A woman from Georgia was sentenced to 200 years in prison, plus 200 years probation, for exposing her children to deplorable living conditions and letting her husband to beat and abuse them.
The case was first reported in Calhoun, Georgia in February 2020, and Stephanie Danielle Davis, 37, was sentenced on Friday by the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office, according to 11Alive.
Christopher Matthew Davis, 43, is her husband and the children’s stepfather. After being found guilty of 47 charges in December, he got 2 life sentences plus 841 years in prison. In November, the mother pleaded guilty to 42 charges.
According to the Cherokee DA’s Office, the stepfather abused the nine children, ages 3 to 17, by locking them in an unventilated closet with no bathroom, strangling them till they passed out, forcing them to sit on a fire ant pile, and burning them with items such as sparklers and frying oil.
Officers discovered that the children were intentionally given little food and water, forcing them to eat rotten food, and were limited in when they could use the restroom. They were without sufficient clothing, as well as beds, blankets, and pillows. When the mom and stepdad were not present, they were also locked upstairs.
One of the children, a teen boy, managed to escape in February 2020 and told the Calhoun Police Department that his stepfather “slapped and punched him, hit him with a stick, strangled him, burned him with hot oil, locked him in a closet and beat him with a belt and a wooden cane.”
At the time, police stated that the boy had “visible injuries all over his head and body,” as well as a ruptured eardrum.
In early 2019, Gordon County guidance counselors reported to the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) that they believed the children were being victimized, at which point the mom removed them from public school. It was unclear how far DFCS went with the case.
According to Katie Gropper, a prosecutor with the District Attorney’s Office, the mother initially claimed she was a “helpless victim” in the case, but “the evidence demonstrated her extensive involvement.”
“She not only held the children down while her husband Christopher Davis beat and burned them, but she also crafted cover stories for the children to tell their teachers and DFCS if they were ever questioned about their injuries,” Gropper said. “Her efforts to influence and manipulate the children to recant their allegations continued even after her arrest.”
According to the DA’s Office, the woman’s children “testified that the physical wounds and suffering they experienced were painful, but the betrayal of their own mother left deeper wounds that will take much longer to heal.”
“Today, the children are in stable and loving foster homes and have demonstrated incredible resilience,” Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace said. “These children are now able to live freely, without fear, and to rise above this trauma.”
