Ryan Reed, age 31 and Allison Clement, age 32 were sentenced on Friday for their actions that led to the death of Savannah Cross just weeks before her 3rd birthday. Reed was sentenced to 35 years in the Department of Corrections and lifetime supervised probation for 2nd Degree Murder, Child Abuse, two counts of Attempted Sexual Conduct with a minor, and three counts of Attempted Child Abuse. Clement was sentenced to 24 years in the Department of Corrections and lifetime supervised probation for 2nd Degree Murder and three counts of Attempted Child Abuse.
On November 23, 2012 Savannah Cross was dropped off by her mother at the home of Allison Clement and Ryan Reed who operated an unlicensed babysitting business out of their residence. Savannah had been left in the couple’s care for days at a time by her mother previously.
Three weeks later on December 11th Savannah was still in the care of the couple when they called 911 claiming they found her not breathing. She was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Savannah was found to have multiple traumatic injuries all over her body and injuries that indicated she was sexually abused.
Reed admitted he disciplined Savannah with physical force which he said was “excessive” at times. This included kicking and stepping on Savannah’s abdomen. Evidence collected also showed he had sexually abused Savanna and exposed her to methamphetamine. He never sought medical attention for the injuries caused by these actions.
Clement admitted she witnessed Savannah being physically abused and did nothing to stop it. Clement also never attempted to provide Savannah medical care for any of the injuries she sustained. This includes an injury causing Savannah to lose sight in one eye. While the cause of the injury was never determined the damage was apparent to both Clement and Reed.