Death Of 57-Year-Old Woman Ruled Homicide From Beating She Endured As Infant
SACRAMENTO (AP) — Sacramento County authorities have ruled the recent death of a 57-year-old woman a homicide stemming from a beating she endured from her father as an infant.
The coroner's office told Sacramento police that Sandra Smith died in January of blunt force injuries to the head that had left her disabled and under longtime care all her life.
The Sacramento Bee reports that Smith's injuries came from a 1954 beating by her father, Andrew Dean Smith, who served six months for assault. He died in 1980.
Because records for that case were unavailable, detectives say they had to check old newspaper archives for information on the case. A story from the Sacramento Union said Andrew Smith had repeatedly hit his 6-month-old daughter for crying until she was unconscious.
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