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Karen Davenport-Chandler

A woman from Rogers, Arkansas has been found guilty of second-degree involuntary manslaughter for starving her little girl to death.

A McDonald County jury found Karen Davenport-Chandler, 33, guilty after three days of testimony for the January 29, 2005, death of her 6 year-old daughter, Hannah.

Hannah was born with a birth defect, ectopic anus, that made it difficult for her to digest food and have bowel movements. Doctors ordered a special diet for the little girl that was ignored, and was a contributing factor in her death.

Davenport-Chandler testified that her daughter had reconstructive surgery in 2002 to correct her birth defect and that she treated her daughter with a fiber heavy diet and children's laxatives as prescribed by a doctor.


Hannah Davenport

Dr. Keith Norton, who performed the autopsy, testified that Hannah suffered from infections in her abdomen caused by a weakness in her colon that allowed bacteria from her stool to enter her abdominal cavity.

The defense's expert testified that the little girl could not have starved to death because her intestines were full of stool. Dr. Thomas Young said her body wasn't absorbing any nutrients from the food she was eating.

Norton said Hannah, who weighed 27 pounds and stood three and a half feet tall at the time of her death, died of malnutrition and dehydration. He said if she had received medical treatment shortly before her death she probably would have lived.

Prosecutors presented evidence that Davenport-Chandler had seen at least nine doctors in the last two years of her daughters life, but failed to provide medical treatment for her critically ill daughter.
Leonard Davenport, Hannah's father, testified that he and his ex-wife were going to take the little girl to see a specialist in Kansas City but that the woman backed out because she didn't want her daughter treated as a constipation patient.

Linda Walsham, Davenport-Chandler's mother, was also facing the same charges. However, prosecutors dismissed them citing lack of evidence.
Davenport, who could have been sentenced to four years in prison for her daughter's death, was instead fined $5,000. Prosecutor Janice Durbin says she's satisfied with the outcome because Davenport is now a convicted felon.

8 comments:

Ron said...

This was one of the saddest cases Southwest Missouri Forensics has ever done. I was sure happy to see this conviction.

Anonymous said...

yeah, another sad thing is there was no justice for this little girl, that bitch should rot in prison

Anonymous said...

she has a new baby now???? Does anyone care to look in on how that little one is doing?

Anonymous said...

Anonymously......

Ya I know the women's stepdaughter and they say she is plain nutts and scared them!!!!!! Why doesn't. Anyone check on these kids????

Anonymous said...

I am responding to the Karen Chandler case...I heard something about her when we moved into the area, so I looked it up and found your blog. I see that there are some concerns about her new baby and a stepdaughter?? Has there been any more "news" on her situation? Was she allowed to keep custody of this baby?

Anonymous said...

She was allowed to keep custody of her new baby, and she is doing very well. She is really cute and VERY healthy. Karen is an amazing person and she did NOT kill Hannah. Please son't say anything bad about Karen unless you know her...It just adds more stress and hurt to the family.

Anonymous said...

Kathee,

I am respoding the Karen Chandler case you wrote about. I saw the other posts and wondered as well what happened with her baby and stepchildren? One person says they even know these kids and they were scared of her??? How do we find out if all is well in the house? Does she have someone that checks on the new baby and family status?

Anonymous said...

Hanna Davenport. Karen got away with killing little Hanna. Not many days go by that she doesn't cross my mind. I spent over 5 years traveling back to Mo, each time to learn Karen had pulled some other court room stunt in order to delay facing what she did to this little girl. The same little girl she was supposed to protect. She (Karen) was to busy with her new boyfriend. Not to see the child laying in the corner of that roach infested dump of a room. If the good people of Mac county had been preve' to what the rest of us saw, there would have been one less murdering bitch of a mother in Mo. Ever wonder what a child life is worth in MacDonald county? Hanna was 6 yrs old when Karen and grandma killed her. karen was " fined " $ 5,000. You do the math.

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