Grandma Gets Life Sentence In Killing Of Brutally Abused Granddaughter

CHICAGO, IL — A West Side grandmother convicted earlier this year of the murder of her 8-year-old granddaughter who died in 2013 from the accumulation of severe and brutal abuse she received in her care was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday. A judge handed down the punishment for Helen Ford, 55, despite the Austin woman's relatives asking for leniency during a sentencing hearing in the death of Gizzell Ford, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Gizzell's body — beaten, strangled and covered in multiple bruises and cuts with signs that maggots had been crawling on the straight-A student — was found by paramedics July 23, 2013, in the Austin neighborhood home where she lived with dad Andre Ford and grandmother Helen Ford. Andre Ford, along with Helen Ford, was blamed in Gizzell's death, but he died in jail while awaiting trial. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Chicago — or your neighborhood. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

During a March bench trial, Judge Evelyn Clay said "exceeding overwhelming evidence" pointed to Helen Ford being responsible for her granddaughter's death. Clay's opinion hadn't changed at Wednesday's sentencing, which lasted almost five hours. She rejected claims by family members that Ford was overwhelmed by caring for her young granddaughter and chronically ill son, as well as two other children, yet still unable to refuse requests for help from other relatives, according to the Sun-Times.

RELATED: Grandmother Found Guilty Of Murder In Death Of Abused Granddaughter, 8

"She did know how to say 'no' to Gizzell," the judge said. "No water. No food. No sleep. No praise. She did not know how to say 'yes' to Gizzell. She did not say 'yes' to the basics requirements of human care."

While in the care of her father and grandmother, Gizzell was subjected to months of physical and verbal abuse that included violent beatdowns and vicious taunts, the Sun-Times reports. The girl also was deprived food and water as punishment, the report stated. Gizzell would document the abusive actions in her diary, which she kept up until her final days, the report added.

But Ford's lawyers claimed any severe punitive measures taken against Gizzell — such as an instance when she was tied to a post — came after the girl tried to stab her father, the report stated. During her statement at the hearing, Ford tried to describe Gizzell as an angry young girl who threw herself around, but Clay cut her off, the report added.

Gizzell had been placed in her father and grandmother's custody by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Serivces. Sandra Mercado, the girl's mother, had been fighting to get her daughter back at the time time of the 8-year-old's death, and she blames the DCFS for overlooking signs of abuse. Mercado is suing the state over her Gizzell's death.

More via the Chicago Sun-Times

Helen Ford, 55 (photo via Cook County Sheriff's Office)

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