Maine Woman Found Guilty of Killing 4-Year-Old Girl
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A judge has delivered a guilty verdict against a Wiscasset woman in a 4-year-old girl's death that led to scrutiny of Maine's child welfare system.
Justice William Stokes on Tuesday announced that 44-year-old Shawna Gatto is guilty of depraved indifference murder in the fatal beating of Kendall Chick.
Gatto asked for the emotionally charged testimony to be heard by the judge, not a jury.
Witnesses testified the youngster's body was covered with bruises and one of her eyes was swollen shut when responders discovered her lifeless body in December 2017.
Chick was placed in the care of Gatto and her fiance, who was Chick's grandfather, by Maine's child welfare agency. Changes were adopted by the agency after the high-profile deaths of Chick and a 10-year-old girl in Stockton Springs.