her they didn't really think Amybelonged to them. Jeline described Amy as
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a bright and inquisitive child who cravedthe attention of adults and constantly came to
school dirty, sometimes with head lice. Once Amy came to school with cat
yurine soaking her shoes, and theschool counselor helped her clean up and provided
her with clean shoes. The schoolcounselor, Jody Hanson, said the school
had contacted the local Division of Childand Family Services, or DCFS several times
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in regard to Amy and the otherchildren in the home. Jody said it
was clear that Amy was the scapegoatof the family. Jeline said she was
aware that d c FS worked withthe family and tried to help them clean
up the home and learn parenting skills, but none of the children were removed,
as is too common in child abusecases. As soon as the school
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got in touch with DCFS, Cynthiawithdrew Amy from school. Arizona CPS had
no prior contact with the family orwith Amy herself, which is likely because
the children were supposedly homeschooled, meaningAmy had no contact with mandatory reporters.
There was some evidence that at leastsome type of schooling was going on in
the home. The garage seemed tobe used as a classroom, in which
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folders were found for each of thechildren. In Amy's folder, investigators found
many pages of sentences Amy was apparentlyforced to write repeatedly as punishment. The
sentences included I will answer when talkedto, I will not steal food from
the little ones, and I willlearn to clean my room. John Allen's
parents lived in Ogden, Utah,where John was raised. After their son
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and his wife were arrested, John'smother, Mary Joe Allen, released a
statement expressing the family's shock and horrorthat their son could live in and contribute
to the deplorable environment in the Dealfamily's Phoenix home. She said they never
saw any evidence of abuse while Johnlived with the Deals in Ogden, but
that since the move to Phoenix,John became increasingly isolated from his parents.
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They encouraged their son to cooperate withthe police and thanked everyone who prayed for
their family. A reporter spoke withJohn's father, Michael Allen. Michael described
John as a good son. Johnworked at the Standard Examiner's press room,
where he was known as Little Bud, and he wanted to work with computers
some day. He married Samantha,who lived across the street, in two
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thousand and nine. Michael said Johnseemed to be doing great until he called
his parents from jail. Michael tolda reporter that his son was very repentant
and that Amy's death was an accident. He and Samantha had meant to let
Amy out of the box, butthey fell asleep. Kenneth Greased, a
Pennsylvania man who had dated Amy's mother, Shirley, came forward shortly after Amy's
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death, telling reporters he believed hewas Amy's real father. He had a
relationship with Shirley, he said,while she was separated from David Deal and
lived in the same apartment complex asKenneth, even though David's name was on
Amy's birth certificate. Kenneth said hetried to raise the little girl as his
own daughter while he and Shirley livedtogether for three and a half years.
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Kenneth reminisced about Amy, remembering thatshe loved to sing so much that they
bought her a karaoke machine. Overthe years, he said he tried to
track Amy down, but because theDeal family constantly relocated, it was nearly
impossible. As far as why Amywas singled out for abuse, Kenneth also
believed it was because the Deals didnot believe she was related to them.
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On February twenty second, twenty twelve, another member of the Deal Stoltzman family
was arrested as well. Twenty fouryear old Amandia Joanne Mandy Stoltzmann, Cynthia's
daughter and Samantha's sister, was arrestedin Glendale, Arizona, after others gave
statements about witnessing Amandia abusing Amy.Amandia did not live in the Phoenix home
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with the family. She was chargedin Texas for incidents that took place while
she lived with the family in Midland. The reports alleged that Amandia watched while
family members choked Amy, and thatshe herself hit Amy, kept her chained
up outside overnight wearing a dog collar, and kept her in a dog crate.
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It was also alleged that Amandia scrubbedAmy's face with a wire brush as
punishment for lying, kicked the littlegirl in the face, and forced her
to drink extremely spicy hot sauce.Amandia initially denied the allegations, but police
said she later admitted to them,as well as much more. Amandia reportedly
told police that she witnessed her mother, Cynthia, throw Amy into the swimming
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pool, where Amy's arms flailed whileher head was under water. Amy was
said to be petrified of water.When Amy came up for air, she
was crying, coughing, and choking. Amandia also admitted to forcing Amy to
crush aluminum cans with her bare feet, sleep in a pan made for a
shower floor, and eat food thathad been doused in brutally spicy hot sauce.
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She told of not allowing Amy togo to school or play with other
children, and forcing her to stayhome when the rest of the family went
somewhere. Amandia said she began keepingAmy in the dog crate as early as
two thousand five. While Amandia admittedto almost everything, she denied using the
wire brush on Amy's face and kickingher young cousin in the face. Amandia
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was initially arrested on three counts offelony child abuse. Amy's father, fifty
two year old David Martindale, wasarrested on July sixth, two thousand twelve,
on suspicion of dangerous crimes against children, four counts of child abuse,
and three counts of kidnapping. Detectivesalleged that witnesses told them David was the
first to use confinement as a punishmentfor Amy using a dog kennel. David
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was also accused of throwing the footlocker with Amy inside into the back yard
pool because she kept crying and yellingthat she couldn't breathe. As you'll recall,
the only holes that admitted air intothe box were about the size of
a pencil tip and located under thehandles. David denied abusing Amy, but
he did describe his daughter to detectivesas a Pillsbury doughboy looking thing and said
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that she had mental problems that frustratedthe family. I don't know if it's
true that Amy did have any mental, behavioral or learning challenges. The day
after David's arrest, because of errorson the statement prepared by the Phoenix Police
Department, it was ruled that therewas no probable cause to hold him.
He was re arrested on July ninth, twenty twelve, after County Attorney Bill
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Montgomery presented his case to a grandjury and a warrant was issued for one
felony count of child abuse. Atthe time of david second arrest, Phoenix
police found twenty dollars worth of marijuanain his back pocket, so he was
charged with one count each of possessionof marijuana and drug paraphernalia. There was
a U haul truck in front ofthe residence when police arrived to arrest him,
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leading officials to believe that David waspreparing to flee. He was held
on a two hundred fifty thousand dollarscash only bond. In April of twenty
thirteen, all charges against Amy's cousin, Amandia Stoltzman, were dropped at the
request of prosecutors. Maricopa County Attorney'sOffice spokesman Jerry Cobb refused to elaborate on
the reasons for the decision, onlytelling reporters that there wasn't enough evidence to
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proceed, despite the probable cause affidavitsaying Amandia had admitted to much of the
alleged abuse. Cynthia Stoltzman, Amy'saunt and legal guardian, faced two counts
of child abuse, one count ofattempted child abuse, and two additional abuse
charges. She was accused of throwingAmy into the cold, murky backyard swimming
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pool several months before her death,forcing Amy's head under water, and sitting
on the footlocker while Amy was confinedinside as a supposed punishment for stealing food.
In April of two thousand thirteen,Cynthia took a plea deal, pleading
guilty to two counts of child abuseand one count of attempted child abuse.
Cynthia's mother, Amy's grandmother, JudithDeal, faced two counts of attempted child
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abuse and up to thirty years inprison. She wasn't charged in Amy's death,
but she was accused of hitting hergranddaughter with a paddle, putting hot
sauce into her mouth, and forcingher into the footlocker as discipline. Judith
also took a plea deal, pleadingguilty to attempted child abuse. Amy's father,
David Deal, pleaded guilty on Apriltwenty fourth, two thirteen, to
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attempted child abuse and marijuana possession.David was sentenced to fourteen years in prison.
David Deal, a z DIC inmatenumber two eight one five eight two,
is housed at Kingman Prison in MohaveCounty, Arizona. He is scheduled
to be released on July eighth,twenty twenty four. On September thirteenth,
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twenty thirteen, Cynthia Stoltzman received asentence of twenty four years in prison.
Judith Deal was sentenced to ten years. They both received lifetime probation. Judith
Deal, a z DOC inmate numbertwo eight four two eight six, was
sent to Perryville Prisons, San CarlosUnit in Goodyear, Arizona. The Arizona
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Department of Corrections lists her as inactiveand shows that her release date was February
twenty third, twenty twenty due toabsolute discharge, which means she was released
to complete her sentence of probation.Judith is the only person convicted in Amy's
death who has been released from prisonthus far. Her daughter, Cynthia Stoltzman
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Azy doc inmate number two eight fourtwo eight seven, currently resides in Perryville
Prison in Goodyear, Arizona, inits Santa Cruz unit. Cynthia's release date
is set as July third, twothousand thirty six. Samantha Allen's trial began
in May of two thousand seventeen,when images of Amy's corpse were shown to
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jurors. Some hung their heads whileothers openly wept. Amy's skin and lips
were discolored, and her hands hadformed into claws. The bottoms of the
little girl's feet were caked with dirt, her body was wet, and her
hair was matted. Inside the box, there was just under an inch of
brown liquid. Her knees were bruisedand indented. Prosecutor Janette Gallagher produced first
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the actual box itself, wrapped inplastic to preserve the item as evidence.
She also used a mannikin the samesize as Amy to demonstrate how the little
girl could not fit comfortably inside thebox. Testimony from retired Phoenix police detective
Kenny Porter described Amy's condition from beingfolded and forced into the box overnight.
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He described red marks on her kneesthat indicated the box's lid had pressed against
her skin for some time. Photosshowed red marks, dirt and debris on
her neck, and hemorrhaging under hereyelids, as well as the bruising and
red indentations on her knees, indicatingthat the ribbing on the inside of the
box's lid had pressed into her skin. Jurrors heard audio of Samantha's initial police
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interview, in which she told policethe box was Amy's most famous spot to
hide in and that she often fellasleep inside. During that interview, Samantha
told police her three year old daughterdiscovered Amy's body in the box that morning,
and that the adults had not knownAmy was in there. When Amy's
older sister, who was twelve atthe time of Amy's death, testified,
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she refuted to claim Samantha maid inthe video, telling Jurrors that despite her
statement in two thousand eleven to thecontrary the children had not played Hide and
Seek the knight of Amy's death.She said that she, her brother,
and Amy were given popsicles for doingtheir chores, but she later saw the
adults yelling at Amy for having herpopsicle. She said that her sister was
made to stand against the wall withher head back and her hands in the
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air, demonstrating the position for thejurors. Then, she said, while
the rest of the family ate dinner, Amy was forced into the backbend position
for hours, crying and saying shewas in pain. That was the last
time she saw Amy before the restof the kids went to bed. At
that time, the teenager said hercousin Samantha and her husband John were in
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the living room painting little cars theyhad built. The teenager, who was
not named to protect her identity,also said she was lying to protect her
family when she corroborated the hide andseek story. After her sister's death,
Samantha's defense attorney, John Curry,tried to dump one hundred percent of the
blame on John Allen, saying,not only did Samantha not actively participate in
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Amy's murder, but she didn't evenknow what was happening. Nonetheless, on
June twenty sixth, twenty seventeen,Samantha was found guilty of first degree murder.
Nine days later, the jury determinedthat Samantha was eligible for the death
sentence, which meant her actions wereespecially cruel and heinous. Prosecutor Gallagher said
the physical and mental anguish Amy sufferedinside the box would qualify as an aggravating
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circumstance. During Samantha's sentencing hearing inAugust, defense attorney Curry blamed the woman's
behavior on her mother, Cynthia Stoltzmann, and the environment in which Samantha had
been raised. He said her worldwas dominated by her family and that she
had no wider frame of reference,suggesting that because Samantha hardly knew anyone outside
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her family, she did not knowthat locking Amy in the box was wrong.
Psychiatrists for the defense found Samantha sufferedfrom depression, attention deficit disorder,
exposure to parental child neglect, andimpairments in brain and moral development, leaving
her with below average intelligence. MisterCurry explained to the jury that Cynthia,
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who set the tone and culture,of the house was samantha moral compass,
and that his client had told policethat her driving moral belief was honor thy
mother and father. He told thejury that Samantha had lost two husbands over
her insistence on moving in with herfamily. He said that this sense of
family loyalty was what caused Amy's death. Samantha's first husband, Joe Evans,
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testified that he met Samantha and Cynthiain two thousand and six when they came
through a McDonald's drive through in Utahwhere he was working. He began dating
Samantha shortly thereafter and witnessed the family'sliving conditions firsthand. Joe testified feces on
the walls, cockroaches drying on thewalls, food on the floor. Joe
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described a crowded home filled with severaladults and multiple children, some of whom
had lice. He and Samantha wouldsometimes babysit the children, including Amy,
who was the best behaved. Gutof those three children described a fourth.
She was moderately quiet, but stillno happy. She never really caused any
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problems or anything like that. Joeand Samantha were married in April of two
thousand and seven after dating for aperiod of months. He testified that they
endured a miscarriage, which he saiddeeply affected Samantha, and that their relationship
ended not long after they were marrieddue to Samantha's frustration that Joe did not
want to move in with her family. Joe testified that while he was with
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the family, Samantha was nice toAmy and did not abuse her. Were
there ways in which this Deal's Stoltzmannfamily struck you as being like a cult?
Yes? Now, if he didn'tfit in with them, then you
were just cast aside. Cynthia alsotestified at her daughter's sentencing hearing, saying
her parents, Judith and Arthur Deal, divorced when she was twelve, and
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Judith remarried several times, not forlove, but for financial support. The
prosecutor question Cynthia, were ever madeaware that Samantha was using the box on
Amy? You had found out thatSamantha was using the box on Amy?
What would you have done? Toldhim? Not too, I already had
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put the box out. Describe Amyin how she was when she come out
of the box. She was Amy. I mean, I don't know what
to say. I mean, itdidn't look to me like she was in
any sort of distress other than shecried because she didn't want to be in
it. Mister Curry tried to discreditCynthia's earlier testimony, in which Cynthia stated
that she never told Samantha it wasacceptable to use confinement in the footlocker as
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disciplined for Amy, and that onlya few family members knew that it had
been used that way. He showedclips of young family members telling Phoenix police
about the abuse that Amy suffered inthe months and years before her death.
After watching the clip, Samantha,who had previously contended that only she,
Cynthia, and David were responsible fordisciplining Amy, admitted that all of the
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adults in the family were involved inthe long term term abuse of her cousin.
Prosecutor Gallagher read a one paragraph impactstatement from Amy's mother, Shirley Deal,
written to a judge in twenty thirteen. It read quote, I just
wanted everyone in Arizona to know howI feel about what happened to my daughter.
Learning how she suffered in the boxwas devastating and it's something that would
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never leave me. I struggle sadnessand depression because of Amy's murder. I
am so depressed from the time Iget up until I go to bed at
night, I go to the doctorall the time. I wish she was
here with me, day and night. I've not forgiven you and never will.
The only thing you deserve is whereyou are going when you leave this
earth. The death penalty is toogood and too easy for you. I
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want you to suffer till death,just like you did to my sweet little
Amy. They need to put youall on dog chains and feed you dog
feces as you did to my baby. Ultimately, the jury determined that the
horror of Amy's murder outweighed any possiblemitigating factors, including Samantha's age, her
dysfunctional childhood, and her lack ofa prior criminal record. She was sentenced
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to death. Superior Court Judge TeresaSanders sentenced Samantha to an additional seventy six
years because of the aggravating factors inthe case, including the especially cruel nature
of the crime, the age ofthe victim, the presence of an accomplice,
her husband, and the fact thatSamantha was in a position of trust
to Amy. She was given creditfor the over two thousand days she had
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already spent in custody. When theverdict was read, Samantha dropped her head
and cried on her attorney, misterCurry's shoulder. After Samantha's sentencing, jurors
said, a lot of it comesback to the lack of remorse. I
was waiting for something from her,that was her chance to plead for her
life, and it just stashire.We just felt that at some point she
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wasn't as a passive person as wethought. I think the hardest thing for
all of us was the victim andlearning about what her life really entailed,
the years of abuse that she suffered. Samantha Allen, AZYDOC, inmate number
three two zero seven to five seven, is now listed as Samantha your REARTI.
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She resides in Perryville Prison in Goodyear, Arizona, where Cynthia is also
housed. Samantha is one of theonly three female death row inmates in Arizona,
all of whom are housed in Perryville'sLumly Unit. I'll pause here for
another quick sponsor break. John Allen'strial began on October thirtieth, twenty seventeen,
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or his charges, which included threecounts of child abuse, one count
of attempted child abuse, and onecount of first degree murder. In his
opening arguments, Prosecutor j. Rademacherpainted a chilling picture of the morning of
Amy's death, describing the little girlpolice found already dead on her back on
a towel in the living room.Her hands were raised to her shoulders,
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the fingers frozen into claws. Herankles and finger nails were purple, her
skin yellow, her lips blue andpulling away from her teeth. Her hair
was matted and her clothing wet,which they soon realized was because she had
been locked into that black box,where they saw about an inch of liquid,
the bodily fluids of the dying girl. Prosecutor Rademacher reminded the jury that
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all of this took place over apopsicle. In his opening argument, defense
attorney Rob Reinhardt said that John didnot intentionally kill Amy, breaking down for
the jury the reason why felony murderis not the same as premeditated murder.
It is instead a death that happensin the course of another crime being committed.
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In this case, that crime waschild abuse. These jurors were shown
photos of the crime scene, consistingof multiple rooms, each more cluttered than
the last, as well as thegarage, class room, and the tent
village in the back yard. Again, Prosecutor Jeanette Gallagher produced the plastic foot
locker in the courtroom, asking thejury to consider why John hid the padlock
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if he didn't know he had committeda crime, or why he had told
his wife he was turning himself inif he didn't know a crime had been
committed. While Detective Gregg McKay wason the stand, jurors were shown his
initial interview with the defendant, inwhich John eventually confessed to locking Amy in
the box several times previously, aswell as doing so at about one a
m. On the morning she died. When he saw her the next morning,
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John said in the interview she wasface up with her legs hanging out
of the box. He told detectivemcckay that day that he tried to perform
CPR on During the same interview,John told the detective that Amy was more
difficult than the other children, sayingshe had a tendency to lie, steal
food, and fail to complete herchores her punishments. He told the detective
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included making her due backbends, pouringhot sauce into her mouth, spanking her
with the buttbuster, and forcing herinto the box in which she ultimately died.
John told the detective that as Amy'slegal guardian, Cynthia was also her
main disciplinarian. Former Maricopa County ChiefMedical Examiner doctor Philip Keane explained the ruling
(41:34):
of suffocation as Amy's cause of deathand demonstrated stuffing a cloth doll the same
size as Amy into an exact replicaof the foot locker. He gave clinical
testimony about how Amy would have struggledto breathe finally becoming unconscious and ultimately dying
inside the box. In their closingstatement, prosecutors reminded the jury that John
had such little regard for Amy's lifethat he and Samantha went to sleep while
(41:59):
Amy was trapped in that tiny box, suffocating to death in her own bodily
fluids. During the defense's closing arguments, mister Reinhardt said that John accepted responsibility
for his actions. He argued thatJohn, who he reminded jurors, was
the father of four young children himself, did not intend for Amy to die,
saying the other adults in the homehad created the abuse of culture in
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the family and were simply manipulating Johninto participating. He asked the jury to
consider if John might only be guiltyof negligence or recklessness, which would not
be enough to warrant a murder conviction. The jurors and John's trial deliberated for
less than a day before coming tothe unanimous verdict guilty on all counts.
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John's sentencing hearing took place two weekslater on December seventh, twenty seventeen.
At the hearing, John broke downsobbing as he told Judge Aaron O'Brien otis
go on to say that I'm sorry. What happened was an exit. John
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continued, calling himself an idiot anda jerk, apologizing to Amy, her
family, and his own family,and saying he shamed all of them.
The judge said, in my entirecareer, I think I have not seen
too many cases that I can sayhave been worse than this one. This
was one of the most unnecessary deathsof a child I've ever seen. With
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that, John Michael Allen, agedtwenty nine, was sentenced to death by
lethal injection plus at least thirty sixyears in prison for child abuse and conspiracy
to commit child abuse. When thesentence was announced, John initially did not
react, staring at his hands.He could not get up from the defense
table afterward, holding his head inhis hands and weeping for at least five
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minutes. After the judge left thebench outside the courtroom, John's sister with
reporters saying, just for my brotherto be in this situation, satns my
heart. It breaks my heart inme. He didn't say anything when he
could have, but he made amistake and now he's going to pay for
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it with his life. John Allen, a ZDC inmate number three two three
one six seven, is serving hissentence in aim In Prison in Florence.
Arizona death Row is located on Ayman'sBrowning Unit, but curiously, John is
housed in Aymon's Rinning unit. Johnand Samantha Allen are the first married couple
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ever to be sentenced to death inArizona. It remains to be seen if
they will ever actually be put todeath. The last execution in the state
took place in July of twenty fourteen. The appeals process in a death penalty
case can take twenty years or longerafter an inmate is sentenced. In twenty
twenty, the Arizona Supreme Court ruledon an appeal alleging jurors in John Allen's
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trial handed down a sentence that wastoo harsh. The justices dismissed that idea,
saying capital punishment was warranted because Amy'sdeath was especially cruel. They did
expunge three of John's child abuse convictionsafter determining the trial court applied the sentencing
enhancements improperly. The court vacated John'ssentences on intentional child abuse, conspiracy to
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commit child abuse, and reckless childabuse, but his death sentence was upheld.
The three child abuse charges were remandedback to the trial court for resentencing
at a future date. Samantha iscurrently awaiting a ruling on her current appeal,
which is due on October second,twenty twenty three. Her last appeal
ended in twenty twenty two, whenher convictions and death sentence were affirmed,
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but her sentence for child abuse wasremanded back to the trial court for resentencing.
Amy's death caused enough public outrage tocall attention to Arizona's flawed child welfare
system, which led to a massiveoverhaul of that system and the creation of
several new laws. Soon after Amy'scase, Prosecutor Montgomery advocated for Detective Greg
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McKay, who was appointed as directorof the agency now known as DCS in
February of twenty fifteen. During apress conference in December of twenty seventeen,
Montgomery said he gathered a very smalldegree of consolation that Amy's death was not
in vain because it served as acatalyst for change. He said that under
McKay's leadership, DCS had done aone hundred eighty degree turnaround, making changes
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that included more transparency and the abilityto more quickly provide information about child deaths
and near fatalities, which was impossiblein twenty eleven when Amy died. McKay
also spoke saying he vowed not tolet children die in vain. In his
new position, McKay had the abilityto effect thousands of children's lives in a
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positive way. He went over someof the improvements the agency had made,
including lowering caseloads from upwards of onehundred fifty per staff member to around twelve
or fifteen, a backlog of formerlyaround sixteen thousand cases being reduced to around
two hundred eighty and drastically lowering fostercare numbers. Both men stressed that more
(47:10):
work needed to be done, includinginvolving the public to a greater degree when
it came to reporting suspected neglect andabuse, not to mention parents providing better
parenting. Greg McKay stepped down asDCS director in July of twenty nineteen to
become the chief operating officer of ChildHelp USA, a nonprofit agency helping victims
(47:31):
of child abuse nationwide. Even thoughAmy may not have experienced love during the
last several years of her life,she is cherished and adored now, both
by those who knew her and bythose of us who never met her but
refused to let her memory die.Jelene Boydston, Amy's second grade teacher,
told a reporter she didn't want Amyto be remembered as an abused girl who
(47:53):
died in a box, but asa beautiful human being. Family members on
Facebook have mentioned that Amy had acontagious giggle and that her favorite snack was
corn curls. A former neighbor inUtah talked about how Amy was a sweetheart
who liked singing and playing in thesprinkler. She said her family still set
(48:13):
off fireworks on July twenty fourth,Amy's birthday in her honor. Ross Lunsford,
former principal at James Madison Elementary inOgden, Utah, recalled Amy always
had a smile on her face andthat she was the kid in school that
every teacher wanted to take home.He fondly remembered how Amy would attach herself
to his leg and refuse to letgo as he walked down the hallway.
(48:37):
That's it for this episode. Thankyou for having me, and if you
feel so inclined, please check outmy podcast, Suffer the Little Children,
on your favorite podcast platform on YouTubeand at Suffer the Little Children pod dot
com. I've been your guest hostLane and it's been my honor to tell
you Amy's story. Thanks for listening, and stay safe New Mexico.
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