For more than six years, 29-year-old Jeanie Ditty has been under a dark cloud of suspicion. It all began in December of 2015, with the disturbing death of her 2-year-old daughter, Macy Grace. At the time, Ditty claimed that the toddler had a choking accident, but the bruises on her body told a very different story. The North Carolina mother was ultimately arrested and charged with her daughter's death in March 2016. But when her trial finally came up in 2020, it ended with a hung jury — and just before Thanksgiving this year, Ditty was released on a $25,000 bond. Now, several of Macy's family members are speaking out about her tragic death, as well as their anger that Ditty is walking free.
Earlier this month, 'Inside Edition' spoke with Macy's great-aunt, Michelle Smith, as well as her grandmother, Tina Goodwin.
Both women expressed their anger and sadness over what they feel has been a terrible miscarriage of justice.
"To say that we are devastated, that’s not even a big enough word,” Smith said.
“We will fight to our last breath until this baby gets the justice that she deserves,” Goodwin added.
Both women can still recall the pain of that awful day in 2015.
Macy was rushed to the hospital on December 2, 2015, after her mother dialed 911 and told dispatchers that her daughter had just choked on a banana. According to Ditty, who was a soldier at Fort Bragg at the time, her toddler was vomiting, struggling to breathe, and beginning to lose consciousness.
A short time later, Smith arrived at the hospital too — and something about Ditty's story just didn't ring true.
I looked at her and said, ‘What happened to this baby?’" Smith recalled. "She looked at me and told me, ‘Don't you start on me too.'"
Two days later, Macy was taken off life support.
By then it had been determined that she'd suffered severe brain damage — which, coupled with the bruising found on her body, appeared to be clear signs of abuse.
And yet Ditty continued to play the role of a grieving mother in public. She even hired professional photographer Sonny Joto to take photos of her kneeling by her daughter's grave. Using Photoshop, Joto superimposed Macy's image into the photos, believing it to be a loving tribute to the daughter she lost.
Now the photographer sees things much differently.
"She used my work to make people think that she's innocent," Joto told Inside Edition.
“She thought that would make her look like she was a grieving mother," Smith added. "That she was a good mother. That Macy was her whole life."
But the truth, Smith said, was the exact opposite.
After her 2020 trial was dismissed with a hung jury, Ditty still remained behind bars.
But ever since a judge released her on bail last month, Goodwin and Smith said that they're both sick to their stomachs over how everything has turned out.
Ditty still will be legally required to return to court when her next trial begins, but until then, she's essentially "free." And according to Goodwin and Smith, their biggest fear is that someone else will get hurt in the meantime.
Watch the video to learn more about Macy's tragic death, as well as the ongoing case against Jeannie Ditty.
Source: cafemom.com
