Tragically, Ame Lynn Deal succumbed to the hands of four adults entrusted with her care and nurturing. However, twelve days before she reached her 11th birthday, her life was cut short due to an agonizing amount of abuse. Originating in Pennsylvania, she experienced maltreatment from her parents before the family relocated to Arizona, where her father, David, had familial ties.
Ame and her older siblings were left to their own devices by their grandmother, Judith, aunt Cynthia, cousin Samantha, and Cynthia’s son-in-law, John. The Deal family expelled Ame’s mother, leaving her to fend for herself without her children. Despite the presence of numerous children in the household, Ame appeared to be the sole target of abuse.
The Deal household had a history with law enforcement, and this familiarity heightened when Albert Salaiz responded to a 911 call reporting a child's injury, becoming the first responder on July 12th, 2011.
Upon arrival at the home, Salaiz's initial encounter was with a rottweiler. Instinctively, he felt his life was in jeopardy, but this fear dissipated when he discovered Ame lying on a carpet in the garage.
According to reports, the young girl succumbed to suffocation after being confined in a locked, plastic storage box soaked in her own urine and sweat. Police revealed that she was subjected to strenuous physical activities in the scorching Arizona weather before being sealed in the storage box for approximately an hour.
Ame bore the brunt of abuse primarily because, according to the family, she wasn't their blood relative. Her conception occurred during a period when her mother, Shirley, was married to David, having two children with him, but allegedly involved in a relationship with another man. Consequently, the adults in the family subjected her to mistreatment, while the children coexisted in the household.
John and Samantha claimed to be asleep when Ame and their daughter engaged in a late-night game of hide and seek, leading Ame to hide in the storage box. Strikingly, during police statements, none of the adults displayed any emotion or concern.
Ame Lynn Deal, born on July 24, 2000, in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, faced a tumultuous family situation. Her mother, Shirley Deal, was married to David Deal during her pregnancy.
Shirley asserted having a relationship with someone else during her pregnancy, casting doubt on David Deal as Ame's father. Despite this, Ame's birth certificate identified David as her father. Before Ame's birth, Shirley and David already had two children. Shirley moved with her children to Donora, Pennsylvania, to live with her mother before eventually returning to live with David, his mother Judith Deal, and sister Cynthia Stoltzmann in Midland, Texas. Shirley detailed mistreatment by David's family, describing them as treating her like a servant and abusing her, though she insisted they never harmed the children. Shirley eventually got kicked out and relocated to Iola, Kansas, without her children.
Regarding Ame's abuse, neighbors attested to frequent mistreatment, describing instances where she was compelled to walk barefoot on scorching Phoenix sidewalks or subjected to physical punishments with a paddle known as the "Butt Buster." Ame's school reported her and her siblings as consistently dirty, with Ame often having head lice. Allegedly, she was the family's scapegoat, and despite being purportedly home-schooled, the children lived in Phoenix.
David Deal, possibly Ame's father, was said to live in a tent with his other children in the backyard, yet Ame was the lone child in the household subjected to mistreatment.
Ame's tragic demise occurred on July 12, 2011, when the police, responding to a 911 call, discovered her lifeless body in a small footlocker, having suffocated. She lived with her grandmother Judith Deal, aunt Cynthia Stoltzmann, 44, cousin Samantha, and Samantha's husband John Allen, along with at least twelve other children.
Initially, the family claimed Ame had locked herself in the trunk while playing hide-and-seek the night before. However, suspicions arose due to her dirty state and bruises on her left leg. After prolonged questioning, Samantha and John Allen admitted to locking Ame in the trunk as a punishment for taking a popsicle without permission. Ame, a 4 feet 2 inches tall, 59-pound girl, had to endure physical exercises in scorching heat before being confined in a small box with a padlock.
The subsequent trial and sentencing saw Sammantha and John Allen charged with murder. Judith Deal and Cynthia Stoltzmann faced charges of child abuse and kidnapping for admitting to locking Ame in the trunk. David Martin Deal, though not charged with murder, received a 14-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to attempted child abuse. Cynthia Stoltzmann received a 24-year prison sentence, and Judith Deal received a 10-year sentence with probation for life.
On August 7, 2017, Sammantha Allen was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection, along with a 74-year prison term for child abuse and plotting to abuse a child.
0 Comments