Saturday, October 11, 2008

Mom found not guilty in girl's death

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

A Valencia County jury acquitted a woman on trial this week on charges that she placed her 14-year-old adopted disabled daughter in a situation that caused her death last year.

Nelda Anne Piggott, 60, wept as the jury's foreman read the verdict Thursday afternoon. The jurydeliberated for more than three hours before finding Piggott not guilty on one count of abandonment or abuse of a child resulting in death.

Piggott and her son, Christopher, were both arrested last year after 14-year-old Amanda Piggott died in what police described as a trash-filled house in Meadow Lake on Jan. 8, 2008.

The teenager died of an infection caused by a fourth-degree pressure ulcer, also known as a bed sore, on her right buttock as well as chronic pneumonia, a medical examiner testified during the trial.

During the four-day trial, which was presided over by District Judge John Pope, Piggott testified that she had become severely depressed after a long battle with cancer, a separation from her husband, who ultimately died, and problems with her two adopted sons. Piggott told the jury that she was "overwhelmed and wasn't making good decisions at the time."

"It was either do for the kids or the house — I didn't have energy for both," Piggott said. "I was very depressed."

Piggott told the jury that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer a few years before Amanda's death. She said she underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment as well as treatment for complications for an infection as a result of the therapy.

She told the jury she was scared and was frightened at the thought of what her cancer meant for her family.

"If something happened to me, I don't know what would happen to my kids," she said.

Piggott said that, after her husband's death, her two adopted sons became very depressed, angry and began to act out. She said she had to send her youngest son away to a treatment foster home because he allegedly tried to attack her.

"I was so scared — I had to put it away because I know the kids would have problems," Piggott said about her husband's death. "Somebody had to be strong for the kids, and there was no one else but me."

Piggott testified her health problems caused fatigue, she was also suffering from arthritis, diabetes and other conditions, and she was not able to clean her home the way she had before. She told the jury she was ashamed and embarrassed about the condition of her house.

"I couldn't manage anything," she said.

Piggott said that, about a week before her daughter died, her oldest son, Christopher got mad because she wouldn't take him shopping. She testified that he "tossed" the house and threw a couch, which blocked a hallway that accessed the girl's bedroom.

"I couldn't get to Amanda," she said. "I told him numerous times to move the couch — I begged and pleaded and I even threatened that I would take his privileges away. I told him that if he wouldn't let me back there, he would have to go back and take care of her."

The defendant told the jury that she would prepare Amanda's medication beforehand and her son would go into her room and administer them as well as make sure she was fed through her feeding tube. She said during those days that although she couldn't get to her daughter's room, she could hear Amanda through a baby monitor.

"He finally moved the furniture — about two days before she died — and apologized. He finally got over his anger and got the message," Piggott said of her son. "I was able to go back there, and I saw a horrible mess. She was lying in her own urine and feces."

Piggott said she gave her daughter a bath and cleaned her bed. She said the night before Amanda's death, she spent time with her daughter and talked about different things such as what she wanted for her birthday and about going to visit her brother.

The morning of the girl's death, Piggott testified that she woke up, made herself a cup of coffee and sat down in her recliner. She said that, when her son awoke, he went outside and walked the dogs. When he came inside, Piggott asked him to check on Amanda because she couldn't hear her breathing on the baby monitor.

"He yelled and said she wasn't breathing," Piggott said on the stand. "I went in the room and saw she wasn't breathing, but she was warm. My first thought was to perform CPR."

Piggott said she performed CPR for about an hour before she stopped.

"She was getting cold and she was not responding," Piggott said. "I kind of froze up — seized up — my daughter was dead."

The girl, who was paralyzed and had severe medical conditions including a brain injury, was first placed in the Piggott home as a foster child and was later adopted by Nelda Piggott. Her injury was caused in 1995, when the girl, then known as Leandra, was 3 years old.

She was beaten by her mother's boyfriend and was left paralyzed, brain damaged and dependent on a feeding tube. The boyfriend, William Friedrich, was sentenced to 26 years for child abuse and conspiracy. Her mother, Gina Gutierrez, was sentenced to eight to 10 years on the same charges. She was released after three years.

Earlier this week, several deputies who arrived at the home the day Amanda Piggott died described the conditions of the house to the jury. They said there were dog feces on the floor, diapers strewn throughout the house, trash and food containers thrown everywhere. One officer said he noticed a strong odor emitting from inside the house as he was walking up to the front door.

After the verdict was read, Amanda's biological grandmother, Lupe Gutierrez, who sat through the four-day trial and through jury deliberations, said she was disappointed in the outcome.

Christopher Piggott, 21, who has also been charged, is awaiting a hearing to determine competency.

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