Posted on 03/21/2008 3:41:44 PM PDT by Pontiac
A torturous environment of beatings, scaldings, even BB gun shootings in a small white A-frame house on Hillcrest Avenue eventually led to the death of a mentally disabled pregnant woman, officials, neighbors and family members said.
Former occupant Judy E. Woods, 43, was charged by the Madison County state attorney's office last month with first-degree murder and intentional homicide of an unborn child in the death of Dorothy Dixon, 29, and her 6-month-old fetus.
Dixon - six months pregnant - died after weeks of abuse.
Snip
Two of Riley's family members and a neighbor said Riley was an abusive and controlling ringleader who manipulated and threatened everyone in the house. They said the children involved are innocent and did what Riley said because they were scared.
Snip
"I think it can be characterized as torturous," said Lt. David Hayes, Alton police's chief of detectives.
Snip
Riley was a longtime drug abuser who had been prescribed drugs for mental issues, said Gary Farha, first assistant Adams County state's attorney. But Riley said in court hearings that she didn't like taking her medication because it made her gain weight.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Here are links to other articles on this story.
just an observation.
First, the incident happened in Alton, ILLINOIS!
I assume the St. Louis Post Dispatch carried the article because it’s about 45 minutes east of St. Louis.
St. Louis is a great City. Granted, East St. Louis (which is actually in Illinois) is a mess.
I’m from St. Louis and you obviously have not been to the outlining suburbs of St. Louis.
And, in the bottom link, it says the victim Dorothy Dixon also had a one year old baby boy who weighed only 15 lbs when his mother died. Prayers for her son, as well as the souls of her and her unborn baby. I hope that if her 1 yr old has no family to take him in that he finds a nurturing caring home that will shower him with love.
This actually happened in Alton Il. which is about 15 miles north of St Louis.
Alton is a relatively small town of 30K.
That link had a mugshot of the victim. This story is just terribly sad all around. Noone deserves to die that way.
One of the articles said that they have no idea who the father of the fetus is, and that I find very disturbing.
Makes me wonder if rape was not among the forms of torture that was practiced.
This is one of the most disturbing stories I have read in a long time.
It surprises me that it was not posted.
I guess everyone is preoccupied with Obama and the preacher.
Don’t be PC, the “fetus” was an unborn human being, a baby.
saving
The victim is Dorothy Dixon. She is not in the line-up.
IC now, the link in post #4 is a pic of the victim. Sorry, I thought you were referring to the original link.
My bad and my apologies.
Warning; Pictures, takes a while to load.
Sorry just got caught by the phrasing in the article.
I agree with you. I couldn’t even read the whole thing.
Heartbreaking, sickening, disgusting...there just aren’t words.....
Our glorious Constitution protects her from the form of punishment she really deserves.
This is without a doubt one of the most tragic stories of abuse that I’ve ever read. I sincerely hope they put all of them to death. That poor young girl didn’t deserve to suffer and die the way she did, nor did her baby deserve to be mistreated and underfed to the point of only weighing 15 punds. It’s hard to believe there are actually people who are so vicious and heartless. The Lord took that girl and her unborn baby, to get her out of the misery she lived in every day. May God rest her soul.
We never know what goes on behind closed doors. This can happen in a slum shack or the ritziest mansion. Sometimes I just hate people.
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