Schala Alexandria Vera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Schala upset her mother's boyfriend Dauntorian Sanders by not listening to him. Sanders than beat Schala with a nylon belt. Schala's face fell between her knees, and then Sanders whipped her back. She was picked up and dropped again and again on the bathroom floor. While she was face down on the tile, a door was slammed repeatedly into her head. She had marks on her arms, legs, shoulders, head, wrist and back that matched the stitching of a leather belt. Bruises covered the back of her hand, she had raised her arms to protect herself. Covered in bruises three year old Schala hid Sanders, she squeezed herself between the toilet and the vanity and died there alone.  Sanders went to Walgreens to buy cigarettes, when he returned, Schala was naked, propped against the vanity, her legs in front of her, her eyes and mouth open. Sanders calmly called 911. When emergency help arrived, it was too late.

 

In questioning, Sanders admitted to hitting Schala with a belt. He also told detectives he first started hitting her in June. But he said that he "got out of control" and hit her with more force than usual. Schala’s mother admitted she had witnessed these beatings frequently but didn't try to stop the abuse. She denied any involvement in the fatal beating, but did say she had beaten her daughter in the past. An autopsy found that Schala had died from blunt force trauma. Sanders was sentenced to death for his conviction of first degree murder and was given 19 1/2 years for the two counts of child abuse.