Relatives of nine-year-old face murder charges after Alabama authorities say she was forced to run for lying about sweets

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

Roger Simpson said he saw a little girl running outside her home but did not give it a second thought. Police said he witnessed a murder in progress.

Authorities said nine-year-old Savannah Hardin died after being forced to run for three hours as punishment for lying to her grandmother, 46-year-old Joyce Hardin Garrard, about eating sweets. Severely dehydrated, the girl had a seizure and died days later. Her grandmother and stepmother are now facing murder charges.

Witnesses told police that Savannah was told to run and not allowed to stop for three hours, according to a spokeswoman at Etowah county sheriff's office in Alabama. The girl's stepmother, 27-year-old Jessica Mae Hardin, called police that evening, telling them Savannah was having a seizure and was unresponsive.

Simpson said he saw the girl running but did not see anybody chasing or coercing her. "I saw her running down there, that's what I told the detectives," Simpson said. "But I don't see how that would kill her."

Savannah died on Monday, according to the sheriff's office. An autopsy report showed the girl was extremely dehydrated and had a very low sodium level. A state pathologist ruled that her death was a homicide.

Garrard and Jessica Mae Hardin are each being held on a $500,000 (£318,000) cash bond. There were reports that Jessica Mae Hardin had given birth this week while in custody.

School superintendent Alan Cosby said Savannah's desk had been turned into a makeshift memorial where her classmates could leave notes and mementos.

"This is obviously a very tragic, devastating, heartbreaking situation," Cosby said. "Nothing like this has ever happened before."