A Texas mother reportedly tried to slap her toddler out of seizure after witnessing her boyfriend’s abuse which eventually resulted in the child’s death, per court records.
Sarah Elizabeth Newsom, 24, and her boyfriend Joshua Thomas Fulbright, 23, allegedly killed two-year-old Scarlett ‘Olivia’ Newsom last October, according to a report by the Times Record News. The little girl was reportedly slapped so hard that it severely bruised her face.
According to the report, the Wichita Falls resident allegedly witnessed her boyfriend abuse Olivia before she began to vomit and have a seizure. In a bid to stop the seizure, Newsom resorted to slapping her daughter before she lost consciousness.
The abuse led the unresponsive and severely bruised toddler to be rushed to hospital, where she was placed on life support for four days.
Doctors at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth noted how Olivia had been left with disturbing bruises on her arms and back. She was pronounced brain dead on October 18, before being taken off her ventilator.
Speaking to authorities, Fullbright said Olivia had a dirty diaper and had tried to change it herself by putting on the same clothing backwards. As a result, she got feces all over the walls, floor, and even on clothes inside the closet. Fullbright reportedly became enraged after Olivia tried to hand him something and he smelled the dirty diaper.
Confessing to investigators, he revealed he hit the little girl so hard that he hurt his hand.
Immediately after the assault, little Olivia started displaying seizure-like symptoms. In an effort to get the seizures to stop, Newsom allegedly repeatedly slapped her toddler daughter, even inflicting a large scratch on the little girl’s neck before she lost consciousness.
According to jail records from Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Fulbright was jailed on a $2,50,000 bond and charged with causing serious bodily injury to a child.
Meanwhile, Newsom is also accused of causing serious bodily injury to a child and is being held on a $50,000 bond. She had posted bail earlier but was rearrested in September after her bail bond was revoked.
In a conversation with the Times Record News, Olivia’s devastated aunt Lauren Raindl described her as “the sweetest little girl”.
“She had beautiful blue eyes – everyone called her ‘baby blue’,” Raindl said. “She could light up anyone’s day.”
That said, Olivia’s organs were later donated to help save other children’s lives. A GoFundMe fundraiser at the time was set up to help with her funeral costs.
