An eight-year-old girl has died of sepsis after her stepmother made her drink from a dirty toilet, reports claim.
Raylee JoLynn Browning, who died on December 26, 2018, also had a torn rectum, bruising, and burns at the time of her death. Her father Marty Browning, and her stepmother Julie Dawn Titchenell-Browning, as well as Titchenell-Browning’s sister Sherie Titchenell, have all been arrested over Raylee’s death in Hilltop, West Virginia.
An emotionless Sherie Titchenell reportedly carried Raylee into hospital after the youngster suffered a cardiac arrest. The trio has since been charged with the death of a child by parent and neglect, with a $100,000 bond, after investigators discovered the little girl's horrific living circumstances.
Titchenell-Browning was a former beauty pageant queen who won the title of Miss Oak Leaf 2019 at a local festival, who allegedly beat, starved her daughter, and stopped her from drinking for up to three days.
According to a report by the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Raylee was hit with spoons and belts and was made to sleep on the floor in a diaper after frequent bed-wetting.
A remembrance video for Raylee created by loved ones can be seen below:Titchenell-Browning's other daughter, who is now in foster care, told investigators: "Her grounding was that she wasn’t allowed to drink anything. I caught her drinking from the toilet a few times, and I feel that she got that infection from that water. I told her that the water was dirty, but I guess she was just so thirsty."
Raylee, who was taking seven different types of medication to treat her autism and mood disorders, was admitted to hospital a number of times in the lead up to her death.
It is yet unknown how social services handled Raylee’s case, but she was withdrawn from her local school and later homeschooled after she allegedly asked the cafeteria workers for extra food, telling them that she was not allowed to eat at home.