Ryan and Brittany McConniel made 5-year old Lauren's life living hell until she died

**thehesbomb** · June 14th, 2010, 11:37 PM

MUNCIE — A five-year-old girl whose parents have been accused of neglect of a dependent died from hypernatremia, extreme malnutrition and had physical trauma to nearly all of her body surfaces, police say.

Given the girl’s overall physical condition, including extreme malnutrition and injuries, the elevated salt levels “most likely” were the result of “administration of some form of salt, possibly as punishment,” medical authorities told police.

By the time of her death, the girl's weight had declined to the average weight for a two-and-a-half-year-old child, according to the probable cause affidavit.

A physician at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, where Lauren McConniel died in March, told police the injuries to the child could not have occurred from reasonable discipline or accidental injury, and were considered to be inflicted trauma or child abuse, Muncie police Sgt. Jimmy Gibson said.

The suspects facing class A felony charges are Ryan McConniel, 33, the child’s father, and Brittany McConniel, 24, the stepmother, who lived at 2304 S. Ebright St. at the time. Both were arrested on Friday and held in the Delaware County jail over the weekend.

Ryan McConniel got custody of the girl after a divorce in Arkansas.

After Lauren’s death, the department of child services took custody of the girl’s nine-year-old sister and placed her in foster care. The sister told psychological evaluators that the parents would hit Lauren on the bottom of her feet with a stick, make her do jumping jacks and push-ups and for punishment she was made to hold heavy objects with her arms held out.

The natural mother, Amber Huggins of Knoxville, Tenn., filed an emergency petition for custody of the older daughter in Delaware County, reporting that Lauren died a suspicious death, and that she was emaciated, had elevated salt levels and was significantly bruised when she died.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the defendants told authorities that Lauren had acted bizarrely, climbing the walls like a cat, storing food in her cheeks, mutilating dolls, hearing blue bunnies telling her to do bad things, biting herself, hiding scissors in her diapers, eating her own vomit and feces, rocking, staring at the walls, eating out of trash cans and swearing.

Authorities accuse the defendants of a lack of medical care for the child.

Brittany:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...048&ref=search

http://www.myspace.com/brittanymcconniel

Ryan:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...onniel?ref=sgm

Little Lauren:

**SingleMama** · June 14th, 2010, 11:43 PM

these ppl are sick... why fight for your child in the divorce just so you can torture her? was this some sick revenge against the mother? or maybe these ppl are just sick, evil s.o.b.'s that deserve to receive every ounce of pain they inflicted on that little girl 100 fold!

**Cholita** · June 15th, 2010, 03:48 AM

When I hear of stories like this it always makes me think that stepmom is jealous of the little girls! I know it happens to little boys too but for some reason I feel like with a little girl they are especially jealous...just sayin'
Poor little baby girl!

**Whisper** · June 18th, 2010, 11:53 PM

More than 100 attend girl's vigil
MUNCIE, Ind. -- More than 100 people turned out for a candlelight vigil Friday in memory of Lauren McConniel, the 5-year-old girl who died from alleged neglect.
Mourners included adults and children, most of whom didn't know the victim. They brought flowers, pink teddy bears, a pink "Princess" balloon, candles, a poem and white T shirts that read, "In Loving Memory of Lauren Michele McConniel, In Jesus's Loving Arms."
Paul Hovis, Hartford City, came to the vigil by his girlfriend, Jody Sorrell.
[...]
"There may be evil, but God is greater," Sorrell said. "More people may speak up now about child abuse. We need to be here. This is important."
Before her death in March, Lauren had dwindled to the weight of a 30-month-old and suffered seizures, respiratory failure and shock. Her father, Ryan, and stepmother, Brittany, were jailed last weekon felony charges of child neglect resulting in death.
Gary and Valerie Huxhold had a sign made displaying Lauren's photograph inside a pink heart. Gary Huxhold hopes the girl's death "opens some eyes."
The Huxholds and others attending the vigil questioned why medical providers who treated Lauren as well as three other adult relatives who lived in the household didn't report the alleged neglect to child protective services.
A cardboard sign hanging between two trees in front of the house where the girl had lived read, "The McConniels and Lees moved out April 1. New tenants moved in May 1st." The Lees are Brittany McConniel's mother, stepfather and sister.
"I don't want the people who live there now to be run in the dirt," said Teanna Clark, a mother and co-organizer of the event who lives a block away. "We don't want people driving by the house to hurt them."
Organizers invited those attending to write messages in a condolence book for Lauren's biological mother, Amber Huggins, and to make donations to help pay travel expenses for Huggins, who now lives in Knoxville, Tenn., to attend the criminal court proceedings in Muncie.
Tina Merryweather, Clark’s mother, read a prayer and then a poem about being thankful for being able to see a beautiful butterfly even though it didn’t stay around long. After 45 minutes, dark clouds and high winds sent the crowd rushing down the middle of the street to the safety of vehicles.

http://www.indystar.com/article/2010...0419/1001/NEWS

**MadeaBecBec** · February 16th, 2011, 04:37 AM

Brittany McConniel had bond lowered and is out (on bond)....

MUNCIE -- Six months after convincing a judge to modify her bond, Brittany McConniel has been freed from jail pending trial on charges of neglect resulting in the death of her stepdaughter.

McConniel had testified that her relatives might be able to post a property bond offering title to their property, which would be forfeited if she disappears, or that they might be able to get her out of jail with a surety bond facilitated through a bail bondsman. That would cost her family a 10-percent, nonrefundable premium, or $3,000.
That's how she got out of jail on Friday, after spending $3,000 with a bail bondsman.

She was born in Muncie, and she and her husband have lived in Muncie, Winchester, Farmland, Eaton and Arkansas. She has worked as an aide at a Muncie nursing home, at a Winchester nursing home and at Ball Memorial Hospital.

Ryan recently filed a petition to dissolve the couple's marriage.

http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbc...=2011102150344

Comments:

Missinghertoo wrote:

Seems messed up to me where would she be if this were Judge Thomas Cannon's grandaughter ?, Why would a bond be modified or set low enough for her to be release before trial.Sopporter's ? What about the people who wernt there in support of her , the ones that loved her , Family ? my mom had 13 kids and my family is to many to count and were all apposed to the way this has been handled . If this would have been you grandaughter and you stayed by her side at rieley not knowing what to feel, think, say and praying for God to take your life instead , Where would she be ? Dont sweep this tragady under the rug my gradaughter deserves much more . If the fact that she lived in Muncie is in play maybe they shoudldnt be tried in muncie , she shouldnt get preferential treatment because she lived or had family in muncie . a crime is a crime

2/15/2011 5:34:29 PM

jerbear77 wrote:
That's the thing HER biological mom wanted her! The courts in Arkansas give her and her sister to the sperm donor,I cannot call him a father,because SHE couldn't afford a lawyer.........(snipped)
2/15/2011 2:00:05 PM

I have worked in the legal field, I am certain that the children were not given to the sperm donor just because Mom didn't have a lawyer, especially here in Arkansas! There is every legal aid available, free to persons that are considered indigent, most certainly free to Mothers. Attorneys volunteer, give legal advice and a mother seeking custody does not have to have a lawyer, she just needs to appear in court. I'm pretty sure she (Ms. Huggins) is feeling guilty enough, so I won't go any further, except to say, it seems she may have left the girls with sperm donor for too long before it was brought to court.

It makes me heartsick that this happened to a child, torture and starvation, possible sexual abuse, realizing though that Brittany worked as an aid in a hospital setting, makes the non-reporting a bit easier to understand, she probably knew some of the Doctors and Nurses, plus she knew just what to say to be convincing.....

Lauren, sweet baby, I am convinced you are truly loved and feasting there in heaven, Fly baby fly!

**Tundratot** · February 16th, 2011, 06:02 AM

Hey, she's out! Road trip!

**Tundratot** · March 30th, 2011, 03:32 PM

Aww. Now the legal wrangling begins. What should the jury see? Where should the trial be held?

MUNCIE -- Attorneys for Brittany and Ryan McConniel want a "test" jury selected before their upcoming neglect trials to "determine prejudice from pre-trial publicity" stemming from the March 2010 death of his 5-year-old daughter.

When their trials -- set for May 9 and June 6, respectively -- are actually conducted, the McConniels want jurors sequestered, a step rarely taken in Delaware County trials not involving a possible death sentence.

Those and other pre-trial motions -- including asking that jurors not see the child's autopsy photos -- will be considered by Delaware Circuit Court 5 Judge Thomas Cannon Jr. at a Thursday afternoon hearing.

. . .

Britanny McConniel's public defender, Zaki Ali, also is requesting that his client's trial be held outside of Delaware County.

Deputy Prosecutor Eric Hoffman has filed written arguments against most of the requests made by Ali and Ryan McConniel's public defender, John Brooke.

In his request that jurors be sequestered -- presumably to be housed at county expense at a local motel while the trials are ongoing -- Brooke said his intent was not to "inconvenience the prospective jurors, nor place an unreasonable financial burden on the taxpayers of Delaware County, but to ensure a fair trial." Of course. But, hey, if the expense and hassle makes it impossible to go forward, that would suit you very much.

Brooke also called media coverage stemming from Lauren McConniel's death "excessive and prejudicial" and that pre-trial publicity "not only has continued, but has increased." Not so I've noticed. . . .

Brooke wrote that if jurors viewed autopsy photos, they might unfairly hold his client "responsible for the cuts, incisions and indignity of the autopsy." I think we can see past the autopsy incisions right to the emaciation and injuries that aren't part of the autopsy. And I'm sure the coroner will point those out.

The defense attorneys proposed that in lieu of autopsy photos, they would agree to stipulate to "the identity of the victim and that she is no longer living." I don't think that the identity is why they show those photos, guys. It's to show the jury what the victim sustained in real images and not just little pencil lines on a body chart. Seeing is believing.

Hoffman responded that prosecutors needed to introduce such evidence to demonstrate "the victim's severe emaciation," including a "complete lack of subcutaneous fat cells." Yeah!

At another pre-trial hearing, Hoffman will seek permission to present the testimony of a mental health professional who interviewed Lauren McConniel's siblings.

Those interviews produced "detailed descriptions of how they observed the ... physical abuse and neglect of the decedent," Hoffman wrote.

http://www.thestarpress.com/article/...WS01/103300338

**Hannahs Faith** · May 17th, 2011, 01:38 PM

Having first hand knowledge of this case, I disagree.... Unfortunately, in most states legal aid cannot be used in domestic cases i.e. divorce, child custody. I also know first-hand that when an individual goes in to one of those courtrooms without an attorney, the opposing attorney uses every loop-hole he/she can find in order to impress the judge with his argument. In this particular case, the sperm-donor took the two girls and moved, leaving no contact information for the Mother. It was not until she was notified of Lauren's critical condition did she find the area in which they resided. Suffice it to say that Lauren was in perfect health when she left her Mother's home; when she was found, she was starving to death, abused, neglected, and tortured. Discipline included 'pouring salt down her throat' which ultimately led to an over-dose that damaged her organs and brain. She was braindead on March 4th and on life-support. Her Mother has no reason to feel guilt over Lauren's death, however the five adults that lived in the home should be placed on death-row.

**Tundratot** · May 17th, 2011, 02:51 PM

You disagree about what? That there was help available or that Britney could take his kids away? The help I was referring to was police help, to stop the abuse perpetrated by Britney and Robert on Lauren. He could have asked CPS or LE or even just taken her at any time to medical people and told them what was happening instead of lying or expecting them to just know. He could have packed her and her sister up and driven off into the sunset. He could have taken them back to their real mother, or told her where to find them. There are many things he could have done if he had a spine or wasn't a monster himself. Britney had no legal hold on those kids.

**Toxic** · May 1st, 2011, 11:27 PM

Oh my god, how could someone do that to a beautiful little girl? I hope he gets ass-fucked to death in prison and she becomes big berthas "lil lady"

**hidden Angel** · May 10th, 2011, 11:06 AM

The Trial for Brittany McConniel started today at the Delaware County court house in muncie IN.

http://www.indystar.com/article/2011...ughter-s-death

MUNCIE, Ind. -- A Muncie man has struck a deal with prosecutors and will plead guilty to a charge stemming from his 5-year-old daughter's death that could send him to prison for up to 20 years.

As part of the plea agreement, Ryan McConniel is expected to testify against his estranged wife, Brittany, who is charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a felony carrying a maximum 50-year prison term. Her trial is set for May 9.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kathy Sanders

**Momzilla** · May 11th, 2011, 12:25 AM

Listed as potential targets of investigations stemming from the girl's death are Brittany McConniel -- from whom Ryan McConniel was granted a divorce Feb. 18, pending the payment of related court fees -- and three members of her family who to date have not been charged

Hmmmm.....I would really like to know who these other 3 people are who stood by and watched a little girl be tortured to death- BESIDES little Lauren's own father, of course!

Ryan McConniel would plead guilty to neglect of a dependent, a Class B felony carrying a standard 10-year term. The length of his sentence, which could range from 6 to 20 years, would be left up to Cannon.

That last part just made my eye twitch with stroke-inducing anger!- 6 years for a father who helped torture his own daughter to death!

Come on DA's office...I know you would like to have testimony against the step-monster but can't you flip one of her "3 yet-to-be-charged family members"!!! I really hope his plea deal isn't final yet!

http://www.thestarpress.com/article/...y-against-wife

**Southern Sin** · June 15th, 2010, 04:01 AM

I cant understand what makes people like this?.... Its absolute madness.

They ruined her, they ruined her life and then they took it away from her.....just completely insane. To know that there is a child enduring this kind of suffering in the same house as you, while you are most likely living a relatively "normal" life.... and ignoring it..... Shocking

**carolinablue** · June 15th, 2010, 06:55 AM

What I would do to these two things can't be put in writing. Suffice it to say that it would take weeks, they would beg for death and they would be reduced to a pile of unrecognizable, shredded flesh.

**thebooblady** · June 15th, 2010, 07:42 AM

Timeline found at http://www.thestarpress.com/article/...NEWS01/6150317

Medical care sought for Lauren McConniel by her father, Ryan, and stepmother Brittany, according to investigators:

August 2009

Medical records and photographs indicate Lauren was happy and healthy while in the care of her natural mother, Amber Huggins, Knoxville, Tenn., who lost custody to Ryan, the natural father. Lauren and her sister are taken by the father to Winchester and, later, Muncie.

November 19, 2009

Lauren is taken to St. Vincent Randolph Hospital in Winchester with a complaint of soap in her eye. None of the behavioral problems the child was reportedly experiencing are reported to hospital doctors. Parents falsely claim Dr. Aaron Shoemaker in Winchester is the child's primary care physician, including caring for malnutrition issues. However, Shoemaker never saw the child.

December 8, 2009

Lauren is taken to Ball Memorial Hospital emergency department for treatment of broken right fingers from jumping on bed. Shoemaker again is listed as primary care physician. The child's bizarre behavior is not reported to BMH doctors.

Feb. 4, 2009

Lauren is taken to Southway Urgent Care in Muncie for burning urination. Nurse says vaginal area does not look normal. Child knocks self in head during exam. Father says child has been hitting and injuring herself hard enough to bruise, and has regressed to wearing diapers. Father falsely claims child had been under natural mother's care until recently. Nurse urges father to take child to Meridian Services for mental evaluation. Father and stepmother again claim Dr. Shoemaker is primary care physician.

Feb. 10, 2009

Parents take child to Meridian Services and finally report bizarre behavior, including hiding a knife and scissors in her diaper and wanting to stab her stepmother. Child blames natural mother for abuse, but those claims were never confirmed by investigators. Child looked exhausted, frail. Father says child is being fed baby food. Therapist says she has never heard of such bizarre behavior and believes child is being seriously sexually abused. Therapist is falsely told Dr. Shoemaker is treating the child's malnutrition.

March 2, 2010

Ambulance called after Lauren fell and hit her head. CT scan at Ball Memorial Hospital is normal. Clinical impression was noted as malnutrition and behavioral problems. Parents say Lauren falls a lot and gets dizzy, walks into things. Parents say Dr. Shoemaker is aware of the child's condition, and was treating her and had weighed her two days earlier.

March 2, 2010

After being released from BMH, Lauren's condition worsened. She bumped into people and apparently couldn't see. Unable to contact Meridian Services, parents take Lauren to Valle Vista Health Systems in Greenwood for psychiatric care. Dr. Shoemaker listed as primary care doctor. Bizarre behavior is reported. Licensed medical health counselor refers Lauren to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis with a diagnosis including medical neglect.

March 3, 2009

A multitude of medical providers at Riley see Lauren. She develops seizures, respiratory failure and shock. She is suffering severe malnutrition with no fat reserves whatsoever. Parents finally admit Dr. Shoemaker has never seen Lauren.

March 9, 2009

Lauren dies in the hospital.

**Jerri Blank** · June 15th, 2010, 07:59 AM

5-year-old Lauren Michele McConniel

According to her father, Ryan McConniel, and her stepmother, Brittany, the 5-year-old girl would climb the wall like a cat, store food in her cheeks, mutilate her dolls and bite herself.

She reportedly saw little blue bunnies that told her to do bad things (such as stabbing daddy), rocked and stared at the wall for hours, ate food out of trash cans, armed herself with a butcher knife, had to wear diapers and rarely slept. [...]

[...] A pediatrician, Antoinette Laskey, head of the Indiana State Child Fatality Review Board, assessed the girl as having extremely high levels of salt in her blood, extreme malnutrition, bruises, scrapes and abrasions all over her body, and chewed-off fingers. She was malnourished to the point of weighing as much as the average 30-month-old. [...]

http://www.indystar.com/article/2010...se?source=pn_s

omg! she was so hungry she chewed off her fingers!!

The parents act like they can't understand why their child did these things...like wanting to stab daddy and store food in her cheeks....she was slowly starving to death!!!

I so want to kill these fuckers right now!

**Ravyn1965** · June 15th, 2010, 08:56 AM

I don't know how anyone could look into those wide, beautiful eyes and deny her the love, care and affection she so rightly deserved. Heartless pieces of trash!

And why is it that with every story of a child being starved to death, either one or both "parents" look like they haven't missed a meal and even went back for seconds? Makes me sick!

R.I.P., sweet Lauren.

**Valasca** · June 15th, 2010, 09:14 AM

the best thing in the world is being a mommy!! When you look in there eyes and see the love they have for you; that is an amazing thing! I have three amazing kids i wouldnt trade them for the world!!!! They are grow up way to fast you blink your eye and they have changed again! I have two kids of my own and have the chance of rasin my beautiful stepdaughter!! She is the one who has grown and changed the most over the summer!! She is great! kaden is going to pershool! He is already 4! He is a great kid to. Hanny is almost one where did the time go!!!!!

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?f...ogId=506239589

Bitch.

**MissKerosene** · June 15th, 2010, 09:40 AM

I had a look at the vile cunts myspace and it seems she had no problems feeding her bio kids and taking tons of "happy family" pictures of them. This is just sickening these evil putrid pieces of shite slowly tortured and murdered this wee angel!!

I hope true justice is served to these arseholes!! I am in total shock in regards to the details of this story. Wee mite chewed off her own fingers!! The horror of that I can NOT get my head around. Not to mention how badly this child was failed all the times taken to the hospital and not once did Child services get their arses out there??? Did no one call them or check up on the parents story?? Really??

RIP wee angel Lauren you deserved so much more and a love filled life.

**Mystica43229** · June 15th, 2010, 11:37 AM

Wait, was there some story posted about this child before about her behavior? I remember mentioning that she is probably being abused and that is why she is acting out.

**badfish76** · June 15th, 2010, 11:46 AM

I have seen other stories on here where the murders use this excuse to explain why a child has injuries in various stages of healing.

Not only is it sick to inflict this on a child but then to try to blame the child for the injuries is beyond wrong.

The part of this that kills me the most is the claim of sharp objects in the diaper and the statement made by a health care provider that the girl's genitals didn't look right! WTF was going on??? I don't think I really wanna know.

**AngelFire** · June 15th, 2010, 02:57 PM

The only thing I can think of is bringing these two pieces of shit to death's door, all maimed and mangled. Like CB said, have them begging for death to just come and take them. Pour alcohol, and salt on their wounds, and watch them squirm in pain, as I sit and watch....leave them to starve and have their insides eat itself, and all the while a nice, hot, steamy plate of food just feet away from them, but can't reach it.

**KyFyre** · June 15th, 2010, 03:07 PM

Just curious, I know high levels of salt can cause blood pressure elevations and numerous other health problems, could it also cause hallucinations? I expect the hunger could induce some. But could their "punishments" have also escalated things? The self harming and wanting to stab the sperm donor and his cunt is also understandable, it's likely he was sexually abusing her, add that in with the step-monsters actions and this little girl was a mess. Poor poor baby. Chances are she was self harming because they told her she was worthless, or it was her fault they did such horrible horrible things.

I wish while they are locked up they could be fed only salt, have their bottoms of their feet whacked (that was also a form of torture in the middle ages) and have done to them what pains they inflicted on this little angel. At least now she is safe in the arms of the angels and never has to suffer another day.

**redsaid** · June 15th, 2010, 03:42 PM

This is so sad. How many doctors does it take....and this is no joke.

Dehydration is no way to go, fuckin jerks. I'm surprised they even TOOK her to the docs. didn't matter anyway. Did it....

**CiaraLuna** · June 15th, 2010, 04:44 PM

That poor, beautiful, little girl. Poor baby was starving to the point of eating her own fingers off?! What a horrible way to die. Why couldn't they just send her back to Mom if they didn't like her.

Her dad looks like one mean SOB. He just wanted custody to get back at Mom. They both must have had nothing but hatred for Lauren to let her suffer so.

**AngelFire** · June 15th, 2010, 07:36 PM

If children would be considered human beings by these monsters instead of pawns, this shit wouldn't be going on as much as it does now. But sadly, some people procreate out of laziness to use birth control, and not because they are ready to have kids and be a caring and loving parents. Then the kids come, and become burdens to these idiots, and then neglect sets in, and the flood gates open to more potential abuse.

I was one of the lazy asses who didn't seek birth control, and got pregnant with my oldest son at 20. But we made ourselves take responsibility and provided the best home for our little guy. We argued, and we stopped speaking to one another on several occassions, but to use our own child to get at the other one, was NEVER an option.

I don't know, I guess I am rambling. But I am so enraged that these poor babies keep dying,and all to play a game of tug of war with a helpless baby. She was happy with her mom, she was striving before custody was granted to the devil himself. Now she is dead, at the hands of her sperm donor. A perfectly beautiful happy little girl is dead, and I am royally pissed

**Mom2three** · June 15th, 2010, 10:52 PM

I just don't understand people that starve their children.

There are times when it has been "one of those days" that my daughter may not eat the healthiest (but she gets 3 meals) and I feel guilty for that. I just don't know how you don't feed your kid at all???

**SingleMama** · June 15th, 2010, 11:07 PM

I'd like to know how she saw soooo many doctors and no one noticed she was in trouble?! Her fingers were chewed off and the doctors just referred them to someone else?! I don't get it!! If they honestly didn't suspect abuse (which I find really fucking hard to believe) they should've at least suspected some severe mental health issues and in that case, she should've been admitted for observation!! At least then she would've been fed!!!!!!!! So many people failed this little girl. Especially those "parents". Sick fucks.

**HijabiGirl** · June 15th, 2010, 11:45 PM

There is a genetic disorder called Lesh-Nyhans syndrome which is unique for self mutilization. This is includes but is not limited to chewing off finger tips, bashing head against walls, and other self injurious behavior. It's a pretty devastating disease and often the patient is kept in special care in restraints as well as a padded bed.

With that said, this child obviously was suffering systematic abuse and starvation. Hypernatremia was most likely due to severe dehydration and her bizarre behavior in the end (if she was truly hallucinating, etc.,) was probably due to cerebral edema. If she was in complete health in her mother's care but then deteriorated to this level it's safe to say the new caretakers are the cause. I am stunned that DCF was not contacted as soon as a nurse noted the "abnormal vaginal appearance" and the complete regression of this child's behavior. I am further stunned that NOT ONE HEALTH PROFESSIONAL contact her alleged PMP, that's basic medicine 101.

This poor child died a death that I don't care to comtemplate. They should sterilize her so-called father and that witch of a stepmother. Then slowly kill them in the method they utilized on this poor kid.