US Couple Beats Autistic Girl, 3, To Death After Getting Angry Over How She Chewed Food

A couple in the US have been arrested for allegedly beating their 3-year-old "special needs" foster daughter to death. According to the New York Post, Jamie Johnson, 44, and Raymond Johnson, 62, from North Dakota, used closed-fist punches, kicks, head-slamming hair pulls, and other "owies" to punish the child who was only in the Johnsons' home for a few months. She was repeatedly punished for things such as crying and taking too long to chew her food, according to an affidavit.

The foster mother would fly into a rage over the girl's eating habits, one of the couple's other foster kids said, per the Post. The child told the cops that the 3-year-old would get "in trouble" for "leaving food in her mouth". "It's not easy, I get pretty crabby sometimes and then I feel like s**t for it," Jamie allegedly told a friend via a text message.

"Honestly, if I knew how she was I might not have taken her," she added about the child whom she called a "total brat" in another message. In other texts, Jamie expressed the belief that the girl was "special needs" and possibly "autistic," the outlet stated.

In March, the couple brought the unresponsive girl to a hospital. At the time, they claimed that she had fallen down a flight of stairs a few days before.  

The foster mother told the investigators that the girl would regularly "self-inflict" injuries due to her learning disability. But statements from the couple's other foster children and home security footage told a different story. "You need to be careful with my mom," one of the kids told investigators from the North Dakota Bureau of Investigation, describing her as the "meanest one" out of the two foster parents.

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Separately, a Ring camera footage inside the home showed Jamie punching the 3-year-old in the head with a closed fist and dragging her around by the hair, causing the child to hit her head on the floor, a table and a wall. Jamie also allegedly hit the girl with a wooden spoon on the head, face, and stomach, and covered her mouth when she cried. Once, the foster mother also beat the child so badly that she passed out and needed to be revived with an ice pack, the other foster children said. 

Raymond Johnson, Jamie's husband, was considered the "nice one" by the children. However, he allegedly also gave out cruel punishments to the 3-year-old. He allegedly kicked the child and hit her head in head, the other children told the cops. 

The couple is now facing murder, child abuse and domestic violence charges. They will be back in court for a preliminary hearing on July 24.