The Caylee Anthony Murder

Caylee Marie Anthony was born on August 9, 2005, to her mother Casey Anthony in Orlando, Florida. Caylee was a big blue-eyed 2-year-old who was referred to as sweet and precocious. Her mother, however, was a bit of a party girl. 

Casey reports she and her parents got in a fight on June 15th where she left in anger and didn’t come back. During her time away, her parents tried to talk to Caylee many times but Casey always had an excuse, and they never managed to get in contact with their granddaughter. Then, on July 13th, Casey’s parents got a call that Casey’s car had been towed. So, they went to pick it up and found some of Casey’s belongings and then reported the trunk emitted an awful smell. On July 15th, 2008 they finally tracked her down and she eventually broke down and admitted Caylee had been missing for 31 days. In return, Cindy made a frantic call to 911 about it, leading to Casey’s arrest on July 16th for child neglect. 

During the investigation process in the first couple of days, Casey led police on a wild goose chase. Casey claimed her babysitter Zanny kidnapped Caylee but the police looked into this and there was no evidence of a babysitter named Zanny. Casey then told police she worked at Universal Studios in which the police asked to see her office there. So, Casey led them on a walk around the park for some time before admitting she had been fired from there years ago. While they were on this goose chase, the police searched Casey Anthony’s car with cadaver dogs and an air sample and both detected the smell consistent with a dead body and chloroform. Casey is then declared a person of interest on July 22nd. This then led to Casey being indicted with first-degree murder on October 14th, 2008. Sadly, the case would make a devastating break. On December 11th, 2008 a human skull with a piece of loose tape on its mouth was found inside a black plastic bag in the forest, near the Anthony family home. On December 19th the remains found would be confirmed to be Caylee Anthony. They were never able to find out the cause of the death of little Caylee. 

Casey’s trial began in May 2011, lasting six weeks with the charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter. Casey pleaded not guilty to these charges and made several allegations against her father regarding sexual abuse, claiming he hurt her and Caylee, along with claiming Caylee drowned in the pool and her father helped cover it up. Casey’s father George denies every single allegation against him. On July 5th, 2011 Casey was found not guilty. She however is convicted with misdemeanor charges and sentenced to 4 years in prison and a $4,000 fine. 

The story of Caylee Anthony is often told under the name of “The Casey Anthony Case” However, that overshadows the heartbreaking event that happened to 2-year-old Caylee. After the events, Casey continues to receive lots of backlash but continues to live her life in her own peace. Meanwhile, Caylee lost the happy life she could’ve had. Her story must be told under her name, so another victim never loses justice again.