High Court upholds Springville woman's sentence in girl's water death

The Utah Supreme Court has upheld a child abuse homicide conviction of a Springville woman who fatally force fed her 4-year-old daughter four quarts of water.

In October 2005, a jury found Jennete Killpack guilty of child abuse homicide and acquitted her husband, Richard Killpack, in the death of the couple's daughter, Cassandra, on June 9, 2005. Killpack received a sentence of one to 15 years in prison, but appealed the ruling raising five issues, including arguments that the jury was not properly instructed and the court improperly admitted evidence detailing Killpack's history of abusing Cassandra.

An opinion handed down by Supreme Court Associate Chief Matthew Durrant upheld the lower court's ruling in the case and ruled against Killpack's five points of contention.

"The evidence of Killpack's prior abuse of Cassandra was properly allowed ... because it was relevant to a proper, noncharacter purpose and it did not pose a danger of unfair prejudice that substantially outweighed its probative value," Durrant wrote in his opinion.

In July 1999, Killpack and her husband adopted 21-month-old Cassandra. She soon developed behavioral problems, including refusing to eat, hoarding food and urinating at inappropriate times. The Killpacks consulted a psychologist who diagnosed Cassandra with Reactive Attachment Disorder. Another specialist confirmed the diagnosis and recommended the Killpacks implement treatment ideas from a book that suggests parents could cure a child's misbehavior by having the child repeat a particular misbehavior "in excess."

Killpack responded to Cassandra's misbehavior by "severely disciplining" the child, including hitting her with a spoon, backhanding her, choking her because she would not eat, force feeding her, biting her and forcing her to drink water until "she spit up and urinated uncontrollably."

On June 9, 2007, Killpack caught Cassandra sneaking a drink of Kool-Aid. Killpack forced Cassandra to drink water until she refused to drink anymore. Then Killpack tied her hands behind her and forced her to drink more. Richard Killpack came home and his wife enlisted his help by having him hold Cassandra's arms while she forced the child to drink more.

The Killpacks then made Cassandra do exercise, including running, jumping and doing sit-ups. The child vomited and reported she couldn't keep her legs from shaking and her head hurt. She later collapsed, lost consciousness and was taken to a hospital.