The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-01-19
A II T.ie of Horror,

The inquest on the body of Annie
Wanko, or Deekman, which was COM
menced by Coroner Tewksbury, at Dutch
Kills, on Saturday, has been concluded,
and resulted in verdict against the un-
natural parent. 1t seems from the testi-
mony which was voluminous, that Mrs.
Doris Deekman, the mother of Aune,
since her marriage to Mr.. Deekman, about
year since, has systematically starved
and ill-treated her daughter, for the avow-
ed purpose Of getting rid of her.
All the witnesses testified to the most
inhumau treatment, wilful neglect and
actual starvation. Most of them had re-
monstrated with the mother, but she
seemed to have no SOUL Mrs. Meyer tes-
titled that she had often seen the mother
strike the girl; that when she first knew
her she was bright, apparently healthy
and robust; that her husband and herself f
had demonstrated with both Mr.. and Mrs.
Deekman for ill-!reating the child, to no
effect that often on the coolest morning
she has seen her almost entirely nude in
the yard; that the mother had often threat
ened, in her presence, to "starve the brat"
Mrs. Douglass, a very intelligent Eng
lish lady, testified that she saw the mother
knock Annie down only day or two be-
fore her death, with stick of wood, while
she was in her Mrs. Douglass) house beg
ging for bread, and then kick her down
stairs, the child at the time not having
strength. to arise. At another time she
dragged the girl around b. her hair, tear
ing large lunches from her head. On the
day of her death, she saw her standing by
the stove, with one arm around it entirely
naked, begging for something to eat, aud
the inhumau mother dragged the child
from its temporary warmth and thrust
it into cold room without any
thing for its covering, without a bed
even of straw to lie upon, or even chair
A few hours later tho child was found there
dead.
The screams of the girl could be heard
through the entire neighborhood, while its
brutal mother and no less brutal step
father were whipping it. The neighbors
were accustomed to give the child food,
but whenever the mother would hear of it
she would punish her. The child has often
been seen to pick bits of bread and meat
from the street and eat them, and also to
steal things from the bakers; but DO one
complained of her, knowing the circum-
stances. Mr.. Drummond, who boarded
with the family short time, corroborated
this testimony, and said further that the
husband also ll-used and abused the child
The body seemed to be nothing but skin
and bones, and the post-mortem examina-
ton by Drs. Dennler and Byer, revealed
the fact that nothing was found in the
stomach or intestines, and that the child
starved to death. The following was the
verdict: We find that the said Annie
Deekman came to her death by starvation,
misuse and willfal neglect at the hands of
her mother, Doris Deekman.
Ons witness swore to having seen the
mother choke the child till its face was
black. The strangest part o. this strange
story is, that when the child begged to be
saved, and pleaded with the nsighbors to
take her away, no one was found to offer
protection or even make complaint before
magistrate, not even when they saw that
the girl was being daily killed by the in
human mother. Great credit is due Cor
oner Tewksbury, who so ably conducted
the inquest, and who wormed out from un-
willing witnesses the facts in this case.
The coroner fully committed, without bail,
Doris Deekman to await the action of the
grand jury The child was eleven years
old.--N. Y Times.