Jury finds Phoenix man guilty of fatally locking young girl in box
Nov 8, 2017, 4:49 PM
PHOENIX — A jury found a Phoenix man guilty Wednesday of locking a 10-year-old girl inside of a box as punishment where she later died.
John Allen was found guilty of first-degree murder, three counts of child abuse and conspiracy to commit child abuse.
The aggravation phase of his trial — where he could be sentenced to death or life in prison — was scheduled to begin Thursday.
Allen’s wife, Sammantha, was sentenced to death in the case.
Authorities said the Allens were responsible for making Ame Deal get into the box in 2011 as punishment for stealing an ice pop. She was left there and found dead six or seven hours later.
The girl’s death was the culmination of a history of abuse that a handful of relatives heaped on her, authorities said.
Deal was forced to eat dog feces, crush aluminum cans barefoot, consume hot sauce and get in the storage box on other occasions. She also was kicked in the face, beaten with a wooden paddle and forcibly dunked after being thrown in a cold swimming pool, investigators said.
Adults at the home originally claimed Deal hid during a late-night game of hide-and-seek and wasn’t found until hours later.
Child welfare authorities in Arizona said they didn’t receive any reports of abuse before her death. But child welfare reports from Utah, where the family lived before moving to Phoenix, listed Deal as an abused child, police said.
Other relatives were in prison serving sentences for abusing Deal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
