Killer mom or victim of injustice? Mother-of-five convicted of salt poisoning her foster son insists she is INNOCENT - and is backed by her husband

A mother, convicted of intentionally poisoning her foster child with salt, is insisting that she is innocent and holding onto hope that the Texas appeal's court will soon overturn her conviction.

Hannah Overton, from Corpus Christi, Texas, has spent five years behind bars, after she was given a life sentence for the 2006 death of a four-year-old boy, Andrew Burd, whom she was trying to adopt.



Overton is speaking out about her wish for justice to be served and her husband, Larry, is sharing the struggle of trying to raise their five children while his wife is incarcerated.



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Speaking out: Hannah Overton spoke out on Monday, claiming that her four-year-old foster son had behavioral issues, including a bizarre eating disorder that contributed to his death

Foster son: Andrew Burd was born to teenage parents and his mother abused drugs during her pregnancy

On a fateful day in October 2006, Burd, whose biological teenage mother was a Meth addict, started acting up and then vomited, telling Overton that he didn't feel well.

When he said he felt cold, he took a warm bath but as his symptoms worsened, the Overtons took him to the Corpus Christi hospital for treatment. He died a day later from salt poisoning.

A week after his death, murder charges were brought against the mother. The lead prosecutor in the case, Sandra Eastwood, portrayed Overton as a frazzled care giver that had force fed Andrew cajun seasoning as a form of punishment, which caused the sodium poisoning.



But during the trial, the defense said the boy's death was accidental and was likely due to a medical condition, pica, that can cause a person to crave non-edible salty items like clay, sand or dirt.

But in 2007, Overton was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.



Family: Hannah and Larry Overton with four of their children, before they brought Andrew into their family. Hannah gave birth to their fifth child after Andrew's death

Belonging: The Overtons said they wanted Andrew (second from the left) to have a 'forever family' after he was shuffled around in different foster homes

Fateful day: Hannah and Larry Overton drove Andrew to the hospital in October 2006, instead of calling 911, and they say he became unconscious just moments before they arrived. He died a day later

The mother has been behind bars for five years, separated from her husband and five children, aged five to 13, who are being cared for by their father and home schooled by a supportive church community that still believes in Overton's innocence.

Overton was interviewed for Katie Couric's daytime talk show, sharing her heartbreak at being in prison while her children grow up.



'I was falsely accused of the murder of my son,' she said from prison.



'We knew there were a lot of kids out there that didn't have mommies and daddies that loved them,' she explained about why they decided to proceed with the adoption of Andrew, even though he had some behavioral issues.



'We had a home we could share with him,' she said.

She explained how he would try to eat soap and shampoo, behavior which she shared with the adoption supervisor. The supervisor was going to arrange for medical treatment.



Missing their mom: 13-year-old Isaac (left) and Isabel, 11, say they remember their brother and described their pain at growing up without their mom around



Heartbreak: Hannah's husband, Larry, shared with Katie Couric the struggle of raising five children with his wife behind bars

Overton's husband also appeared on Katie, with four of their children, and described his struggle raising a family without the woman he fell in love with as a teenager.



'There’s not a day that I think about those things and wonder, could I have done something different?' Larry Overton said on Katie on Monday about that day in October when Andrew died.



Every month, Larry takes his five children, I saac, Isabel, Allie, Sebastian and Emma, to see their mom at the state prison in Texas, 300 miles away.



Because she was convicted of a capital crime, she is not allowed to touch the children when they come to visit her and can only see them through a glass partition.



Isaac, who is 13, said he still grieves for his brother and even keeps a picture of Andrew by his bed.



11-year-old Isabel, who just started middle school, said it is hard that her mom isn't able to be with her and help her through some of the changes she is experiencing.



Her sister, Allie, said that even though her mom is in prison she will still help the kids with their homework and try to help talk through things they are learning in school. She said their mom even helps give them ideas for Halloween costumes and tries to stay involved as much as possible.



Family moments: Allie and Sebastian (left) said their mom tries to help them with their school work, even from jail. Hannah was incarcerated when the youngest Overton child, Emma (right) took her first steps



Overton has appealed her conviction and the Texas State Court of Appeals will decide if it will be overturned.

New details have emerged that allege the prosecutor in the case withheld evidence, like providing details on the boy's stomach content at the time of his death.



Love: Hannah and Larry were married in 1997 after they had met as teenagers

The defense said that the prosecution claimed that samples from the boy's vomit were unavailable but Overton's lawyers claimed Eastwood withheld evidence so the sample could not be tested.



The pediatrician that had treated Andrew before he was placed in Overton's care has also said that the child's medical state was not properly explained at the trial.

Dr Edgar Cortes said the boy had development issues that contributed to his eating disorder.



'I think that if we're going to be fair, if we're going to be just, we have to take all of the circumstances into consideration,' he testified at a February hearing, part of Overton's appeal.

Teachers and friends who knew the boy have agreed that he had unusual eating habits and even tried to each trash on one occasion.



The boy's Sunday School teacher had actually tried to persuade the Overtons not to take Andrew into their care because of his development issues, saying that the parents should think of the welfare of their other children.



But the Overtons have said that even knowing what they do now, they would still have welcomed Andrew into their hearts and their home.



'He had brothers and sisters and a mommy and daddy, what he called his forever family, because we had to go through a lot of pain since then,' Hannah Overton told 20/20 in 2008.



Sandra Eastwood, former lead prosecutor in Hannah Overton's 2007 trial, testified at a hearing in April that her judgement was not impaired during the trial

Eastwood's professional abilities have also been called into question. After the trial she was fired by the district attorney's office in Nueces County in 2010.



In 2011, she admitted she struggled with alcohol dependency issues and was also taking diet pills during her tenure as a prosecutor, though she has denied those issues tainted her ability during the Overton trial.



The Texas state bar has not pursued disciplinary action against the former prosecutor and Eastwood says Overton's attorneys are spreading false allegations about her.



But her co-counsel at the time, Anna Jimenez, testified at a hearing regarding Overton's request for a new trial, saying that she believed Eastwood was not forthcoming with the evidence in the 2007 trial.



'Her entire behavior during the course of this trial was so far out. She had other issues going on that were causing problems in her judgment,' said Jimenez, adding 'In my opinion, she is not truthful.'

In May, District Judge Jose Longoria, who had overseen Overton's original trial, ruled that there was not sufficient evidence for Overton to receive a new trial.

Overton's fate is now in the hands of the appellate court, who could decide that she deserves a new trial or that her conviction should be overturned.



In the meantime, Overton's husband and children say they have faith that she will soon return home and they will live as a family once again.

