(GAS CITY) – The prosecutor is seeking life without parole for the woman accused of killing 10-year-old Skylea Carmack.
Police arrested her stepmother, 34-year-old Amanda Carmack on Wednesday after police say she confessed to killing Skylea.
Amanda is charged with murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, strangulation, and domestic battery resulting in serious bodily injury.
According to court documents, Skylea lived in a home with Amanda, her biological dad Kevin Carmack, and six other children. Three of the children are Amanda’s, and the other three children are Amanda’s brother’s children.
Authorities interviewed the six children, and they told police Amanda is a “strict disciplinarian, physically abusing them.” They said when they were in trouble they would have to stand with their face against the wall and their hands in the air, sometimes for several hours. They also claim Amanda used a belt to whip them.
The child who shared a bedroom with Skylea, told police Skylea was confined to her room for the last week and a half before her death and was only allowed to come out to eat and to go to the bathroom.
The child said she last saw Skylea around 4 or 5 p.m. before going on a bike ride. The child said Skylea was cleaning her room when she left, but when she returned at 6 p.m. Skylea wasn’t there. The child said she told Amanda that Skylea was missing, but Amanda just shrugged it off.
Police interviewed Amanda, and she displayed numerous signs of deception and distraught, according to court documents. She refused to give information about what she was doing when the victim went missing. At one point the detective asked, “Did you kill Skylea?” and she did not admit or deny the allegation. She also failed a polygraph.
On September 4, Amanda walked into the Gas City Police Department at 12:10 a.m. and said she wanted to talk to someone. When a detective entered the room they found Amanda on the floor sobbing and admitted to killing Skylea.
She told police she remembered being very angry after she found a stolen charm bracelet which belonged to one of the other children when she searched Skylea’s room.. She told police she remembered being on top of Skylea and choking her with her hands, and she thought she tied something around Skylea’s neck. Once Skylea was dead, she put her in a trash bag and placed her in the shed.
Police searched the shed around 3 a.m., and that’s when they found her body hidden inside a trash bag.
A pair of what appeared to be multi-colored pants was tied in a knot very tightly around her neck.
An autopsy confirmed Skylea was murdered and her cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation.
The other children were removed from the home by Child Protective Services when Skylea’s body was discovered.
