Law&Crime Sidebar - ‘Close to Death’: Babysitter Allegedly Strangled, Nearly Killed 1-Year-Old in Disturbing Attack

Episode Date: August 13, 2023

A 23-year-old babysitter was charged for allegedly suffocating and strangling the 1-year-old she was supposed to be caring for in February. Georgia authorities said Abby Elizabeth Choosewood “nearly killed” during the disturbing attack. The Law&Crime Network’s Angenette Levy breaks down the horrifying case with Lt. Kevin Holbrook from the Gainesville Police Department and Florina Altshiler, an attorney specialized in Child Victims Act cases.LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergWriting & Video Editing - Michael DeiningerGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa Bein & Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieThey Walk Among AmericaDevil In The DormThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. According to the Chief Deputy Register, when Camler County did their audits for the previous election, there were zero discrepancies and everything was 100% accurate. This has been Abby Choswood with Eagle News. An aspiring reporter working as a babysitter, accused of suffocating a toddler in her care. We look at the disturbing case out of Georgia and how it could have come together. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy and welcome to Law and Crime Sidebar Podcast.

Abby Chosewood is a 23-year-old woman who looks like the All-American girl. But police in Gainesville, Florida say she nearly killed a one-year-old child she was babysitting. Chosewood is free on bail. She was arrested recently on charges of cruelty to children and felony aggravated assault. And let me tell you, what you were about to hear is incredibly disturbing. This happened in February, according to police, but the investigation took a lot of time. So Chosewood was just recently arrested. Her website says she wanted to work as a sideline reporter for ESPN after graduating from college. She even has a YouTube channel with some of her work posted.

volunteers around the state gathered today in Savannah, Georgia, to help assist with the oyster cleanup that provides safe actuaries for oysters. This is Abby Treswood with Google News. Now, this isn't Chosewood's first brush with the law. Last September, Chosewood pleaded guilty to one count of financial transaction card theft and two counts of financial card fraud. She is serving two years probation on that case. Joining me to discuss the allegations in this incredibly disturbing case is Lieutenant Kevin Holwell. of the Gainesville Police Department in Georgia. They worked on this case. Lieutenant Holbrook, welcome to Sidebar. Thanks for coming on. Thank you for having us. We appreciate it.

Tell us a little bit about how you came to make an arrest in this case. Obviously, we know you're limited in what you can say because the case is pending, but you have a one-year-old suffering from some injuries, no nanny cam. So where do you go from there? Yeah, this was one of those cases that you never want to see come across your desk, one that was originally brought to us by the Department of Family and Children's Services. This was a case that was kind of done backwards from a law enforcement perspective because the child received the injuries. The child then went to a children's hospital in Atlanta. At that point, the medical staff realized that there was something more going on here than just an accident, just based off of the injuries. So they contacted the Department

of Family and Children's Services, who then completed a welfare check for the child. And that's how we became involved in the initial investigation. So that you have no nanny cam in this case, correct? So we really did not have much to go on other than the medical reports from the hospital. The investigators began working at trying to piece together the timeline of events of when these injuries could have occurred and then began working the investigation from there based off of that timeline. We were able to narrow it down to a timeline where there were only a few people that had had or would have come in contact with the child. How severe were the child's injuries, obviously taken to the hospital, so the child is still

alive. But are we talking about injuries so severe that there's brain damage? I mean, what can you tell me about that, if anything? This is one of those where we're very, very fortunate that the child even lived, much less lived without any significant ongoing brain damage. This is a case in which the child was probably as close to death as you can get. The child received numerous injuries, numerous broken bones to include a femur. A femur is one of the strongest bones we have in our bodies and the fact that this child was living with this broken femur. And then we look even further as patiquia around the mouth and the eyes, which is something that we all too often look for when we do autopsies. We look for that as a death investigation surrounding

strangulation, choking, those types of cases. So the fact that this child showed up with that fatigue at the hospital was something that we rarely see. So that was something that we knew that there was really more to this than just a simple injury. Do you know if the child was actually strangled or smothered with a pillow? I mean, do we have markings on the neck? Do we know exactly what happened? So one of the things is there was a ton of bruising. We looked at the the broken bones, the patechia, we knew at some point there had to be the strangulation type case, whether it was something, a pillow over the face, blanket, strangulation around the neck. You know, we knew at some point this child had lost a great deal of airway,

but we still don't know exactly how that happened. And that's something hopefully that'll come out in court, but we know that the child was, within a near-death experience, we narrowed it down to Abby Chosewood, who was the caretaker, a nanny babysitter at the time of the incident. And through that investigation, everything kept pointing back to Chosewood. And that's ultimately what led us to those charges and her being charged in this case. How long had Abby Chosewood been babysitting this child? I mean, was this the first time she had been babysitting the child? I mean, was this Something where she was a regular babysitter? To my knowledge, you know, she was a, what I would consider a family friend, someone that had babysat this child and other children. You know, it's one of those that this case was brought to us in February. We wanted to ensure that we did a thorough investigation. At the time, we knew that the child was safe. So, you know, we were able to take our time with the investigation to make sure we did a thorough investigation. We were working with the local

hospital. We had to file for medical reports. And, you know, it's one of those that we may never know the situation or circumstances surrounding this incident. But again, we're very fortunate that we're not talking about a death incident here. We're fortunate that this child will hopefully recover the best that they can, the significant injuries that they had. But it's one of those that we don't know exactly what happened in that house. We'll probably never know. And we're just hoping that it didn't occur to any other children. children. It makes me wonder, had the child been harmed before, but just not as severely. And that's something that we look at is trying to talk with a family to determine, hey,

you know, have there been any different types of incidents, you know, any bruising, any, even at one years old, you start seeing behavioral issues with that child. So, you know, those are all things that we look at because you have, unfortunately, you know, a child that can't speak for themselves. So ultimately, we, the doctors, the parents, you know, we have to be the voice for that child. And it's really sad situation, especially when it comes to something like this. And the level of charges that were brought upon her are very serious. It's been about six months now. So the child is now around 18 months old. How is the child doing? One of those that when you look at it, it's almost a fortunate situation that, hopefully,

the child will not remember everything. Hopefully the child was young enough that they won't remember the pain, the suffering that they had to go through to get to this point. But even, you know, as an 18-month-old with the broken bones, you know, to include a broken femur, you know, those are things that are still taking time to heal. And the psychological, the, you know, emotional drama, the trauma that that child has gone through is something that the child may never recover from. So that's why we can only hope that the child will not have those lasting memories of this tragic day that they went through.

Do we know, though, if, you know, the child's brain is going to be okay? I'm thinking, you know, deprivation of oxygen and things like that. Yeah, anytime when you look at the deprivation of oxygen, you look at, you know, the body being without oxygen for so long, there's going to be lasting effects and that's something that the doctors are going to look into in this case. it may have been six months ago, but this child has, you know, years and years ahead of them to determine exactly what effects are going to be lingering and how long those effects are going to be lingering. It's something that we may not know for years to come until this child can fully develop and the doctors can determine exactly what may possibly be wrong.

Was Abby Chosewood ever interviewed about this case? This is one of those where, within, it being an open case still, the case has not yet been adjudicated. You know, we're very limited on what we can say. She was brought in for questioning as far as the information that was developed in that interview is something that will come out in court, you know, as far as the extent of that interview goes, we can't really say much yet because it is still a very active and ongoing investigation. Was she surprised when she was taken into custody?

It's one of those cases where many times we do run into individuals who are surprised, who acts surprised when they see that law enforcement official show up, that phone call come in. This is one of those that surprised would not be the word that I would use. You know, it's many times in interviews, you can talk to someone and you can somewhat fill the sympathy. Again, this is one of those cases where I wouldn't use that word. You know, it's a very hard case for the investigators that had the case, to have to work on this case. and many times they don't necessarily get that sympathy or that outcome that they're looking for. But again, that's something that she'll have to answer for in court, and she'll have her day in court.

And ultimately, so will this young child. Well, Lieutenant Holbrook, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. A horrible, horrible case. And we just, you know, our thoughts and prayers are with the child and the child's family. And again, thank you for your time. No, we appreciate it. And, you know, again, you mentioned nanny.

cam, many people look at it as Big Brother watching, but, you know, even the closest loved one that you have watching over your child, you may never really know. So we always ask that you please take those extra steps, you know, whether it be a nanny cam, whatever it may be, you can never protect your children enough. Most certainly. Always have some eyes watching because in this day and age, you just, any day in age, you just never know what could go on. And I think this is an important thing, too, not just for infants, of course, children, babies, but also if you have elderly loved ones as well. I mean, it makes me think of that, too, if you have elderly loved ones who could be subject to such a thing. Most certainly, you know, sadly enough, there's predators for the young and the old, and we see it all too often.

But, you know, we appreciate you. We hope to do some follow up after this case is adjudicated, after everyone has their own. day in court and we can provide you with definitely some further information on this case. Well, we look forward to it. Thank you. Thank you. Our pleasure. Thank you for having us. I also spoke with Florina Outschiller. She's currently a defense attorney, but also a former prosecutor who used to prosecute cases involving children being abused. I asked her how you start in a case like this where a one-year-old child can't speak. The answers are often in cases like this in the medicine. And so depending on what

the injuries are and depending on what the science shows to support those injuries, some can be accidental, some can be naturally caused, and some very clearly have a criminal underlying causation. And so really it's going to be a question of what do the physicians in the hospital or medical facilities say? And what does the investigation say with regard to what the child And that's it for this edition of Law and Crime Sidebar podcast. You can listen to and download Sidebar on Apple, Spotify, Google, and wherever else you get your podcasts. And of course, you can always watch it on Law and Crimes YouTube channel. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy, and we will see you next time. You can binge all episodes of this Law and Crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus.

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