More than two years of legal proceedings ended Friday with two consecutive life sentences imposed upon the Salem father found guilty of starving his 10-year-old adopted daughter to death.
Randall Abney, 53, stood in inmate orange with a bullet proof vest on as heard the final decision from Judge Michael Randazzo within the Dent County Courthouse. A jury convicted him Aug. 31 of felony counts of second-degree murder for taking the life of Josie Ann Abney as well as abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death. Abney responded to his fate with no reaction within the courtroom. He showed no emotion until escorted out of the building by sheriff’s deputies with his shaved head slunk low and eyes glassy and he walked shackled through a cold November breeze.
“This is the most appropriate punishment I’ve ever handed down,” Randazzo said speaking from the bench. He also noted Abney’s sentence was the maximum possible and hoped the convicted murderer spends as much time in prison as possible.
Randall Abney’s wife, Susan Abney, 46, previously avoided trial by pleading guilty in February to abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death. She testified against her husband as a witness for the prosecution during his trial and later also received a life sentence from Judge Randazzo last month.
Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley personally led the case securing the conviction. The proceedings now closed; he said Friday outside the courthouse this case will be one no one involved will ever forget.
“There were images and aspects of this case that will stay with you forever, and they should,” he said.
Two witnesses for the prosecution were called by Curley on Friday at the sentencing hearing.
Sgt. Chris Robbins of the Dent County Sheriff’s Department was the first emergency responder on scene the day Josie died and performed CPR on her. Robbins said he and other first responders required grief counseling after Josie’s death and he personally had nightmares for months afterwards of trying to breathe life back into Josie.
Josie’s R-IV kindergarten teacher Kristi Moses said she was a loving “light in this world” and those who knew Josie are haunted by what happened. Moses said she’d offered to adopt Josie if she were removed from the Abney home by Children’s Division to no avail. In the wake of Josie’s death, Moses read from a prepared letter that Josie’s classmates have been robbed of their childhood innocence and adults in the community left with distrust of others.
Prior to Randazzo’s sentencing Curley reread the many incriminating messages between Randall and Susan Abney mocking and belittling Josie for seeking food and water as she slowly starved to death over her final year. Curley then held up pictures comparing Josie in January 2020 to October 2020 to Randazzo.
“It took months, and they watched it happen,” Curley said before formally requesting a sentence of two consecutive life terms.
Randall Abney’s defense attorney T.J. Kirsch argued one term should be imposed or the two ordered to run concurrent as that’s the sentence Susan Abney received.
“Parsimony is important to the rule of law,” Kirsch said.
Randazzo later denied Kirsch’s request stating he regretted he didn’t have two sentences he could impose on Susan since she plead guilty to only one charge as part of a plea deal.
Randall and Susan Abney were first arrested and charged after Josie Ann Abney died at Salem Memorial District Hospital Oct. 3, 2020. At the time Josie weighed only 34 pounds, had a blood sugar level of 10 and was so dehydrated a blood sample could not be drawn. Her protruding bones and emaciation were described by law enforcement as though she “appeared like a Holocaust victim.”
During initial interviews with officers from Dent County Sheriff’s Department Randall and Susan Abney claimed Josie had stopped eating the week prior to her death and had avoided food for periods in the past. They said she collapsed before the family was to eat a fried chicken dinner and 911 was called upon finding she wasn’t breathing. At trial, Susan Abney testified the family earlier that day went shopping at the Salem citywide yard sale during which Josie was kept locked in the car and not bought her own lunch while the couple ate sandwiches.
A search of the Abney home by law enforcement found its refrigerator equipped with a lock, the lock on the door to Josie’s bedroom reversed and a loud alarm installed to sound if the door were opened. Her bedroom had only a mattress with a blanket inside. Meanwhile, in the parents’ bedroom, officers found various sweets such as candy, crackers and cookies.
The texts and Facebook messages obtained by law enforcement were entered as the key evidence of guilt during the trial. The correspondence between Susan and Randall from winter 2019 to fall 2020 reveal them referring to Josie repeatedly as “it,” “stupid” and a “little bitch” among other insults. They also mockingly reference physical punishments Josie received for trying to sneak food away from the refrigerator or from vehicles. They further mock Josie over increasingly desperate attempts to find nourishment. Among the incidents referenced were Josie eating pudding off a school-bus floor, consuming a tube of toothpaste, eating dog food and drinking water from a toilet. At one point, Susan sent Randall a text stating of Josie, “She will eat shit, LOL.”
Defense attorney Kirsch attempted to shed light on the Susan’s motive behind sending these messages while cross examining her during the trial. Susan Abney offered no clear answer for her actions, instead flatly answering there was “no explanation” and “no reason” for why she mocked her adopted daughter’s emaciation.
Susan told Prosecutor Curley from the witness stand that Randall regularly withheld food from Josie as punishment for not doing chores, and the food deprivation escalated over the final year of her life. The significant events of the case’s timeline included Josie no longer attending classes at Salem Upper Elementary after the March 2020 COVID-19 shutdowns, her parents claiming to homeschool her when classes reopened in August 2020 and finally Randall being permanently homebound due to a work injury at the St. James Walmart Distribution Center later that fall. Randall Abney himself did not take the stand during his trial.
A point prosecutor Curley emphasized at trial and again at sentencing was that Josie had an Individualized Education Plan at Salem Upper Elementary and was functionally two years behind her grade level. He cited Josie struggled with multistep tasks and was punished for that in not completing multistep chores such as laundry. Curley also referenced Randall blamed Josie for her condition the day she died when talking to investigators. Curley further cited several specific texts between Randall and Susan as particularly incriminating. For example, Susan said Josie cried when school was cancelled for bad weather one day in January 2020. Randall wrote, “OMG go figure.” Susan responded, “Yep, because of food.”
Josie Ann Abney was born in Poplar Bluff as Jocelyn Abrianna Chadwell on Feb. 6, 2010. Her biological parents were a teenage mother and father from Shannon County. She was placed with Susan and Randall Abney as a foster child when she was 22 months old. The couple had acted as foster parents to more than a dozen children over four years. They later legally adopted Josie and had her name changed.
Josie Ann Abney is today buried in Salem’s Cedar Grove Cemetery. When reached by The Salem News on Friday, her biological mother, Hannah Chadwell, responded simply, “They should have gotten more.”
