South Carolina family neglected disabled daughter so severely she died of illness, infection even though brother was paid caretaker

A South Carolina family who lived in a sickening house of horrors mistreated their disabled daughter so severely that she died in the “absolute worst case of child neglect” — even though her brother lived there as her paid caretaker.Heather Baynard, a 14-year-old who suffered from cerebral palsy, died on April 11, 2022, hours after her father carried her cold, gray, listless body into a local hospital like a sack of potatoes, according to WYFF 4 in Greenville.An autopsy performed a few days later showed the girl — whose legs had rotted so badly that one trial witness said they looked like raw meat — had been neglected for “many, many months,” according to Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler.It was, in fact, the “absolute worst case of child neglect” he had ever seen, Fowler added.Last Thursday, a jury convicted Baynard’s dad, David; her mom, Bobbie Jo; and her 21-year-old brother, Edward, of murder and other crimes associated with the teen’s gruesome death.“The suffering that she went through — not for a minute, not for an hour, not for a day, but for weeks — ladies and gentlemen, if that’s not malice, I don’t know what is,” Solicitor Barry J.Barnette said during the four-day trial last week.“And to have that little girl in that situation where she can’t escape — she’s totally dependent on them,” Barnette said, gesturing to the family.David Baynard, 55, and Bobbie Joe Baynard, 45, of Gaffney, were sentenced to life in prison for murder — as well as 20 years for infliction of great bodily injury upon a child, with another 10 tacked on for neglect.Meanwhile, Edward Baynard — who, as an employee of Axcess Homecare, had made more than $25,000 over 18 months as Heather Baynard’s personal care aid — was convicted of the same crimes and given equally stiff sentences: 30 years for murder, 20 for inflicting great bodily injury and 10 years for unlawful neglect.The parents will serve their terms consecutively, while the b...