Hana Grace-Rose Williams was a girl adopted from Ethiopia by an American couple living in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. She died in 2011 of hypothermia, according to an autopsy, and her adoptive parents Carri and Larry Williams were convicted in September 2013. The adoptive father was later convicted of manslaughter in her death. Carri Williams was convicted of "homicide by abuse" for Williams's abuse and death and was convicted of "first-degree assault of a child" for abusing a second adopted Ethiopian child who survived and testified at her trial.
Background
Williams was adopted by Carri and Larry Williams in 2008 through Adoption Advocates International, an adoption agency based in Port Angeles, Washington. Before being adopted, she lived in Kidane MehretChildren's Home, a Catholic orphanage in Addis Ababa affiliated with AAI. After being adopted, Hana was regularly spanked and locked in a closet, denied food as punishment, not allowed to wear clothes, only a towel, and was forced to sleep in a barn and take garden-hose showers. According to a memorial statement posted by her adoptive parents on the Lemley Chapel website, Williams "enjoyed knitting and crocheting, reading, drawing and various crafts, playing soccer and riding her bicycle." It is possible that she was homeschooled by Carri. In addition to being the adoptive parents of Williams and an Ethiopian boy, Carri and Larry have seven biological children. At Carri and Larry's trial, their biological children wrote letters saying that their parents were good and had not abused anyone.
Controversy regarding ''To Train Up a Child''
Williams's adoptive parents had a copy of the controversial parenting book To Train Up a Child, by Michael Pearl and Debi Pearl, which child development experts say encourages child abuse. They had also given a copy of the book to an acquaintance, according to investigators. On his website, Michael Pearl issued official responses to the controversy over To Train Up a Child and the deaths of Hana Williams, Sean Paddock, and Lydia Schatz. The responses list quotes from Pearl's book that warn against abuse. In an article published after Schatz's death, Pearl explained, "I laugh at my caustic critics, for our properly-spanked and trained children grow to maturity in great peace and love." Pearl has also spoken to the media about the controversy, stating that the 15-inch plastic tubing he recommends in the book is "too light to cause damage to the muscle or the bone." Pearl stated of the death of Hana Williams, "What her parents did is diametrically opposed to the philosophy of No Greater Joy Ministries and what is taught in the book." A New York Times article notes that some of the Williamses' discipline tactics involve Pearl's book taken to extremes, such as Pearl's advice that "a little fasting is good training." A witness in the trial reported that the Williamses followed the book's recommendations "to use a switch, cold baths, withhold food and force children outside in cold weather as punishment," all of which were used on Williams before her death.
