GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) — An Etowah County Circuit Judge has denied bond for the stepmother of a 9-year-old girl who died in March after she was run to death as punishment.
Savannah Hardin allegedly was forced by her grandmother to run for about three hours at their home. The girl collapsed and had a seizure.
She died three days later at Children's Hospital.
Her grandmother, Joyce Hardin Garrard, has been charged with capital murder. Attorneys for Jessica Hardin requested a bond reduction hearing for her. The stepmother is charged with felony murder and has been in jail on a $500,000 cash bond since her arrest. Several news outlets have reported that defense attorneys told the judge her bond should be set between $15,000 and $75,000.




