How horrible a life to lead, abandoned by a mother and abused by the ones who should have cared for her

Four arrested over death of Phoenix girl locked inside box as punishment, say cops

Police said Thursday that Ame Deal had been abused for a long time, and had been locked in a chest as punishment, reports CBS affiliate KPHO.

Authorities say before being locked in, the girl was forced to run and do other exercises in the backyard, despite nearly triple-digit heat.

Police investigators said the girl apparently had been put in the box at least five times in recent months for misbehaving, and had been beaten with a wooden paddle, forced to swallow hot sauce and to eat dog feces.

Police said the girl slept on the floor of a stall shower in the home with no blanket or pillow as a disciplinary measure for bed wetting.

Relatives charged in murder of 10-year-old found locked in box

When first questioned, the family members told police that Deal had climbed into the box and suffocated while playing hide-and-seek, police said.

Kansas woman says she found out about death of 10-year-old daughter in Phoenix via online

A Kansas woman who found out about the death of her 10-year-old daughter in Phoenix by reading about it online said she hasn't stopped crying since.

Shirley Deal fled from what she described as an abusive household several years ago. The child she left behind perished in the same household.

I am horrified that anyone would treat a child this way. I also do not have fond thoughts of a mother who leaves her child with people she believes to be abusive, the family of an ex-husband she says she is not even sure is the father of the child. And the child's supposed father was there, and although he has not been charged, you have to wonder if he simply did not know that four people were abusing his daughter, or if he knew and did nothing.

The very people who should have cared for and loved that girl failed her at best and allegedly murdered her at worst. How terrible that she was surrounded by these types of people. I am also interested if there were any suspicions of abuse that were reported to the authorities, and if they, too, failed this child.

So sad. Oh, and the offence for which she was locked in the box? She apparently stole a Popsicle from the freezer. For that she suffocated and died. I hope these people get exactly what they deserve.