[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A little girl was forced to jump on a trampoline until she died. And now, years later, those who loved her are getting justice. And sadly we are NOT talking about her adoptive parents.
In a press released sent to local media outlets and posted on Facebook last Friday, the Ector County District Attorney’s Office announced that Daniel Schwarz (pictured above, left) pled guilty to manslaughter in what is the conclusion of a legal case that has shocked the entire city of Odessa, Texas for nearly five years.
The case has been ongoing since the August 2020 death of 8-year-old Jaylin Schwarz. The poor girl died from dehydration after being forced to jump for hours on a trampoline in the triple-digit summer heat as punishment by her adoptive mother and father, according to prosecutors. Nearly three years after her death, in May 2023, Ashley Schwarz was found guilty of capital murder and intentionally causing serious bodily injury, and given three life sentences. Now it’s her husband’s turn…
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Daniel had initially pled not guilty to the charges against him, per KOSA News. But after his wife’s conviction two years ago, he changed his plea to guilty and will now spend the next 18 years behind bars for the horrific crime. According to that outlet, he will get credit for time served, the 313 days during which he’d already been incarcerated prior to last week’s sentencing.
The Murder
The tragedy played out on August 29, 2020 after police were called to a medical emergency at the family’s home in Odessa. There, first responders found Jaylin lying dead on the trampoline. An investigation into the incident later determined the little girl was being punished for misbehaving at the time of her death.
That punishment included Ashley and Daniel forbidding her from being allowed to eat breakfast, prosecutors argued in court, and then forcing her to jump on the trampoline all day in the Texas heat. In August. Dear lord…
According to a search warrant later revealed by local media outlets, investigators determined the air temperature was nearly 100 degrees on the day of Jaylin’s death — and the temperature of the surface of the trampoline was approximately 110 degrees. Even worse, when Jaylin stopped jumping at one point and begged for water, cops claim her parents refused.
WTF…
An autopsy report released several months after the little girl’s death determined she died of dehydration caused by heat stroke, and medical examiners officially ruled Jaylin’s death a homicide. Both parents were then arrested on charges of capital murder.
At her 2023 trial, Ashley testified that she’d given Jaylin and her siblings pigs in a blanket for breakfast, and that the family did have water on hand. But the girl’s siblings also testified at Ashley’s trial, and they claimed they were frequently punished by being forced to jump on the trampoline for hours without water.
JFC. They ALL could have died!
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In the end, Ashley was convicted of the charges and sentenced to the aforementioned prison term. Now, after pleading guilty to the lesser manslaughter charge, Daniel will also be feeling the consequences of his horrific actions.
There are seriously no words that can adequately sum up the emotions we felt in learning about the awful end of Jaylin’s life. That poor little girl.
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
[Image via Alysha Anderton/Facebook.]
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