Web Posted: 06/14/2008 11:22 PM CDT

By John MacCormack
Express-News

Of the last terrible hours of Andrew Burd's short life, a few bare facts are undisputed.

On Oct. 2, 2006, after the 4-year-old became ill with chills and vomiting, he was taken by Larry and Hannah Overton, who were in the process of adopting him, to an urgent-care clinic near their home in Corpus Christi.

With his condition rapidly worsening, he was transferred first to one hospital and then another. But Andrew never regained consciousness. It was later determined he had died of salt poisoning.

Hannah Overton told doctors and police Andrew got sick after she gave him a mild mixture of water and Cajun seasonings in his sippy cup when he insisted on more food after a full dinner.

But others soon saw a darker picture, and here the story lines split. Where one side saw a tragic and bizarre accidental death, the other saw harsh discipline, child abuse and murder.

The story quickly received heavy media attention. Rumors flew, including speculation about cigarette burns that others said were infected mosquito bites, and of forced consumption of saltwater as punishment, also disputed.

Andrew, whose birth mother had abused alcohol and drugs, had been living with the Overtons just four months when he died.

In early 2007, the Overtons were indicted on capital murder.

Hannah Overton, 30, testifying in her trial last fall, told jurors about her childhood hopes of becoming a missionary and her work in Mexican orphanages.

She said she loved Andrew despite his tendency to throw extravagant tantrums and to eat everything he could find, including garbage and cat food.

Andrew, an infant brother and Overton were alone in the house when he became ill. Without witnesses, the state presented a circumstantial case that Overton had caused Andrew's death.

While the jury rejected the charge that she intentionally killed Andrew, it found she did not act promptly to save his life. And according to the requirements of the jury instructions — to which the defense objected — she was convicted of capital murder.

The mother of five is serving a prison sentence of life without parole.

“In this case, Mrs. Overton killed this boy. She caused his death intentionally. It was not because of omission. She did it intentionally. This resulted in justice,” Nueces County District Attorney Carlos Valdez said in a televised interview after the verdict.

“If you are going to punish your children, be very careful not to punish too much,” he advised.

Larry Overton later pleaded no contest to criminally negligent homicide and was given five years' probation.

‘Ready, Aim, Shoot'

Members of the Overtons' evangelical church, Calvary Chapel Coastlands, raised $400,000 in bond money last year and were involved in the couple's defense. They continue to support the family and pray for Hannah Overton each Thursday night.

They also maintain a “Free Hannah Overton” Web site that features photos of the family, her letters from prison and other information about the case. Church members believe an innocent woman was railroaded.

“Our prayer is that this ends with Hannah being released and a cleaning of the corruption in Corpus Christi,” Pastor Ron Carver said.

Recently, Overton's lawyers asked the 13th Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi to overturn her conviction, saying exculpatory evidence was withheld.

They also say both the indictment and jury charge were critically flawed, allowing the jury to convict Overton of capital murder simply because she failed to act promptly to save Andrew.

“To me, this was a ‘ready, aim, shoot' type of prosecution. I saw a lot of grandstanding and rhetoric in the record,” said lawyer Cynthia Orr, who filed the appeal.

“The jury found she didn't get him the medical care he needed, so bingo, she's guilty of capital murder. With this language, any one of us would have been convicted,” she said.

The defense says that Dr. Edgar Cortes, who treated Andrew the night he died, could have testified that he believed Overton intended the child no harm, but instead was kept under wraps by prosecutors.

In their answer, Nueces County prosecutors argued that Cortes believed all along that the death resulted from “an act of discipline that went terribly wrong.”

The state also reaffirmed its claim that Andrew had been force-fed a large amount of salt and Cajun spices, citing a critical-care expert who treated him.

“Dr. (Alexandre) Rotta calculated that it would have taken 23 teaspoons of Zatarain's or six teaspoons of salt to elevate Andrew's sodium level to 245,” the brief says.

“In addition, Dr. Rotta testified his opinion that it would not have been possible for Andrew to have self-administered most of the salt that caused the salt poisoning,” according to the brief.

The state's brief also notes that Rotta testified Andrew might have survived had he gotten help faster.

And finally, it said Hannah Overton displayed “strange and furtive behavior” — including laughing and smirking — as Andrew lay dying at the hospital, actions inconsistent with grief.

Overton's lawyers said their client is not outwardly emotional during stressful situations and that this was used against her.

A critical element of the state's case was a homicide finding by Dr. Ray Fernandez, the Nueces County medical examiner. He concluded Andrew died from salt poisoning and a suspicious head injury.

Later, in court, Fernandez conceded he could not completely rule out the possibility that Andrew had ingested some salty material by himself, or that salt poisoning could also account for the head trauma.

During the televised trial, medical experts gave conflicting testimony about how the child, who had an eating disorder and a voracious appetite, might have acquired a fatal dose.

One expert said there was evidence Andrew had undiagnosed health problems, including diabetes, that would have exacerbated the dangerous effects of salt.

The same defense witness said there were no indications he had been forced to eat anything.

“A 4-year-old child of his height and weight is pretty strong. If he doesn't want to eat something, you're going to get a fight,” said Dr. Judy Melinek, a medical examiner from San Francisco.

‘Thou Shalt Not Kill'

In their closing arguments, defense lawyers described a tragedy that was seized upon by overzealous police and prosecutors to make a child abuse show trial.

“They saw it one way and they wanted to make that round peg fit in that square hole and they just started hitting it harder and harder and harder. And one of the people they hit over the head is my client here, Hannah Overton,” said lawyer Chris Pinedo.

“And Katie bar the door, this case had to fit that way. You know why? Because child abuse has some pizazz to it. It sells newspapers. It seems sexy. But if you tell somebody that a child has any eating disorder, and eats something on his own that causes his death, that's not very interesting,” he told the jury.

Lead prosecutor Sandra Eastwood depicted Overton as an overstressed housewife who struck out at a foster son she didn't love, first giving him a harsh punishment and then delaying seeking help to cover her tracks.

“Why would a child die in her care? Why wouldn't she call 911? Why are there so many signs of abuse? Why? Because a crime was committed,” she said.

Eastwood also quoted from the Old Testament, perhaps to counter the deep religious faith of the defendant and her many church supporters who attended the trial.

“The first commandment says ‘Thou shalt not kill,'” she said.

For defense lawyer John Gilmore, the verdict was crushing.

“The problem, we told Hannah from the very first, is that you have a dead child, and someone is going to have to pay. That was the whole problem with this case. The jury had the choice of letting her walk out the door or convicting her for life,” he said.

Eastwood has no doubts she put a serious child abuser behind bars.

“I don't know how saintly she was. I think even people who are very spiritual and strong Christians can commit horrible crimes,” she said.

“If I thought for one minute she was innocent, I would never have gone forward with the case,” she said.

Emphasis added by H4K Editor