Girl Chained to Bed By Parents Dies in Fire
 

<hr>
Girl Chained to Bed Dies in Fire

CLARKSVILLE, Ark. — Bond was set at $100,000 each Wednesday for a Johnson County couple charged with felony manslaughter after the body of their 10-year-old daughter, chained to a bed by her ankles, was found in the debris of the family's burned home.

Sheriff Wesley Kendrick said investigators believe the fire was accidental. Four people made it out of the home -- the parents and their two other children.

The body of Molly Holt was found by firefighters in her bedroom under debris where the roof had collapsed, said Chief Deputy Jerry Dorney. Investigators also found a chain and padlock that they determined had secured the girl to her bed, Dorney said.

"The reason that the child was chained to the bed is unknown at this time," Prosecutor David Gibbons said Wednesday. "I do know that there is no justifiable reason to chain the 10-year-old child to their bed."

Molly's parents, Lloyd Holt, 32, and Teresa Dick, 31, were arrested on a felony manslaughter charge. At a hearing Wednesday, a judge appointed a public defender to the case and set the bond amount for each of the parents, said Deputy Prosecutor Bruce Wilson. The couple remained in the county jail at Clarksville on Wednesday evening.

Investigators believe the fire started in the front of the house, where the girl's bedroom was located, but they hadn't determined by Wednesday what caused the fire.

"The entire house was completely destroyed and on the ground," Dorney said. "The only thing standing was a brick chimney. At this point, we believe the fire was accidental."

The chief deputy would not disclose what the parents told investigators when asked why their daughter was chained to the bed. He said when deputies arrived at the scene, the father said he wasn't able to get Molly out of the house.

The body was sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for an autopsy.

Dorney said deputies received a call at 12:45 a.m. Monday of the fire about 13 miles north of Clarksville. The nearest residence to the two bedroom, wood-frame rent house was about a quarter-mile away.

When deputies arrived, the front of the house was engulfed in flames, and Lloyd Holt told them he believed Molly was still inside.

Both parents are employed, although Dorney said he didn't know exactly where. "We've not had any problems with them that I can remember off the top of my head," he said.

The couple's other children -- a girl about 5 and a boy about 3 -- were placed with relatives, Dorney said.
<hr>
LINK


Let the "some people don't deserve to be parents" bashing begin...

That is absolutely sick. Who in their right mind would chain their 10 yr old child to the bed. Even if you were worried about them sleep walking or something you wouldn't do that for the very reason that if a fire or something started you may not have time to get them out.

They must have been either stupid or just sick. People should have a licence to have children.

That makes me very sad. Kids just shouldn't die.

$10 dollars says the parents are insane Bible Thumpers who caught their girl looking at a teen magazine and were then positive she was a week away from banging guys in the parking lot of a Walmart.

I was going to post this story but it just disgusted me too much. Yes, it's cliche, but some people just shouldn't be allowed to procreate.

I wonder if they'll find out that the fire was started by the parents. It just seems fishy to me that parents would chain their 10 year old to a bed and then seem to so innocently say, "We couldn't get her out". If they're sick enough to chain their kid to a bed, they're probably sick enough to abuse her horribly, too. It may be a stretch, but I'm guessing that they 'accidentally' went too far with their abuse and needed to cover it up.

God, I hate it when parents treat their kids like shit. There are so many people out there who want children and can't have them, who'd take care of and love these children, but can't for whatever reason have their own. It just makes me sick to think of it.

This is one of those sick things that I can almost not stand to read. People like that disgust me.

Ya thats really fucked up why would u chain ur fuckingkid to their bed. I mean if theyre bad punish em , dont let em watch tv but dont chain em to their god damn bed!

We watched a film in one of my psych classes about this guy how kept his daughter chained to a chair for 11 years in a room with boarded windows and absulutely nothing else in the room, he beat her whenever she made noise and didn't feed her for days. When the cops finally found out about it the guy shot himself and his wife. She's in a mental institution now because the foster family they put her with would abuse her just as bad as her old family did. Yeah, I would say that there are lots of people who dont deserve to be parents. As a matter of fact there are lots of people who should be shot before they become parents.

I would like to know why the child was chained. It is sad to read about something so horroriffic. Being burned alive is a gruesome way to go.

I pray for people like her and her family

does it get any worse, i think not:(


very sad

Is there any reason for these two (the parents) <b>NOT</b> to undergo mandatory sterilization? I just cannot even <b>begin</b> to understand this type of horse*%&#.

Ironically, it's crap like this that I think about when my daughter screams at me for being such a tyrannical ogre, for not letting her stay out past 10:00 on a school night. "Yes, Honey, I really <b>am</b> the meanest, strictest father on the face of the earth. You're absolutely right....be back in this house by 10."

ok ill bite the bullet on this one.

ok i think we can agree that the parents are not normal/sane.

so i got an idea, instead of grabbing the torches and pitchforks, why dont we try to find out how this came to be, hey maybe take a step back, and help these people out.

maybe this way we can learn to help other parents like this, who are currently unable to deal properly with the stress of parent hood.

who knows we might just save more children in the manner.

The only way to help these people tokaok is to lock em up so no other child gets hurt.

WTF!

I knew I shouldn't have read that article. Now I have to go play with a kitten for a couple hours to balance out my despair for the world.

i am not saying to let them go free, but normal people dont do things like that just because.

this means that they need help, and it should be given to them. turnning out backs to them accomplishes nothing but to appease our egos and soothe our hearts, it does nothing to help the next child in the next broken fammily.

If you need help to learn that you shouldn't hurt/kill your own flesh and blood, or someone very close to it (kids if they're not blood-related or something), then you shouldn't have kids at all. No second chances on this stuff.

Now, I know they probably didn't mean to have her die in the fire chained to her bed.. but she shouldn't have been chained there in the first place. I think that counts on what I said above.

Hmm, that's pretty opionated, but that's how I feel. They can't come back from this and say, "Whoops, I messed up.. sorry.. I still have two more kids to try to do right with."

They may need to be studied to see how this (or similar) could be prevented in other parents that are stressed, but these guys definitely lost their "get to be a parent" cards.

Chains in bed should be strictly voluntary and for adults only.

Stories like this leave you with a lot of doubt about this world.

...some people are too fucked up to comprehend. I'm speechless. I pray for that girl, and for the two remaining children. I hope the parents burn in hell forever.

Its unfortunate that some parents who think they are keeping thier kids out of harms way are so misguided in thier attempts.
A very sad story and a now totaly ruined family.
Unless there was something more sinister here.

i think the parents should suffer the same fate.. back in the old days they would have.. now "everyone" no matter how sick and twisted, have rights

Ah, always the sad stories posted on here. I'm going to find some funny and inspiring stories and post them.

That is one of the most disturbing stories I've read in a long time. People like that should not ba allowed to live. An eye for an eye mentality. Sorry, but the kid was 10 years old. No fucking compasion for those "parents".

These people deserve to be chained to beds and burn alive for this.

thats pretty sad

Damn, that's just wrong. What the hell were those dumbass parents thinking.

step one

mandatory vasectomy

step two

parenting licenses

step three

profit oh wait, but i do think we need to have licenses to have children. just like driving

Niether the weight of a ten year old's bed, nor the tensile strength of a ten year old's ankle, are even remotely capable of withstanding the strength of a father facing a situation wherein his daughter is going to burn to death if he doesn't get her to safety. I'm not a DA or a cop, so my prejudicial verdict doesn't matter enough to keep to myself: That was murder.

This just makes me so angry that I am without words. To me this sounds too purposeful but hte parents. If my daughter were stuck in a burning house the authorities would have to hold me back to keep me from going in to get her. Here they are just standing outside with their other two and knowing that this poor girl was trapped because of them. I do hope they feel guilty for this. I'm sorry - this isn't a simple mistake - It's gross negligence and possibly purposeful.

maybe there was an exorsicm going on the the 'devil' shot some fire so prevent being exorcised...
u cant blame the parents for that

a normal sane parent would die in the fire trying to save their child.

this is so horrible & sickening. it's sad to think, but that poor little girl probably endured a lot of abuse during her 10 yrs of life.

I see a positive in no matter how small it may be. To me it seems, just as bernadette said, that this girl endured at least psychological abuse if not much more physical abuse. She is now free of that. It has ended for her and her death may preserve her younger siblings of a lifetime of trauma. In that sense her death was not in vain - it saved her brother and sister. If only the state will not allow them to go back to the parents and they can find a good home to love and raise them. It would be the utlimate betrayal of her death for the state to send her siblings back to her parents.

No, and not funny. The girl was mentally disabled and had behavioral problems, and the parents saw fit to restrain her by handcuffing her to the bed. This doesn't make what they did any less reprehensible, but it should serve to squish a few myths.

These are not monsters we're talking about. They're humans. They might be bad parents, but try and get the full picture before you dump your hatred and judgement upon them. Too often the media dehumanizes people, turning them into heroes or villains or Representatives of a Cause (the way they did Jessica Lynch); it's our prerogative as readers to look for the person in the story.

Some links.

Sledge...I like you.

This story sickens my heart. I can't even begin to comment the depth of emotion it brings out in me. How very sad.

Ditto.

And for the record, my father (a fireman) tells me dying in a fire is actually not that horrible a death. Typically, you suffocate from the smoke before you burn. It's the equivalent of putting a hose from your exhaust pipe into your car window.

That is disgusting... no one should be chained.... especially a child

i felt like crying when i read this. if these parents have any sort of compassion in them, the guilt that they will feel for the rest of their lives is immeasureable in my mind. i would rather die than have to live with that. personally, i couldnt imagine me doing anything else but ripping that bed apart with all of my body, anything to save my child. i pray for these parents. thats all i can say. this is one of the most horrible things i have ever heard.

if any of my children were in a burning house.. hell would seem cold to what i would feel inside.. thinking this i believe its mind over matter.. why most peps that go in a burning building to rescue are mostly unharmed..

nothing and i mean nothing could stop me.. weither my child would perish or not.. i would remove them from that place..

i had a friend of mine.. his son died in a fire.. was heartbreaking then to find out later is wife he was split with and the brother in law set the house on fire after they serverly beat the son.. grrr

yeah i think they should be chained to a bed.. and have the room's oxygen lvl reduced so that its a nice smolder that way they would be awake.. groggy but awake.. and let the burn begin.. ahh.. they human body.. skin can regrow sooo easily..

sorry.. but sick fucks like this deserve what they get.. read my sig.. sums my feelings on this post nicely.

That is right, but you also forgot to mention that her parents are also complete fucking idiots who are unable to raise a child. There is no reason what so fucking ever that a parent should restrain a child like that. Both of her parents should never get to see their other kids. If it were up to me I'd fry the both. Chain them to a bed, pour some gas on them and toss a match on top. That's what they deserve!! :mad:

I can't believe that people can actually defend actions such as this. It makes me sick!

Okay, so they're not very good humans...