Prosecutors: Teen girl died after being tortured by parents
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - A Eugene couple have been charged with aggravated murder in what court documents describe as the "intentional maiming and torture" of a teenage daughter.
The Lane County sheriff's office said the victim was 16-year-old Jeanette Maples, daughter of Angela Darlene McAnulty.
The 41-year-old mother and 40-year-old Richard Anthony McAnulty were arrested early Thursday, arraigned and held in the Lane County jail.
The Register-Guard newspaper in Eugene said prosecutors allege in court documents the death was in the course of, or as a result of, the violence. No cause of death was specified.
The sheriff's office said a caller told 911 dispatchers Wednesday night that someone at Maples' house wasn't breathing.
Deputies said an ambulance took Maples to a hospital, but she died.
Two younger children reportedly were taken into protective custody.
Lynn McAnulty, Richard McAnulty's mother, told The Oregonian she made repeated calls in recent months to a state child abuse hot line, trying to get someone to check on the teen. In hindsight, she said Thursday, she should have called police.
Dr. Bruce Goldberg, director of the state Department of Human Services, ordered an internal investigation Thursday into caseworkers' contact with the family.
Human Services spokesman Gene Evans said he couldn't provide any details on possible calls to the child abuse hot line.
Lynn McAnulty, who lives in Walterville, east of Springfield, said she became concerned several months ago when she saw the girl with a split and swollen lip. She said she asked about it.
"'Fallen down' is what they told me," she said.
She said she didn't leave her name when she called the hot line, "because I didn't want to lose contact with my grandchildren."
The Lane County sheriff's office said the victim was 16-year-old Jeanette Maples, daughter of Angela Darlene McAnulty.
The 41-year-old mother and 40-year-old Richard Anthony McAnulty were arrested early Thursday, arraigned and held in the Lane County jail.
The Register-Guard newspaper in Eugene said prosecutors allege in court documents the death was in the course of, or as a result of, the violence. No cause of death was specified.
The sheriff's office said a caller told 911 dispatchers Wednesday night that someone at Maples' house wasn't breathing.
Deputies said an ambulance took Maples to a hospital, but she died.
Two younger children reportedly were taken into protective custody.
Lynn McAnulty, Richard McAnulty's mother, told The Oregonian she made repeated calls in recent months to a state child abuse hot line, trying to get someone to check on the teen. In hindsight, she said Thursday, she should have called police.
Dr. Bruce Goldberg, director of the state Department of Human Services, ordered an internal investigation Thursday into caseworkers' contact with the family.
Human Services spokesman Gene Evans said he couldn't provide any details on possible calls to the child abuse hot line.
Lynn McAnulty, who lives in Walterville, east of Springfield, said she became concerned several months ago when she saw the girl with a split and swollen lip. She said she asked about it.
"'Fallen down' is what they told me," she said.
She said she didn't leave her name when she called the hot line, "because I didn't want to lose contact with my grandchildren."