Michele LeAnn Morgan (July 20, 1957 – August 11, 1961) was an American

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

victim who was murdered by her stepmother at the age of four. Her story was documented on an episode of ''

Cold Case Files ''Cold Case Files'' is a reality legal show/ documentary on the cable channel A&E Network and the rebooted series on Netflix. It is hosted by Bill Kurtis and the original series produced by Tom Golden. The show documents the investigation o ...

''.

Abuse

Michele suffered multiple injuries to the chest and back, a broken nose, burns on her skin, and a broken arm before the age of four at the hands of her stepmother, Mary Rae. These led to over 20 visits to a hospital, including one in which she was hospitalized for a month.

Murder

On August 9, 1961, Mary held Michele under water and stomped her violently, believing that the child had lied about something. These actions were seen by Michele's older brother, George. At dinner, Michele threw up

blood clot A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of c ...

s. The next day she died of her internal injuries. An autopsy was conducted by the pathologist at

Scott Air Force Base Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Scott Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the U ...

, Illinois, near where the Morgans lived and Michele's father, a USAF airman, was stationed, the cause of death was found to be massive trauma to the chest. The autopsy report was not completed until 15 years later, when the coroner listed the cause of death as

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. The local prosecutor never pursued the case.

Disclosure

In 1996, George Morgan (Michele's older brother) was serving time in prison for

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

. That year, he decided to research his family

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

and was surprised when he saw his sister's

death certificate A death certificate is either a legal document issued by a medical practitioner which states when a person died, or a document issued by a government civil registration office, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death, as ...

. He recalled the circumstances surrounding her death and was certain that it was not caused by pneumonia — and that it had occurred in 1961, not in 1976. Morgan then corresponded with County

Coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

Rick Stone and disclosed to him how Michele's death really occurred. Stone subsequently reopened the case and Michele's body was exhumed. Though the body had been buried for over 30 years, it still showed the marks of brutal child abuse. Investigators discovered the original autopsy report and Michele's hospital record, which showed multiple visits. George Morgan's claims were thus substantiated.

Prosecution

Mary Morgan was tracked down in

West Columbia, Texas West Columbia is a city in Brazoria County in the U.S. state of Texas. The city is centered on the intersection of Texas Highways 35 & 36, southwest of downtown Houston. The population was 3,644 at the 2020 census. The 1st Congress of the Republi ...

, and initially denied the allegations leveled against her. She then attempted to flee the country but was caught and placed under arrest. She eventually pleaded guilty to

involuntary manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th c ...

and was sentenced to five years in prison and was released in 2001. In the years after Michele's death, Mary raised four children. Hospital records showed that the four of them had collectively visited the hospital over 150 times for medical care before the age of five.

References

External links