By Emily Sullivan
Opinion Assignment Editor
When I was a kid, sneaking candy resulted in either an eye roll from my mother or being sent to bed without dessert.
For Joyce Hardin Gerard, however, sneaking some chocolate is a capital offense that warrants death. Too bad Gerard herself is now facing her own death sentence.
When Gerard found her 9-year-old granddaughter Savannah Hardin eating chocolate, she was extremely angry. After Savannah returned from school the next day, her grandmother forced her to run around the yard carrying firewood until she fell to the ground in exhaustion, according to a March 1 CBS News article.
Savannah was rushed to the hospital after having a series of seizures in the family mobile home Feb. 17 before she was put on life support. Her father, Robert Hardin, who was overseas during the young girl’s punishment, decided to take Savannah off life support three days later.
Gerard’s offense would not have seemed so heinous if she hadn’t planned the outcome.
“I gonna run her ‘til she can’t run no more,” Gerard said to Savannah’s bus driver the morning of incident, according to the same article.
And that’s exactly what she did.
If this is a common punishment for eating chocolate, I would have died long ago.
Gerard wasn’t the only one involved in her granddaughter’s death. Savannah’s stepmother, Jessica Mae Hardin, was also present and did nothing to stop the punishment.
While the stepmother’s lawyer tried to argue she was too busy caring for her 3-year-old son inside the house, according to the article, it doesn’t seem possible to not notice what is going on outside with one of your children.
Savannah was only 9. Having to run around nonstop for three hours straight isn’t a humane task, especially not for a child who is also being forced to carry around firewood.
All for eating a chocolate bar.
Now Savannah’s stepmother and grandmother are both on trial for her death. Gerard, however, is facing the death penalty if she is found guilty.
Savannah was known to have health problems and made more trips to the doctor than the average 9-year-old would, according to the article. Savannah’s family members knew this, yet they made this unhealthy girl run around her yard until her body literally couldn’t take it anymore.
While I’m not one for violence or seeing people get killed, I hope that Gerard receives the full punishment for her crimes, as should her step-mother, who did nothing to stop her mother-in-law’s crazy punishment. While receiving the death penalty does seem a little extreme, she still deserves to be punished.
Her granddaughter is dead because of her actions. There is no way she deserves to get off without some punishment.
Perhaps a life sentence in prison would be more suited for a case like this. She’d get to sit in a cell and think about what she has done for the rest of her life.
I wonder if they serve chocolate in prison.
sullivec10@bonaventure.edu
