How Could You? Hall of Shame-Megan McCullar case-Child Death UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Pineville, Mo, “charges were filed earlier this week in the murder case of Megan McCullar, a two-year-old McDonald County girl whose death by head trauma had lain unresolved for 15 years.

[Foster parent] Jessica Newhard, who held custody of McCullar at the time of her death, was charged with second-degree murder on Tuesday.

McCullar had been removed from the care of her mother, Tracy McCullar, and placed with Newhard and her husband — McCullar’s stepbrother — by the Missouri Division of Family Services in June of 2001. She died three months later of “shaken impact syndrome,” according to the probable cause affidavit.

Jessica Newhard was the only person at home with Megan when the child died on Sept. 18, 2001, at 260 Route E near Rocky Comfort, according to the affidavit. She was arrested in Georgia, where she resided along with her three biological children, but has been released on $5,000 bail.

The charges come two years after Newhard allegedly admitted to her now estranged husband that she killed the child. Kevin Newhard has since filed for a divorce, claiming she attacked him when he told her he would take her confession to the police.

Newhard was arrested and charged with felony child abuse in the immediate aftermath of McCullar’s death, but that case was eventually dismissed with the condition that it could be filed again later.

She had passed two polygraph examinations in which she denied killing McCullar, according to a 2006 Globe report.

The same article noted that investigators discovered an indentation in the Newhard’s living room wall in the shape of a high chair, leading them to theorize that Jessica Newhard allegedly lost control and pushed the chair into the wall while Megan was in it.”

Confession leads to murder charges in 15-year-old child death case[The Joplin Globe 10/6/16 by Koby Levin]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “Megan McCullar was nearly 2 years old when she died of “shaken impact syndrome” in 2001. Fifteen years later, the child’s foster father says his guilt-wracked wife confessed responsibility.

Jessica Newhard was bound over by McDonald County Associate Circuit Judge John LePage on Wednesday for trial after a preliminary hearing on a charge of second-degree murder. She has pleaded not guilty.

After the child’s death, Kevin Newhard became convinced that Jessica was not responsible. The couple moved on. The couple had three children, and they weathered Kevin Newhard’s 10 deployments to the Middle East as an Army Ranger.

Twelve years later, Jessica began to behave erratically, Kevin Newhard testified on Wednesday. She put it down to a diagnosis of late-stage cancer but never let her husband accompany her to a doctor appointment, he said. She talked of simply checking into a Tulsa emergency room for cancer treatment.

On a July afternoon, she asked her husband to meet her on the porch of their home in Rocky Comfort, he told the judge. She said she had “snapped” and hurt Megan, who had developmental problems that sometimes led to uncontrollable crying spells or difficulty eating.

“Her exact words were, she had done what they said she did,” he said.

After the alleged confession, Kevin Newhard said, his wife became hysterical. When he finally confronted her, a scuffle ensued, and Jessica left with the children. Kevin Newhard filed for divorce.

The outcome of the case will likely affect the couple’s divorce proceeding, which remains tangled in a custody dispute. Their three children have been in Jessica Newhard’s care since 2014. In recent court filings, Kevin Newhard cited Jessica’s alleged confession to support his argument for custody.

The divorce could also affect the state’s case against Jessica Newhard. Her attorney, Ross Rhoades, took aim at Kevin Newhard’s credibility  as a witness by noting that he was held in contempt of the Georgia court that is processing their divorce. Rhoades also said that Kevin Newhard suffered some memory loss as a result of injuries sustained in the Army, and that he was diagnosed with PTSD.

After filing for divorce, Kevin Newhard wrote to the sheriff’s office about the alleged confession, setting in motion a reinvestigation that led to fresh charges against Jessica Newhard in October 2016.

The child’s death was initially ruled a homicide, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by Christopher Allison, chief deputy to the McDonald County sheriff.

Jessica Newhard was arrested and charged with felony child abuse at the time, but a former prosecutor dropped the case.

Kevin, 37, and Jessica, 36, were Megan’s foster parents. Kevin was also the child’s stepbrother. The couple received custody of Megan after Missouri Department of Family Services removed her from the care of Tracy McCullar, Kevin’s stepmother, who had neglected the child while struggling with alcohol abuse, according to court records.

A few weeks before her child’s death, Jessica Newhard called the family pediatrician, saying she had found the toddler unconscious in the bathtub with her head under water, but was able to revive her, according to earlier Globe reports.

She later said the child didn’t lose consciousness, and that she had not left her alone in the bathtub. The matter was dropped.

A few months later, on Sept. 18, 2001, Jessica called Kevin Newhard at work, telling him to get home now.

His infant stepsister was convulsing on the floor when he arrived, he testified. He called for help.

Allison told the judge that he was working for the Stella Fire Department in 2001 when he responded to the call.

The child’s body showed signs of trauma, Allison said. Jessica said Megan had fallen from a shelf on the wall. The child died several days later in the hospital after being diagnosed with “‘blunt cranial trauma’ from shaken impact syndrome,” according to the probable cause affidavit.

‘Her exact words were, she had done what they said she did.’

— Kevin Newhard,  in testimony Wednesday at his estranged wife’s preliminary hearing in the 2001 death of their foster child.”

Long-dormant shaken baby case moves forward [Joplin Globe 4/26/17 by Koby Levin]