Autopsy: 8-Year-Old East Texas Girl Killed Herself

PALESTINE (AP) – A medical examiner has determined that the recent death of an 8-year-old East Texas girl was a suicide by hanging. Investigators had said the second-grader was found dead in a wooded area near her family’s home just northwest of Palestine the night of April 17. Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor told the Palestine Herald-Press that he concurs with the finding by Dr. John A. Stash of the Southwest Texas Forensic Science Center in Tyler. Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace James Westley says he’s not ready to rule the death a suicide, and he has the final say under Texas law. Taylor’s investigation and Stash’s autopsy concluded the girl died on her knees, leaning against baling wire tied around her neck and to a tree branch.