Davenport Found Guilty Of Involuntary Manslaughter In Daughter's Starvation Death; No Jail Time--$5,000 Fine:

Karen Davenport-Chandler

A woman from Rogers, Arkansas has been found guilty of second-degree involuntary manslaughter for starving her little girl to death.

A McDonald County jury found Karen Davenport-Chandler, 33, guilty after three days of testimony for the January 29, 2005, death of her 6 year-old daughter, Hannah.

Hannah was born with a birth defect, ectopic anus, that made it difficult for her to digest food and have bowel movements. Doctors ordered a special diet for the little girl that was ignored, and was a contributing factor in her death.

Davenport-Chandler testified that her daughter had reconstructive surgery in 2002 to correct her birth defect and that she treated her daughter with a fiber heavy diet and children's laxatives as prescribed by a doctor.

Hannah Davenport

Dr. Keith Norton, who performed the autopsy, testified that Hannah suffered from infections in her abdomen caused by a weakness in her colon that allowed bacteria from her stool to enter her abdominal cavity.

The defense's expert testified that the little girl could not have starved to death because her intestines were full of stool. Dr. Thomas Young said her body wasn't absorbing any nutrients from the food she was eating.

Norton said Hannah, who weighed 27 pounds and stood three and a half feet tall at the time of her death, died of malnutrition and dehydration. He said if she had received medical treatment shortly before her death she probably would have lived.

Prosecutors presented evidence that Davenport-Chandler had seen at least nine doctors in the last two years of her daughters life, but failed to provide medical treatment for her critically ill daughter.

Leonard Davenport, Hannah's father, testified that he and his ex-wife were going to take the little girl to see a specialist in Kansas City but that the woman backed out because she didn't want her daughter treated as a constipation patient.

Linda Walsham, Davenport-Chandler's mother, was also facing the same charges. However, prosecutors dismissed them citing lack of evidence.

Davenport, who could have been sentenced to four years in prison for her daughter's death, was instead fined $5,000. Prosecutor Janice Durbin says she's satisfied with the outcome because Davenport is now a convicted felon.

UPDATED: Testimony Begins Tomorow In Trial Of Mother Accused Of Starving Daughter To Death:

Karen Davenport

A jury has been picked and will be seated tomorrow morning (05-12-10) to hear testimony in the manslaughter trial of a mother accused of allegedly starving her 6 year-old daughter to death in 2005.

Karen Davenport, 33, Rogers, AR, was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter in January of 2005 starvation death of her daughter, Hannah, by former prosecutor Steve Greeding.

Hannah Davenport


However, after reviewing the case in 2007, Janice Durbin, Greeding's successor, amended the charge to second-degree murder then back to voluntary manslaughter. Durbin also amended the charge to include failing to provide/and or maintain adequate medical treatment for the girl as an alternative charge.

Hannah was born with a birth defect that made it difficult for her to digest food. Investigators say that doctors ordered a special diet for the little girl that was ignored, and that was a contributing factor in her death.

Davenport's mother, Linda Walsham, was facing the same charges, however those charges were dropped in 2009.

Hannah was only three and a half feet tall, and weighed 27 pounds pounds when she died of malnutrition, dehydration and bowel infections before her death according to forensic pathologist, Dr. Keith Norton. He said if the little girl had received medical attention in her final days, or even hours, she may have lived.