'She took away my baby': Savannah Hardin's mom testifies in Garrard penalty phase

ETOWAH COUNTY, AL (WBRC) - A tearful Heather Walker says she relives the final moments and death of her daughter, Savannah Hardin, every day of her life.

Walker was the first witness for the state after their opening statement in penalty phase of the Joyce Garrard trial.

The jury will decide whether to recommend life in prison or death for Garrard, with Etowah County Circuit Judge Billy Ogletree having the final say at a later date. The same jury convicted Garrard of capital murder on Friday night.

Garrard is accused of forcing Savannah Hardin, her 9-year-old granddaughter, to run laps and carry firewood until she collapsed in a seizure. Hardin later died at Children's of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham.

As she was questioned by prosecutor Carol Griffith, Walker said she was divorced from Savannah's father, Robert Hardin, in 2012, and had last seen Savannah on Martin Luther King Day the previous year.

At first the couple shared joint custody before Savannah moved from Walker's home in Lakeland, FL first to nearby Jacksonville, FL, then to her stepmother's home in north Etowah County, just outside Attalla but with an Attalla mailing address.

Walker recalled losing contact with Savannah at that point. The numbers she had used as contact numbers had been changed.

Walker would often send "care packages" to that address, only to see them returned in the mail. When she was in Etowah County on a custody hearing, she would leave them on the home's doorstep, since no one was home.

Walker recalls checking her phone that February weekend in 2012 to see multiple messages from the same number, which turned out to be from Savannah's father. She says Robert Hardin sounded panicked in the voice mail messages.

When she called back, she was told Savannah had suffered brain swelling following a seizure and Robert asked, "How soon can you get here?"

It was at this point Heather Walker's voice broke on the stand, then she wept.

"I kept telling them to save my baby!" she recalled on the stand as she sobbed into a tissue.

Walker said she first contacted the Etowah County Sheriff's Office, then Gadsden Regional Medical Center, finally tracking down Savannah at Children's Hospital.

She recalled the person she spoke to on the phone was reluctant to release information "without the grandmother's permission."

She said when she got to Savannah's room, Joyce kept demanding Heather not be allowed to be alone with her.

Walker broke down when she described seeing Savannah hooked up to machines with some blood on her face, but despite that, no visible signs of injuries.

"I couldn't understand how that could just happen," she said she remembered thinking.

When Griffith asked about Savannah's medical history, Walker said she never recalled Savannah being diagnosed with ADHD, and said Savannah had bladder problems because she was born four and a half weeks premature. But she said they cleared up by the time she was 2.

Walker recalled the doctors at Children's of Alabama Hospital did a neurological test in which they would take Savannah off of the respirator and see if she could take a breath.

While the family was in Savannah's room watching during one of these tests, Walker recalls Joyce Garrard yelling, "Savannah, you need to breathe right now!"

Walker recalled holding Savannah's hand and pressing her own face against Savannah's in the hospital bed, and stayed that way until Savannah's arms stiffened.

She also recalled Savannah's stepmother and Robert's then-current and then-pregnant wife, Jessica Hardin, praying in the hospital's chapel. She quoted Hardin as saying "If You can make Savannah okay, you can take this baby in my belly right now!"

Walker said Hardin was actually having contractions during the ordeal with Savannah's hospital stay.

Jessica Hardin gave birth after she was charged with felony murder in the same case for allegedly failing to intervene, and is awaiting a separate trial. Some of the earlier pre-trial hearings hinted at a plea deal in Hardin's future, but that has yet to come to pass.

Walker also mentioned a conversation Garrard was asked about on the witness stand, and one which Walker addressed in her Daily Beast interview last week.

Walker recalled Garrard putting her hands on Jessica Hardin's face and saying, "You have to get it together! There's a lot on the line here!"

"Every single day I relive that day over and over, I feel her in my arms at the hospital," Walker told the jury.

When asked if she felt Garrard should receive the death penalty, Walker said, "She took away my baby, her life shouldn't be spared."

Under cross examination from defense attorney Richard Rhea, she was asked if she felt Garrard intended to kill Savannah.

Walker replied, "At some point she knew what she was doing ...at a certain point, any human being would know enough is enough."

Rhea also asked Walker about her Daily Beast interview, saying it was given a week before it was published, just before closing arguments in the guilt phase of the trial.

After Walker, prosecutors brought in a surprise witness: Sam Hudgins, a man who was working on a home in the neighborhood that afternoon.

He testified he saw Savannah running laps around the house as he drove by twice, and the second time he saw her hauling wood so big she had to hold it in both of her arms.

Hudgins recalled pulling over to talk to a neighbor, Roger Simpson, to ask him what was going on.

Hudgins recalled Simpson saying he didn't want to get involved because Garrard once threatened "to blow his brains out" over an unrelated matter.

He said Simpson is now deceased, and that he, Hudgins, chose not to get involved until he read a newspaper account of the trial.

His written statement to sheriff's investigators is dated Thursday, March 19, during the trial but on a day when trial was not in session.

The testimony followed opening statements by prosecutor Marcus Reid and Jimmie Harp, who both said they intended to prove Savannah Hardin's death was "heinous, atrocious and cruel" when compared to other similar crimes, the legal standard for a death sentence in Alabama.

Sheriff Todd Entrekin, Etowah County's sheriff since 2007 and an employee of that office since July 1982, testified that based on his experience with some 15 such capital murder cases, this one met that standard.

Defense attorneys deferred their opening statement and testimony until Wednesday. Over the weekend, defense attorney Sam Bone became a first-time father. Judge Ogletree explained to the jury Bone was given a couple of days off to be with his family at this time, and wanted to be present when his team made their statements and put on any witnesses.

Court was then recessed until Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.

The defense is expected to counter with why Garrard's life should be spared. In order to recommend a death sentence, at least 10 of the 12 jurors must vote in favor of it.

In Alabama, a jury's recommendation is just that, a recommendation. The ultimate decision will rest with the judge.

If Garrard does receive a death sentence, she'll become the fourth woman currently on Alabama's Death Row.

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