Saharah WeatherspoonRINGGOLD, Ga. – When Clara Louise Edwards found her 2-year-old foster child passed out, she thought the girl was asleep.
Minutes earlier on Dec. 29, 2013, the girl’s older brother had run into Edwards’ bedroom, telling her that Saharah Elise Weatherspoon had fallen. Edwards tried to wake her. It was too early in the evening to fall asleep, she said. If Saharah slept now, she would rise and cry early the next morning, disrupting the rest of the family’s rest.
So Edwards stood the toddler up on her feet, hoping that would stir her. Nothing happened. She shook Saharah’s arm. Nothing still. She pressed a wet rag against Saharah’s face. She flicked water. She poured water. Nothing.
She ran through the hallway of her home, telling Saharah’s brother to put on shoes, that they needed to go see the doctor. She put Saharah in a car seat, wrapped her in a blanket, lowered the window next to Saharah and drove. She called her husband, told him what happened. Her husband said he was on the way home from work and would ride to the hospital with them.
Edwards then drove in circles around her neighborhood. When her husband arrived, he took the wheel and yelled “Saharah!” over and over, hoping she would awake.