How do things like this happen?

Yup. It sure does.

Oh no…. I don’t know what to say….. And she was innocent…

To answer your question, I think that the parents should be questioned and put through a psychological assessment to understand how they could’ve done such a thing to their child… Keeping her in a home like that, it’s so inhumane that there must be some believable explanation behind it..

???“Teachers and other school officials told investigators that she had been seen taking food from rubbish bins and eating it or putting it in her desk.”???

What the @#$ is that about? Are there no child protection agencies to involve or actions to be taken when that is what you see. I don’t know the details, but if teachers saw that, then shouldn’t there have been an intervention by the state?

My heart aches….

The world is full of suffering.

A kid came to school smelling of cat urine and eating from a trash can? No one stepped in until she was dead? It’s really hard to fathom. And the parents only got 2 years in jail? Sick.

@whitenoise & @knitfroggy have the right idea. The school saw these asinine things and didn’t do anything? I don’t know where this school is, but it should be investigated. A kid shouldn’t be able to smell like cat urine which is really strong smelling and eat garbage and be seen as any normal student.

This report is vile, but hey, most of the world is. unfortunately :(

If this was regarded as possibly not normal, but still acceptable enough not to be reported behaviour, perhaps someone should look hard for other disadvantaged students who are also attending the same school. That little girl with her terrible life might not be alone.

@DarkScribe very true & thus why I said the school should be investigated. If she got through with these very obvious problematic signs, who is to say that there’s not anymore at this very school? I say, check it out!

History will look back at us and see us in the dark ages.

Disgusting. Teachers are mandatory reporters of suspected abuse and neglect. How was this not reported and followed up on?!?!

In California, it wouldn’t matter if it was reported or not, there are not enough workers to cover all the abuse. The taxpayers have made it very clear they have no intention of paying any more out of their hard earned wages for social services.