Billy Bob's Daughter Indicted in Babysitting Death

Thornton's estranged daughter, Amanda Brumfield, facing murder charges from 2008 incident

By Josh Grossberg Jun 25, 2009 2:27 PMTags
Amanda Brumfield, Billy Bob ThorntonOcoee Police Department, Alan Davidson/Getty Images

Amanda Brumfield, the estranged daughter of Billy Bob Thornton, was indicted Wednesday in Florida on murder charges for the 2008 death of a 1-year-old girl Brumfield was babysitting.

The 29-year-old daughter of Thornton and ex-wife Melissa Gatlin is facing counts of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter. Per the Orlando Sentinel, a tearful Brumfield appeared in court accompanied by her lawyer. A judge rejected her request for bail and ordered her held in jail.

Brumfield told investigators the infant, Olivia Garcia, died on Oct. 3 after tumbling head-first out of her playpen. But the medical examiner ruled the fall could not have caused the child's fractured skull and authorities say Brumfield waited more than two hours before calling paramedics.

In the wake of her arrest last month, the 53-year-old Thornton released a statement through his publicist indicating that he had been estranged from Amanda and had "no contact with her for quite some time." He also offered condolences to the Garcia family.