Foster Mom Savagely Beats Baby Strapped In Her Car Seat
A Family Torn Apart
Alyssa Beth Guernsey was born on November 2nd, 2007, to parents Kelly Sprunger and Michael Guernsey in Columbia City, Indiana. From day one, she was her father’s pride and joy and her mother’s “bitty bitty pretty.” In fact, mother and daughter even shared a birthday. Alyssa was a beautiful baby with blonde hair and brown eyes who loved to snuggle. But Alyssa wasn’t just adored by her parents; she had two older siblings, six-year-old Lily and three-year-old Noah, who loved her just as much. Sadly, it wouldn’t be long until this happy family was torn apart.
November of 2008 should have been a time for celebration for the Guernsey household, and it was at first. On the second, the family celebrated Kelly and Alyssa’s birthdays. The now one-year-old Alyssa was already showing herself to be playful, cheerful, and sunny. But dark clouds were coming to block that light. A couple of weeks after her birthday, her father Michael’s life was taken in a car crash on I-69 South in DeKalb County. His car was the only vehicle involved, and he was just 36 years old when he passed.
The whiplash between the joy of Alyssa’s first birthday and the grief of Michael’s untimely passing was difficult for the family to wrap their heads around. Without warning, Alyssa had lost her father before she could even talk. Noah and Lily were Michael’s stepchildren, so while they grieved his loss, they still had their biological father, Samuel Cruz. Alyssa wasn’t so lucky.
Yet, as much as she tried, Kelly struggled to fill Michael’s shoes. After all, the accident didn’t just rob her youngest of a father; it left Kelly without a partner, and she felt that loss deeply. Life had never been easy for Kelly before Alyssa’s birth. She struggled on and off with addiction fueled by depression in the past. Kelly had even been incarcerated and temporarily lost custody of Noah and Lily. However, in the time leading up to Alyssa’s death, Kelly worked to put that behind her and provide a stable life for her kids. Michael’s abrupt death threatened to undermine all of that effort.
In the aftermath of his accident, Kelly had become her children’s sole caretaker and provider. So much was expected of her so quickly, and all while she was still grieving the loss of Michael. It wasn’t long until Indiana’s Department of Child Services (DCS) came knocking. They were quick to suggest that Kelly’s children be placed in foster care temporarily while she regained her footing. Kelly maintained she was able to care for her kids and that such measures wouldn’t be necessary, but behind closed doors, it was clear she was on her last legs. She had fallen back into old habits and relied on addiction to deal with the stress of her situation.
The Move to the Schaefers
Kelly knew she was struggling and needed time to recover, but she also knew that she didn’t want her kids placed in foster care. The idea of sending her children away to live with a stranger simply made it too uncomfortable for her to consider. When DCS pushed again for Kelly’s children to be removed from the house, Kelly knew that she needed to come up with a compromise that would work for all parties. Her savior came in the form of her cousin, 29-year-old Christy Schaefer, and her husband, 34-year-old Matt Schaefer. Now, in the past when Kelly was in prison, Christy took in and watched her children. The mounting pressure from DCS forced Kelly to once again turn towards her cousin for help.
At first glance, this arrangement looked like the perfect solution. Kelly’s children would get to spend quality time with their cousins while their mother got back on her feet. However, further examination would reveal that Alyssa and her siblings were being sent into a far from ideal environment. Christy and Matt Schaefer already had four kids, so when they took in Kelly’s children, they now had seven children to look after. It’s not unusual for parents to struggle with four children, so taking on three more would be difficult for anybody. Kelly’s eldest daughter, Lily, was a double amputee and clearly had some unique needs of her own. Keep in mind, all of these children were pretty young, so it wasn’t as if many of them could do much to help out with their cousins. The oldest was Haley Schaefer, who was 12 at the time, followed by nine-year-old Brayden, seven-year-old McKenna, and three-year-old Ashlyn.
The responsibility for caring for Kelly’s children would rest solely on Christy and Matt’s shoulders. In addition, the Schaefers weren’t trained or certified foster parents. Their right to take in Kelly’s children came solely from familial ties and a handshake agreement. However, both Schaefers were unemployed. The foster care checks would help matters a bit, but they would be in a very tight financial situation. Taking on additional children would come to represent a physical and mental burden that would result in the Schaefers resenting them.
Christy and Matt had to be aware of all the problems of bringing more children into their already crowded home. They also knew they weren’t the only people who could have taken in the children within the family. Kelly’s mother, Beth, told both her family and DCS that she was happy to look after her grandkids, but despite this, on December 8, 2008, Christy confirmed she wanted to house the children, and they moved in shortly thereafter. They lived in Topeka, Indiana, a tiny, peaceful town in the northern part of the state. They resided in a humble home located at 315 West Pine Street. It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. With the Schaefers’ usual household, it was already cramped, but now that it held nine people, it was downright crowded.
Christy likely greenlit this arrangement partially because she believed it would be only for a short time. Before taking in the children, she made sure to ask DCS for an estimate of how long the kids would stay with her. At first, this wouldn’t have been an issue; with Kelly eager to get back on her feet, she’d likely regain custody of her kids quickly. However, things didn’t go as planned. Kelly spiraled further into her narcotic use and began ghosting her social workers. The situation further deteriorated when she refused a drug screening, landed herself a neglect charge, and in the eyes of DCS, she had essentially abandoned her children. Consequently, Lily, Noah, and Alyssa were dubbed wards of the state and placed in the custody of Christy and Matt. A situation that had been unstable from the start had become permanent for the foreseeable future.
Red Flags and Medical Negligence
On December 10, 2008, Alyssa had her first visit with Dr. John Egley, who would become her primary physician during her stay with the Schaefers. This visit was routine, and Dr. Egley concluded that Alyssa’s health and behavior were within normal limits for a child her age. By all accounts, one-year-old Alyssa was a happy and healthy little girl. However, this would be the last time she had such a simple appointment.
Five days later, the Schaefers had their first major bump in the road. Christy missed a scheduled court hearing, claiming she had a migraine and that two of the children were sick. While this could have been true, Christy would soon begin to display a pattern of lying about the condition of the children to protect herself. Money was becoming something of a problem for the Schaefers. Matt was relying on weekly unemployment payments of $360 and a child support payment for Haley that came every other week in the amount of $160. The money allotted for Alyssa and her siblings evidently wasn’t enough, so on January 6, 2009, Christy filed a petition requesting that Lily’s SSI payments of $637 per month be allocated to her and Matt. Money was tight in the crowded home, and emotions were running high.
On January 12th, DCS social workers checked in on the children, and they confirmed that they all seemed fine. Christy assured them that they were doing well. Sometime after this visit is when things would really begin to break down. By mid-January 2009, Christy was at the end of her rope, but she wasn’t willing to seek help or admit that the burden was too much. She quickly found her own way of dealing with this stress, and that was viciously abusing Alyssa, both verbally and physically.
The little girl who Dr. Egley claimed to be happy and healthy had become a shell of her former self. Throughout the three months Alyssa stayed with the Schaefers, Christy screamed at her, ripped out her pretty blonde hair, and generally treated the toddler as a personal punching bag. The little girl appeared pale and was covered in bruises. Practically every week, Christy was taking Alyssa to the doctor and coming up with a new excuse for her injuries.
On January 27th of the same year, Alyssa was taken to the doctor to receive a stitch for a two-centimeter cut on the left side of her forehead, which Christy said was caused by a fall. Less than a week later, on February 2nd, the stitch was removed. Three days after, Christy reported the incident to DCS and also inquired if it would be possible to claim Kelly’s children as dependents on her taxes. The whole ordeal would have been unremarkable if it had been isolated, but Alyssa kept going to the doctor and kept getting injured.
On February 9th, Kelly’s children missed a scheduled visit with their mother because Christy claimed that Alyssa and Noah were sick. This was the second scheduled appointment in less than two months that Christy had missed due to the children’s alleged sickness. The following day, DCS paid the family a visit and found all of the children to be healthy. Four days after this visit from DCS, Christy brought Alyssa to the doctor, complaining she was losing hair and bruising easily. Dr. Egley noted that Alyssa also had a rash, scabs, and bruises all over her face. He chalked these symptoms up to infection and conducted multiple blood tests. Of course, no issues were found. Every test Alyssa took only proved that she was a perfectly healthy toddler, yet these examinations didn’t ring any alarm bells for Dr. Egley. Somehow, after more than a dozen visits where Alyssa was mysteriously injured, he never believed something darker may have been going on.
Dr. Egley allowed Christy to take him on a wild goose chase. She pinned Alyssa’s condition on fetal alcohol syndrome and a lack of prenatal care, and further said she was born addicted to narcotics. However, toxicology reports from Alyssa’s birth disproved this notion. Next, Christy spun up a tale about how Alyssa may have leukemia and how that was the only explanation for her hair loss. Extensive testing and the consultation of multiple physicians found no evidence of Alyssa having cancer. Christy described Alyssa as being clumsy, weak, and accident-prone. Christy loved to preach about the baby gate she bought, the childproofing she’d done, and all the efforts she had gone to protect Alyssa from herself.
Isolation and Escalating Abuse
On February 18th, Christy would call DCS to tell them about Alyssa’s possible struggles with leukemia. That same day, they let Kelly know what was happening with her daughter. Kelly was understandably worried, so she wanted to visit her daughter to see what was going on. On February 24th, Alyssa had an appointment with Dr. Egley due to a cough and congestion. All testing done revealed she was otherwise fine, yet the next day she was back again, this time for an unexplained bout of vomiting and diarrhea. Kelly would soon confide to DCS workers that she was extremely worried about her daughter, but she was brushed off.
However, Kelly wasn’t the only parent who was becoming concerned. On February 26th, Lily and Noah’s biological father, Samuel Cruz, contacted DCS and complained that he wanted to see his children but Christy was dodging his calls. This was the beginning of Christy’s effort to avoid visits with the children as much as possible. She was cagey about all of them, but especially about Alyssa. Anytime her mother wanted to see her, she was met with excuses—Alyssa was forever sick, sleeping, or cranky. Christy’s motivation for isolating Alyssa was crystal clear, and Dr. Egley was ignorant to what was going on behind closed doors. Throughout the over a dozen times that he would see Alyssa, he somehow never thought anything was wrong.
But for the other adults in Alyssa’s life, they understood exactly what was happening. On the rare occasion that family saw Alyssa, they noticed that the once playful toddler had become withdrawn and anxious. The physical effects of her torment were becoming apparent. Despite Alyssa’s worsening conditions, the concerns of Kelly and the other family members were not taken seriously by DCS.
On March 3rd, Alyssa had another visit to the doctor due to an injury to her left arm. Dr. Egley noted she was bruised near her left eye and found evidence of hair loss. This time, Christy’s excuse was that Matt had come home from the vet with another family member’s dogs, who were allegedly hyper and subsequently knocked Alyssa over while she was playing on the floor. Dr. Egley believed the story and personally told DCS over the phone that he didn’t suspect anything strange.
Two days later, Alyssa had a CT scan done on her arm, and it was broken, so she was seen by Dr. Robert Fallon, who is a specialist in hematology and oncology at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Like all the past specialists who had seen her, he noted that there wasn’t an underlying illness causing her condition. Faced with a child who had a broken arm, a history of injuries, and no explanation of why that was, you would think Dr. Fallon would suspect foul play here. Instead, he theorized that Alyssa was getting injured by flailing around in her crib at night. In no way is it common for toddlers to flail about to the point of fracturing bones. Despite this, Dr. Fallon dropped the issue and suggested no further treatment or investigation should be done.
Between January and March, Alyssa was brought to the doctor practically every week with a pattern of unexplained wounds, yet none of the doctors believed anything was wrong and assured DCS that no intentional harm was done to Alyssa. DCS themselves also showed no real concern for her well-being. Even though Kelly and Samuel expressed concerns about their children, DCS engaged in no further inquiry into the matter. At this point, there was little chance of anyone stopping the torment done to Alyssa.
Although she was prescribed 20 milligrams of Vicodin for her pain, she was never given her prescription. More on that later. Despite this, Christy ran out of pills at record speeds, and on March 26th, she requested a refill. The problem is that even if Alyssa was given a maximum dosage every four hours, she would still have enough medicine for the next day. Christy was likely spending her days high out of her mind on Alyssa’s opioids. Somehow, Dr. Egley remained ignorant and gave Christy more pills without a second thought. Isolated from her mother and all but abandoned by the system, Alyssa was completely at Christy’s mercy. The following day, Christy claimed that Alyssa’s cast just “slipped off” her arm. That doesn’t just happen.
The situation wasn’t nearly as dire for Lily and Noah. Christy would often beat their sister in front of them, but they were not tormented in the same way. Why? It’s likely due to what’s known in psychology as the Cinderella phenomenon. Abusive caregivers often aren’t equally cruel to all of their children. What’s more common is for them to single out one of the children and lash out at them. For the Schaefers, their Cinderella was one-year-old Alyssa.
The Fatal Car Ride
On March 28th at 6:45 PM, Christy took Alyssa and a few of her kids to rent a movie and get Happy Meals from McDonald’s. During the car ride, Christy became livid at Alyssa and began violently lashing out at her. She punched her in the face, grabbed her hair, and smacked her repeatedly against her car seat, leading Alyssa to lose consciousness. Alyssa’s older sister, Lily, was right next to her as Christy was beating Alyssa to death. Her fear turned to horror as she watched her sibling’s head flop forward lifelessly. Occasionally, Christy would stop the car to check on Alyssa and demand that Lily lift her head back up. When Alyssa wouldn’t wake up, Christy began to cry. Sensing that something was deeply wrong, Lily asked, “What’s wrong with Alyssa?” Christy responded by shouting, “Stop asking that!”
During this time, Alyssa was making snoring or grunting noises in her car seat, similar to what we had discussed happened to Harmony Montgomery after her father attacked her, and in almost exactly the same way. The family arrived home at 8:20 PM. Now keep in mind, Alyssa had been unresponsive for almost two hours. Christy brought the other kids inside before checking on Alyssa and said only then did she realize the severity of her condition. It’s hard to believe that after an entire car ride of her crying and fretting over Alyssa’s motionless body, Christy only now became concerned about her. Furthermore, Christy didn’t behave like someone who just realized a toddler was on the brink of death. She didn’t immediately call 9-1-1. Instead, she rang her brother, Nate, who worked as an EMT.
By the time Nate arrived, Alyssa was cold to the touch and had no pulse. At 8:25 PM, Christy finally dialed 9-1-1. Nate performed CPR to the best of his abilities for the 15 minutes it took for first responders to arrive. At 8:52 PM, Alyssa was rushed to Parkview LaGrange Hospital, where she arrived around 9:07 PM. She was covered in bruises and had a one-inch wound on her lip. For 47 minutes, the staff would do everything in their power to save her, including administering Narcan just in case she had gotten into some drugs and Christy wasn’t forthcoming. But tragically, their efforts would be in vain. Alyssa Beth Guernsey was pronounced dead at 9:54 PM. She was barely 17 months old.
The Autopsy and Investigation
At 10:10 PM, the Schaefers notified DCS’s family case matters division of what occurred. Three hours later, Alyssa’s lifeless body was transported to St. Joseph Forensic Center in Fort Wayne. There, Dr. Scott Wagner conducted an autopsy and confirmed everyone’s worst fears: she had been killed by an adult punching her in the mouth with all of their strength.
The autopsy also revealed the litany of injuries that Alyssa had received during her time with the Schaefers. The top of her head was riddled with bruises; similar marks rested on her face and left thigh. Two grisly cuts were found inside of her mouth where her gums met her lips, one of which was fresh. Dr. Wagner found that Alyssa had been losing her hair, but unlike Dr. Egley, he instantly noticed that it had been torn out by someone, not simply fallen out. Alyssa also had a broken left elbow with a growth plate displacement, another sign that she had suffered from repeated injury.
In addition to her external injuries, a pathologist discovered internal bleeding in her brain. Specifically, Alyssa suffered a bilateral subdural hematoma caused by frequent high-impact injuries. A look at her bloodstream showed that the only medication Alyssa had received was Narcan. This established that Christy had, in fact, repeatedly lied about giving Alyssa her Vicodin. No longer could Christy deny or make excuses for the torture that she put Alyssa through. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide due to blunt force trauma to the head. Justice was coming, or so it seemed.
A Controversial Grand Jury
What appeared to be a straightforward case apparently was a difficult one for LaGrange County Prosecutor Jeff Wible, because he decided to invoke a grand jury. This means a collection of jurors would have heard evidence from Prosecutor Wible to decide what the charge would be. This would allow him to dodge a controversial decision. If people were angry about how things played out, Prosecutor Wible could let the blame fall on the jurors. But the use of a grand jury in the case of a guardian killing a child is something we’ve rarely seen. Normally, a grand jury would be called in a case that was extremely high-profile or involved a political figure. When the process is handled by a grand jury, it becomes very secretive.
There’s one more benefit to the grand jury usage that Prosecutor Wible remarked upon in an interview. He said, “It was a controversial case and it wasn’t clear to me what the best charge would be, so I thought a grand jury would be the best remedy for that dilemma. I didn’t have a witness. I didn’t have an incriminating statement. I didn’t have a weapon. So I thought, let the grand jury decide.”
This may sound like an uncharitable read of Prosecutor Wible’s actions, but it can be argued that statistically, his use of a grand jury was highly unusual. According to Joel Schumm, a professor at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, “That’s not really the type of case where you’d expect to see a grand jury. In the vast majority of cases, well over 99 percent of cases around the state, prosecutors just file the charges. Calling a grand jury takes the political pressure off the prosecutor and puts it on a group of citizens, but a grand jury process is very secretive, so there’s no transparency.”
The grand jury did decide to move forward with charges for Christy. However, she was not charged with homicide. Instead, they felt two counts of neglect of a dependent was more than enough for what she had done. Considering the medical examiner ruled Alyssa’s death a homicide, the choice to charge her with neglect made absolutely no sense. To add insult to injury, her husband Matt Schaefer was granted immunity.
A Mockery of Justice
Prosecutor Wible’s actions led to Christy being able to dodge a fair sentence for killing Alyssa. This already was enough to stoke outrage, but this was just the tip of the iceberg. On May 25th, 2011, Court Judge J. Scott Vanderbeck sentenced Christy to 10 years in prison. Soon afterward, he suspended six of them. With Christy’s current sentence, she would serve only one more year than a carjacker would on average for their crime.
The public was visibly displeased with Judge Vanderbeck’s leniency, but that displeasure swiftly became anger and confusion when, several months later, he reduced Christy’s sentence one more time to stay in prison for only 77 days. Christy Schaefer verbally and physically abused one-year-old Alyssa Guernsey for three months and finished her off by savagely beating her to death with her bare hands. Yet somehow, she stayed in prison for less time than she had Alyssa in her custody. How is that possible?
Judge Vanderbeck was no stranger to the Schaefer family. Christy’s father, Kerry Sprunger, was in fact a close friend of Judge Vanderbeck. He was a prominent, wealthy, and respected man in town. There’s little doubt Christy’s connections played a part in her lenient sentencing. During the hearing, Judge Vanderbeck admitted, “I know Mr. Sprunger, he’s been on some boards with me. I know he’s got a good heart.” As if this trial was about him and not Christy. Those aren’t the words of an impartial, fair judge.
On top of Vanderbeck’s familiarity with Christy and her family, we must also consider that during the trial, over 101 pages of letters from Christy’s family and friends were read advocating on her behalf. The day of the sentencing, many of them came to court to beg for leniency. Christy was given hours of court time to plead her case, but how much time was dedicated to telling Alyssa’s story? Compared to the 101 letters supporting Christy, only seven letters were read on behalf of Alyssa.
Furthermore, Christy’s lawyer dragged her mother, Kelly, onto the stand to grill her on her past narcotic use, as if Kelly was the one to blame for Christy beating her daughter. Before handing down Christy’s sentence, Judge Vanderbeck took the opportunity to scold Alyssa’s mother, Kelly, telling the courtroom that she “shoulders the responsibility for this from the beginning.” Judge Vanderbeck was more concerned with blaming Alyssa’s grieving mother than having the woman who took her life held responsible. Christy benefited from the system, and her father’s influence allowed her to dodge justice for her cruel actions.
The Public Backlash
But fortunately, the fight to bring her actions to light did not stop after her trial. Alyssa’s tragic death struck a chord with the local community. The brutality she was put through at such a young age touched the hearts of many. It also meant that Christy’s 77-day sentence spit in the face of anyone who had any sense of justice. A small group of mothers calling themselves “Alyssa’s Army” began advocating for keeping Alyssa’s memory alive and bringing Christy Schaefer to justice. Another group also sprang up, known as “Baby Alyssa Cries for Justice.” That group soon grew into a movement of thousands that connected through various Facebook groups and a now-defunct website. The group would go on to gather signatures for a petition to have Alyssa’s case reopened so that Christy could face consequences for her actions. To date, their petition has amassed over 60,000 signatures.
Despite this, the case remains closed to this day. However, Judge Vanderbeck has since stepped down. He never escaped the controversy of his ruling, though he continued to defend his legitimacy. But that wasn’t the only part of the legal system to come under fire. In the aftermath of Christy’s trial, conversations began over the use of a grand jury. Because Christy was indicted by a grand jury, very little was released publicly about the evidence there was against her. Furthermore, Judge Vanderbeck was able to conceal details of the trial by rejecting calls for transcripts. Grand juries are allowed to operate largely in secret, which is useful for cases where witnesses may be reluctant to testify if their identities are compromised. However, Christy’s case shows how power can be abused to conceal information from the public.
The case prompted Senator Mike Delph to introduce a bill to the General Assembly for the second year in a row that would eliminate the use of grand juries. Grand juries are still used today but remain a hotly debated topic in legal circles.
Now, what about the man who insisted on using the grand jury to begin with? Prosecutor Jeff Wible has spent a good amount of time defending the actions he took in regards to the trial. He later told reporters, “I haven’t seen evidence to support anything other than what the grand jury indicted Christy Schaefer. If someone has evidence I’m not aware of, tell them to bring it forward.” He may have thought his actions were justified, but the public didn’t agree. This case has remained a stain on his record throughout the years.
When he attempted a Senate run in 2020, Indiana residents were quick to remind everyone of the injustices he allowed to happen. In an open letter to the KPC News editor, Marshall D. Talbert of Kokomo, a concerned citizen said the following: “I was an Indiana State Trooper for 25 years and the Howard County Sheriff for eight years. I have never seen a greater miscarriage of justice than the Alyssa Guernsey case. The great thing about living free in America is that we can campaign for a candidate or against them. The more than 100,000 members of Alyssa’s Army will do their part to prevent Wible’s election to another public office that requires public trust and integrity.” Jeff Wible went on to lose his Senate bid with only 38 percent of votes.
The Aftermath and Alyssa’s Legacy
It should come as no surprise that Christy’s own luck didn’t last forever. In 2013, she was charged with possession of narcotics, specifically meth, which landed her a six-year sentence. At that point, the state finally took her kids away. But Christy couldn’t just do her time quietly. In fact, she attempted to appeal her sentence and petition the judge to serve her time in a drug treatment facility. But Kevin P. Wallace, the new judge in town, wasn’t having any of that. He knew exactly who she was and what she had gotten away with. In turn, Judge Wallace hit her with another 180 days in prison for violating her probation, to be served after her six-year sentence was completed. However, she was paroled from the Rockville Correctional Facility in March of 2016 after serving only three years of her sentence. Now, in June of the same year, Matt divorced her and was granted sole custody of their kids.
Kelly continues to mourn Alyssa and work to come to terms with her passing. In 2014, she filed a lawsuit against Dr. Egley due to his failure to report the clear signs of physical abuse Alyssa presented. Although this case didn’t succeed, it raised important points about the responsibility of both doctors and caseworkers. If more care was given about Alyssa’s well-being by professionals who are paid to care, perhaps Alyssa would still be with us. DCS themselves admitted their fault in the fate of Alyssa. In October of 2012, DCS agreed to pay Kelly $150,000. It’s been reported that with those funds, Kelly purchased a car and gave the rest of the money away. On October 18, 2015, Kelly and Alyssa’s estate were awarded a judgment against the Schaefers in the amount of one million dollars. However, Matt filed for bankruptcy, and according to reports, Kelly has never seen a dime of it from Christy.
(If you’d like to know more about Alyssa’s story, and in particular the details of her trial, our friend Lane at “The Little Children” will have her episode linked in the show notes, which includes an exclusive interview with Jeff Wible, the prosecutor who completely mishandled Alyssa’s trial.)
In the wake of Alyssa’s death, her siblings Lily and Noah were sent to live with their biological father, Samuel Cruz, in Mexico. Alyssa was laid to rest in Bronson Cemetery, located in the state of Missouri, next to her father and grandfather. Now, after Alyssa’s grandmother refused assistance from supporters and never ended up getting a headstone for her, a memorial bench was later crowdfunded and placed in the adjacent plot.
Alyssa’s supporters have since dubbed her the “Baby Dragonfly.” Many believe that dragonflies are angels that come to the living world to see loved ones. In many cultures, the insect represents change and new beginnings. Alyssa lives on in the memory of her surviving family, many supporters, and in beautiful dragonflies.
