Russell County couple sentenced to life in prison in aggravated child abuse case
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- Russell County couple sentenced to life in prison for aggravating child abuse of toddler in their foster care.
- Child suffered fractured skull, brain bleed, and multiple injuries in different healing stages while with McDowell foster parents.
A Russell County couple will be spending the rest of their lives in prison in connection to an aggravated child abuse case.
The investigation into the case began in August of 2020 after April Elizabeth McDowell and John Michael McDowell were arrested. They were arrested after a medical call for a toddler aged child was made. During the investigation, it was determined that the child had a fractured skull and a brain bleed and that the child had injuries that were not consistent with the guardian’s story of what happened to the child.
The McDowell’s have been the foster parents of the child since May of 2020. “Investigators believe they will be able to prove that the child received multiple injuries due to abuse on several different occasions while in the custody of the McDowell’s,” authorities said back in 2020. “Initial medical reports indicate that the child has multiple injuries in different stages of healing that are not consistent with normal injuries to a toddler but are consistent with injuries related to abuse.”
As the investigation and court proceedings continued, both were found guilty by a Russell County jury on aggravated child abuse charges on October 5, 2023.
Today, both were sentenced to life in prison.
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