Miami nurse guilty of abusing and torturing 3 adopted daughters, killing 7-year-old

MIAMI (TCN) -- A jury found a 56-year-old former nurse guilty of abusing and torturing her three adopted daughters, one of whom later died.

Miami-Dade County court records show Gina Emmanuel was convicted of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated child abuse in connection with the death of a 7-year-old girl and abuse of two others. WTVJ-TV reports the deceased victim, Samaya, died from acute and chronic physical abuse. The medical examiner noted she had injuries throughout her entire body.

According to WPLG-TV, on Nov. 3, 2019, paramedics responded to Emmanuel’s house on West Dixie Highway after receiving a call that Samaya was unresponsive. She was transported to a local hospital, where she died. Homicide detectives reportedly saw bruises and marks on Samaya’s body, so they contacted the Department of Children and Families, who opened an investigation. Officials found signs of abuse on the other two daughters.

WPLG reports the children told investigators that Emmanuel beat them with belts, burned their hands on hot stoves, covered their eyes with socks, forced them to stand for long periods of time, and made them sleep on the floor sometimes. On one occasion, Samaya and her sister reportedly ate bread that Emmanuel put aside for her son, so she put their hands on a hot stove and forced their other sister to watch. Their hands were reportedly "permanently disfigured as a result."

Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office investigators arrested Emmanuel Oct. 16, 2019.

At her trial, prosecutors argued Emmanuel "kept her refrigerator chained. These three girls were forced to urinate and defecate in a bucket. they were malnourished, whipped." WPLG reports Emmanuel also refused to get them medical care. Pneumonia contributed to Samaya’s death.

Miami-Dade County State’s Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement following the verdict, "The guilty verdict in Gina Emmanuel’s first-degree murder and child abuse trial brought to the light of day the horrors 7-year-old Samaya so tragically suffered before her death. No one could ever imagine that a trained nurse would beat, torture, and starve Samaya and her two adopted sisters as a means of instilling the defendant’s vision of discipline."

The statement continued, "The jury fully understood that she ultimately ignored the suffering of young Samaya, which led to this child’s death. One should admire the courage it took for Samaya’s sister, 12 years old at the time of the abuse, to come forward and testify in court, before judges, lawyers, jurors, and others in order for the truth to be told."

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