The Nation - News from Dec. 14, 1988

A Virginia woman who force-fed her 4-year-old daughter a fatal dose of salt as punishment was convicted of second-degree murder but charges against the father were dismissed. “This child died of salt poisoning,” Commonwealth’s Atty. Skip Burkart said. “We’re talking about a massive amount of salt this child was forced to eat.” The couple routinely kept the girl, a Colombian child they had adopted, locked in her room while they were gone to keep her from eating sweets, the prosecutor said. When one of the girl’s four brothers told his mother that the girl had eaten sugar, the woman took the bowl, dumped salt in it and force-fed her daughter up to 20 spoonfuls of salt as punishment, he said.