Joyce Hardin Garrard, a woman from Gadsden, Alabama has been deemed as the “drill sergeant from hell.” A woman so ruthless that she even made her 9 year old granddaughter run until she could not run anymore and died.
If you were to look at the 59-year-old woman during the trial most would agree that she looks like the usual grandmother and many are shocked to hear that she forced her granddaughter to run till her death over lying about candy.
The prosecutor on the case was the one who gave Garrard her nickname as the “drill sergeant from hell.” Meanwhile Garrard’s attorneys are saying that the grandmother did nothing wrong and that the 9 year old, Savannah Hardin died from health problems and not because of the accused 59-year-old.
Garrard is currently standing trial and jurors have to decide for themselves whether or not this grandmother is as innocent as she is trying to appear to be or if she really is this terrible drill sergeant she has been recently labeled.
While this case has been delayed for several years now, due to some legal maneuvering done by Garrard’s attorneys and her defense, this could be the moment of truth where she could potentially be convicted of capital murder. A charge that will make her one of the few woman facing death row in Alabama.
The nine year olds stepmother, Jessica Mae Hardin, is also awaiting trial for not intervening in the child’s alleged abuse. While the stepmother is also being charged for the child’s death, Savannah’s father, Robert Hardin, was also issued a subpoena, even though the father has tried to sue Gadsden Regional Medical Center, the hospital who treated his 9 year old because he feels they did not do everything they could to revive his daughter.
Photo By: AP/Etowah County Sheriff’s Office
