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Start your fundraiser in just minutes@gofundme.com that's gofundme.com to start your fundraiser. Gofundme.com this is a commercial message brought to you by GoFundMe. This podcast contains descriptions of violence against children and adult language and is not suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Hi everyone and welcome to Suffer the Little Children, the True Crime Podcast, giving voices back to the victims of child abuse and shining a harsh spotlight on the parents, guardians and caretakers who silence them. I'm your host, Lane, and this is patreon exclusive bonus minisode 6 Harper Littell a young North Carolina couple lost a baby in what appeared to be a tragic case of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. When their second infant, Harper, died less than two years later with multiple suspicious injuries, authorities began looking harder at father Zachary lee Littell. On August 4, 2016, Ava Marie Littell, daughter of 23 year old Zachary Lee Littell and 23 year old Abigail Nyger Bickham, died tragically at the age of 8 months. Ava's maternal grandmother, Jennifer Nyger, told reporters the baby died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or sids, which is possible even though most SIDS deaths occur in infants between 1 and 4 months of age, and 90% of these tragic, unexplained deaths occur before babies are 6 months old. Still, SIDS could be the cause of Ava's death because a child can die of SIDS anytime within her first year. When an autopsy was performed on Ava, the medical examiner noted that some recent lethargy was reported in the history. A diagram included in the report described a purple red bruise on the back of the baby's head. The report also made note of scalp contusions, describing them as of varying ages, but one was acute, occurring during the period of time when the infant was said to be less active. The contusions were large and posterior, not in an area likely to be associated with activities of an eight month old infant. No explanation for the injuries was offered other than head banging while learning to crawl, and her activity was also described as scooting rather than hands and knees crawling. I'll include screenshots of the autopsy report From News Channel 12's coverage of the story in the photo gallery for this episode. Despite these suspicious findings, Ava's cause of death was deemed undetermined and no charges were pressed, according to Onslow County Sheriff Hans Miller. If science doesn't provide the evidence, no evidence, no conviction. He told a reporter that the case was investigated to the best of the department's abilities, but because of the medical examiner's ruling of undetermined, their hands were tied as far as pursuing charges for any homicide investigation. What the medical examiner, the forensic pathologist, determines, is the basis for further investigation and for further charges, it has to be defendable in court. Once a case is dismissed, you can never go back. Sheriff Miller did, however, confirm that at the time, the investigation into Ava's death remained active. Ava's untimely death seemed much more suspicious, however, after Harper Renee Littell, the second infant daughter of the same couple, died 17 months later. This time the autopsy revealed a clear cause of death, and according to police, there was one person responsible, Harper's father, Zachary. On January 3, 2018, police and emergency medical personnel responded to the Jacksonville, North Carolina home of Zachary, then 25 years old, and Abigail, then age 24, at 104 Denise Drive, from which they had received a report of an infant not breathing. EMS arrived first and was treating the child by the time deputies arrived on the scene. Harper, who was born on November 15, 2017, was transported to Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, but from there she was transferred almost immediately to Vidant Medical center in Greenville, North Carolina. Medical personnel took note of swollen areas on both sides of Harper's head and bruises around her lips and on the back of her head. On January 5, 2018, she was removed from life support and she lost her life at only seven weeks old. According to police, Zachary told them that when he left Harper unattended, she fell out of a portable baby bathtub. However, the medical examiner thought Harper's injuries told a very different story. Harper's autopsy was performed by Pitt County Medical examiner Dr. Mary Gilliland, the same pathologist who performed ava's autopsy in 2016. The autopsy report showed bleeding in the space between Harper's brain and meninges, or the connective tissue covering the brain, as well as skull fractures and brain edema or swelling. Infants have been observed, according to the autopsy, to fall from changing tables and other surfaces up to 36 inches from the floor. Without suffering such severe injuries, the maximum distance from which Harper could have fallen was 31 inches from the floor, Dr. Gilliland's report read. Based on seen circumstances and the autopsy findings, it is my opinion that the cause of death in this case is blunt force injuries of the head. Harper's manner of death was ruled a homicide. Harper's grandmother Jennifer told reporters that her daughter Abigail was at work when Harper was injured and that in fact it was Abigail's first day back from maternity leave. I can't imagine the pain Abigail lives with every day of her life after losing not one, but two infant daughters. Abigail also has a son from a previous relationship. How to have fun anytime, anywhere step one go to chumbacasino.com chumbacasino.com Got it. Step two collect your welcome bonus. Come to papa. Welcome bonus. 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I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion one 20 billion is an insane number. Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually, I think somewhere north, probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on. Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident? Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247 365. Wow. Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show. Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you. As it turns out, Zachary Littell has a history of violent behavior. In 2012, he was arrested for indecent exposure. The victim in that case, a neighbor of Zachary's, filed a restraining order stating he approached her front porch and dropped his pants, exposing his genitals. In May of 2015, Zachary was arrested for assaulting Abigail, who was pregnant with Ava at the time. Abigail later dropped the charges against him. During that arrest, he was also charged with resisting a public officer. Prior to his violent arrests. In September of 2009, Zachary was arrested for possession of a Schedule 6 controlled substance, most likely marijuana, as well as possession of drug paraphernalia. For those offenses, he was sentenced to probation. On Wednesday, January 24, 2018, Zachary was arrested by the Onslow County Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit and charged with one open count of murder in the death of his second daughter, Harper Renee Littell. He was booked into onslow County Sheriff's Detention center, where he remained in custody until just days before this recording. As a matter of fact, this case was resolved just this past week after three and a half years. At a court hearing at 2pm on Tuesday, September 21, 2021, Zachary Littell accepted a plea deal that allowed him to enter an Alford plea to the charge of second degree murder in exchange for 18 to 22 years in prison. For those unfamiliar, an Alford plea is technically a guilty plea in which the defendant maintains his innocence, does not admit to the crime, but admits that the evidence presented by the prosecution would likely convince a judge or jury of his guilt. Two very famous examples of cases resolved by the Alford plea are the West Memphis Three case immortalized by HBO's Paradise Lost documentary series, and that of Michael Peterson, the subject of the Staircase documentary series. While I was initially horrified that this option was presented to Zachary Littell, according to prosecutors, the offer was in line with the family's wishes. Onslow County Assistant District Attorney Caroline Wahoff, who serves as the county's child abuse and sex crimes prosecutor, told reporters after going over all the options as far as whether to take this to trial or whether to take a plea based on the circumstances, this was what, you know, the family felt like this was what was best for them. And while that doesn't always guide our decision where ultimately it's our discretion, we have to make a decision based on the facts of this case, I felt like it was something where, you know, we could get a good plea out of this but also respect the family's wishes. We have families that are, that are understandably their, you know, their first emotion might be anger. You know, us as prosecutors, we play such a small role in these families grieving processes and their healing process because no matter what we get in there, you know, we get life without parole or if we get 18 years as we did in this case, we can't bring Harper back, onslow County District Attorney Ernie Lee said. It is a tragedy. All we can do on our end is try to make sure that some sense of justice is done with a guilty plea such as this. Mr. Lee told reporters that he felt the family was satisfied with the plea agreement. Several family members attended the plea hearing, including Harper and Ava's mom Abigail and her mother Jennifer. During a victim impact statement, Abigail said her now 7 year old son, who was left an only child by the deaths of his sisters, was most affected and also most overlooked in what the judge called a tragic situation. My son, in my eyes, is overlooked so much. He's seven years old and I have to explain to him where his sisters were. Abigail's son was two and a half when Ava died and four when Harper died. Zachary will serve a minimum of 18 years, less credit for time served. Since his arrest. He has also been ordered, at the family's request, to attend counseling in prison and to have no contact with Abigail, her son and Jennifer. On September 24, 2021, 28 year old Zachary Littell was transferred from the Onslow County Sheriff's Office to North Carolina Central Prison in Raleigh to begin serving his sent. According to the North Carolina Department of Corrections website, Zachary was placed into the prison's general population. Wouldn't it be terribly unfortunate if some of the other bigger, meaner inmates found out what he's in for? 2025 lane here with a very small quick update. In 2025, Zachary Littell was moved from Central Prison to the Columbus Correctional institution in Brunswick, North Carolina. The DOC website says he's in the regular population. He's had six infractions in prison since 2021 and three of those just happened in February 2025, committing a high risk act and two counts of disobeying orders. He had another High Risk act infraction the month after his imprisonment and the following August he had another count of disobeying orders and lock tampering. Sounds like it's going great for him. My deepest sympathy goes out to Abigail, her son, and everyone else who loved Harper and Ava. I can't imagine how broken their hearts must be and I hope they're all able to heal and move forward while keeping both of these sweet little girls memories alive. My sources for this minisode were News Channel 12, WBTW News 13, the News and Observer, the Onslow County Sheriff's office, Facebook, WITN, WNCT 9, Spectrum News, JD News, Vinelink, and the North Carolina Department of Corrections website. That's it for this Patreon Exclusive bonus minisode. Join me next time for another story. If you like the show, please follow or subscribe to Suffer the Little Children on Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Spreaker, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast listening app. And please leave me a five star rating and a positive review on your favorite podcast platform. Visit the website at sufferthelittlechildrenpod.com you can support the show by visiting patreon.com stlcpod where you can become a patron for rewards ranging from a shout out by name on the show to exclusive gifts. You can also support the show at ko-fi.com stlcpod Follow the podcast on Facebook and Instagram at Suffer the Little Children pod and on TikTok tlcpod. View photos Related to today's episode on Facebook. This podcast is researched, written, hosted, edited and produced by Lane Intro. Theme music is by Dream Note Music and all music for the show is licensed from audiojungle.net for more information about preventing or reporting Child Abuse, visit childhelp.org or call your area's child abuse hotline or and remember, if you see something, say something. If you're a label reader, this one's for you because your skin deserves more than empty promises. At hiba Botanica every formula is made in house in small batches using organic truly non toxic ingredients, plastic free packaging, clean, effective botanicals and safe for all skin types. Even acne prone, no green washing, no filler, just skincare that's gentle, non comedogenic and designed with intention. HEBA Botanica non toxic plastic free, always safe for your skin. Shop online at hibabotanica. Com. That's Eggso.