Sylvia likens memorial

She was born between two sets of fraternal twins: Diana and Danny two years olderand Jenny and Benny one year younger, sylvia likens memorial, the former disabled by polio. Likens' parents' marriage was unstable. The family moved frequently, and the parents had sylvia likens memorial difficulties. Likens and her sister Jenny were often boarded out or forced to live with relatives, such as their grandmother, so that their schoolwork would not suffer while their parents were on the road.

Sylvia Marie Likens January 3, — October 26, was an American teenager who was tortured and murdered by her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski, many of Baniszewski's children, and several of their neighborhood friends. The abuse lasted for three months, occurring incrementally, before Likens died from her extensive injuries and malnourishment on October 26, , in Indianapolis , Indiana. Likens was increasingly tormented , neglected , belittled, sexually humiliated , beaten, starved , lacerated, burned, and dehydrated by her tormentors. Her autopsy showed wounds across her body, including several burns, scald marks and eroded skin. Through intimidation, her younger sister, Jenny, was occasionally forced to participate in her mistreatment. The official cause of her death was determined to be a homicide caused by a combination of subdural hematoma and shock , complicated by severe malnutrition. Gertrude Baniszewski; her oldest daughter, Paula; her son, John; and two neighborhood youths, Coy Hubbard and Richard Hobbs, were all tried and convicted in May of neglecting, torturing, and murdering Likens.

Sylvia likens memorial

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He died of a heart attack in Shelbyville, sylvia likens memorial, Indianaon June 23 of that year at the age of Within her parole hearing, Baniszewski stated her wish that Likens's death could "be undone", [] although she minimized her responsibility for any of her actions, [] stating: "I'm not sure what role I had in [Likens's death], because I was on drugs. Let them through, for they are the welcome ones!

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They were unable to take their children with them, so they left their two boys in the care of their grandparents. And Gertrude was to take in Sylvia, 16, and her younger sister, Jenny, who was diagnosed with polio and walked with a limp. Gertrude, who was 37 years old at the time, had promised that she would care for Sylvia and Jenny as if they were her children, but it was a promise that she would later break. After they informed her parents, Lester contacted Baniszewsk and told her to get Sylvia back in school. She told him that she would, but Sylvia never returned. School officials sent out another notice to Baniszewsk on Oct. They asked how they could help Sylvia return to school, but four days later, she was dead. At around p. A thin, pink blanket and pink nail polish were found nearby, and there was trash scattered on the floor.

Sylvia likens memorial

Sylvia Likens. John Jr Baniszewski and Gertrude Baniszewski. Via Wikimedia Commons. The autopsy of the sixteen-year-old girl from Indiana read like that of a horror movie. Her skin had receded, and she had open wounds nearly down to the bone. Sylvia and her sister Jenny were sent to live with Gertrude Baniszewski in July Their parents, Lester and Betty, were in desperate need of money and had joined the travelling carnival, which was no place for children. After all, she already had seven of her own children; what difference would two more make? Fifteen-year-old Jenny had polio and wore a leg brace, so Sylvia offered to help around the Baniszewski house, making sure the chores were done for both of them.

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On October 25, Likens tried to escape after overhearing Baniszewski's plan to blindfold her and dump her body in Jimmy's Forest, a wooded area nearby. Gertrude then ordered Likens, who had defecated, to clean herself. May 19, On October 26, after multiple beatings, burnings, and scalding baths, Likens died of a brain hemorrhage, shock, and malnutrition. Retrieved December 22, On May 10, a Baptist Minister named Roy Julian testified to having known a teenage girl was being abused in the Baniszewski household, although he had failed to report this information to authorities as, having been informed by Gertrude that Likens had "made advances to men for money," he had believed the girl was being punished for soliciting. As Likens had not attended school for several days, a school nurse visited East New York Street to investigate these claims. She then kicked Likens in the genitals. In her teenage years, Sylvia Likens occasionally earned spending money by babysitting, running errands, or performing ironing chores for friends and neighbors, often giving her mother part of her earnings. Retrieved March 27, Her vaginal cavity was nearly swollen shut, although an examination of the canal determined that her hymen was still intact, which meant it was possible she was still a virgin, discrediting Baniszewski's assertions that Likens was a prostitute and her insistence that she was pregnant.

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Retrieved March 29, During the initial weeks in which Sylvia and Jenny resided at the Baniszewski household, the sisters were subjected to very little discipline or abuse. You can't get married now. As Likens had not attended school for several days, a school nurse visited East New York Street to investigate these claims. The trial of the five defendants lasted 17 days before the jury retired to consider its verdict. All were charged with having repeatedly struck, beaten, kicked, and otherwise inflicting a culmination of fatal injuries to Sylvia Likens with premeditated malice. Retrieved March 26, Within her parole hearing, Baniszewski stated her wish that Likens's death could "be undone", [] although she minimized her responsibility for any of her actions, [] stating: "I'm not sure what role I had in [Likens's death], because I was on drugs. Diana eventually learned that Sylvia and Jenny were staying at a home which was not their parents', and she attempted to visit them. Four minors who took part in the abuse of Likens were also put on trial. The family moved frequently, and the parents had financial difficulties. Kokomo Tribune. She was spared the death penalty and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Don't have an account?