“It’s Not Illegal To Be a Bad Mom”

“It’s Not Illegal To Be a Bad Mom”

Stevie Lynn Allison Osborne was born on April 28th, 2017, in Kansas City, Missouri, to parents Abigail and Gary Osborne. She was named after her paternal grandfather, Steve, and her maternal aunt, Allison, who passed away in 2004 when she was just a baby. Stevie grew into an adorable toddler with a bright smile, big brown eyes, and strawberry-blonde hair. At the time of our story, she was just 2 and a half years old. Little Stevie had the ability to touch the hearts of everyone she encountered; she was described as a cheerful princess and a beloved daughter.

It was said that if the most miserable person in the world came in contact with her, she could bring them joy. According to daycare provider Bailey Benan, Stevie would always run up and say good morning and goodbye every day, and she was one of the reasons Benan stayed employed at the daycare as long as she did. According to Stevie’s aunt Kimberly, she was the purest form of perfection and the prettiest girl in the room. Even at a young age, Stevie displayed a passion and talent for singing. She also had a deep affection for her stuffed animals, treating them as cherished companions. She loved sloths, specifically a blue sloth and a pink sloth that she got on an outing to Five Below with her dad.

Her love for Disney films knew no bounds, and she especially loved watching Frozen. She loved Olaf and Anna the best. She also loved her grandmother’s cat, Charlie, and could often be found stealing sips of her dad’s soda or eating right through the middle of his Jimmy John’s sandwiches. Her father, Gary, graduated from Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2013. Shortly after graduating, he began dating her mother, Abigail Jean Morris, who would graduate from the same school the following year.

The two quickly began dating, and at the age of 18, Gary moved into Abigail’s house with her mother, Mindy, grandmother Carol, and Mindy’s boyfriend Aaron. At the time, Abigail was exploring different job options, trying to make a living while she was finding her path in life. She eventually found her place in the healthcare field, working as a nursing assistant with the ambition to study to be an RN. Throughout this journey, Gary and Abigail stood together, later marrying and working as a team to secure a home of their own before welcoming their daughter into the world. However, their fairy-tale life was abruptly cut short when Abigail filed for divorce just 5 months after Stevie was born.

Gary described Abigail as a dispassionate person, noting she doesn’t seem to have any emotions about really anything. “Her emotions are always a mystery to everybody involved, so I never knew if things were going well in our relationship, I never knew if they were going poorly. I would find out by her actions, never by any sort of conversation that we had. I don’t know, it was like an impossible person to be with.” As soon as they got married, Abigail also had what Gary described as a manipulative undertone, especially during their separation. Gary had received a letter from Abigail saying he owed close to 6 months’ worth of child support to the Children’s Division.

Abigail had been collecting child support for Stevie even though she was still married to and living with Gary, who was paying all the family’s expenses and bills. Gary was doing his duty as a dad and a husband to provide for his family. Due to Abigail’s emotionless demeanor, he thought the relationship was going well, so it came as a shock when Abigail abruptly told Gary that he needed to leave the house. She explained how she needed the space for her and Stevie, and that since Stevie needed a bedroom, Gary had to be the one to leave. Without any other options and panicking by this sudden news, Gary called his parents and ended up moving back in with them to figure out his next steps.

While the divorce seemed to go smoothly, things took a turn when Gary received a call at work from his father informing him that police officers were there to speak to him. The officers later met with Gary at his employer, Motion Industries. His boss, Kim Romo, let him use an office so the meeting could be private. There, the police officers served him with a filed emergency order of protection. Apparently, Abigail alleged that Gary had tried to choke her in 2015. Now, unbeknownst to Gary, Abigail had remarried a man named Corey during all of this. Gary had met Corey a handful of times as he had been over to the house occasionally on the days he would go to pick up Stevie. It’s unclear when, but that marriage ultimately failed.

During an interview with Lane from Suffer the Little Children, Gary had this to say about Corey: “Out of all the people she had dated, Corey was the only one that seemed to at least be somewhat of an adult and have his life figured out.” The divorce hearing ended swiftly, with the protection order ultimately being thrown out due to lack of evidence. However, Gary wasn’t allowed to see his daughter for over 3 months, causing him to miss her first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. It wasn’t until January of 2018 that the court decided Abigail and Gary should share joint custody of Stevie, with Abigail having primary residence. Gary would have his daughter every other weekend and an overnight each week, and was burdened with an additional $700 a month in child support.

Sometime in early 2019, Abigail found love once more. She reconnected with Joseph Chilson, a transplant from Seoul, South Korea, who was an old classmate of both her and her ex-husband. Soon the pair were dating and moved in together. December 19th, 2019, was a day like any other for Stevie and her dad. The toddler was excited for an upcoming family Christmas party where she’d get to visit with her great-grandmother Virginia. Gary didn’t know that when he dropped her off, it was the last kiss goodbye that he would ever give her.

According to a report from the Children’s Division on the evening of December 21st, 2019, while Abigail was working at her job as a critical care nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, she received a text message from her boyfriend Joseph. The message was about Stevie, who was sick and throwing up. At around 2:00 a.m. on December 22nd, Abigail returned home to find Stevie as Joseph had described her: sick and throwing up. Joseph told Abigail that Stevie had tripped over the family dog and hit her head on the cold tile floor, leaving a bruise on her forehead.

Later that day, during a family Christmas party, multiple family members were left concerned about Stevie’s wellbeing. Stevie’s maternal great-grandmother, Carol Dixon, took photos at the party. Two of these photos had Abigail in a plaid outfit with Stevie sitting in her lap wearing pink pajamas. The caption read: “Celebrated Christmas with Abby Jean, Stevie, and Joseph Chilson yesterday, where little Stevie was sick with a stomach virus and not much into the holiday cheer. Get better, little one! Grandma loves you bunches.” The bruises on Stevie’s forehead were evident and noticeable in the images.

Now, at the time of our story, Abigail worked as a critical care nurse. Even though she never received formal training in neurological assessments, there’s no way she didn’t know that a head injury accompanied by vomiting could indicate a serious medical problem such as a concussion. Even so, Abigail did not seek medical attention for Stevie. It was later discovered that family members had witnessed Stevie projectile vomiting multiple times during the party, and concerns were raised about the numerous contusions and bumps around her forehead and ears. It was also noted that only Joseph was allowed to change Stevie’s clothing every time she threw up on herself; he wouldn’t let anyone else touch her.

On December 23rd, just a few hours into her workday, Abigail received another call from Joseph about Stevie. He told Abigail that Stevie had fallen out of bed and was unresponsive. Abigail instructed Joseph to call 911—which is what he should have done rather than calling Abigail. Police officers and paramedics arrived at Wild Oak Apartment Homes in the 7900 block of North Flintlock Road, where they found Stevie with clearly visible injuries. First responders found poor Stevie covered in bruises and contusions. She was immediately loaded into the ambulance and brought to Liberty Hospital in cardiac arrest.

While doctors tried to stabilize Stevie, Gary was at work going about his normal business when he got a call that no father wanted to get. He rushed to the hospital, making the 30-minute drive in 15 minutes as he got increasingly alarming phone calls from Abigail. In one, she told Gary, “I don’t know what’s going on; I think she’s dead.” Gary showed up to the hospital in an agitated state, fearing for his daughter’s life. He demanded that the staff take him to his daughter, admittedly threatening hospital staff. Instead of being taken to Stevie, this resulted in the staff taking Gary and his mother into a room to speak to the police. After some discussion, police were able to verify the timeline of events and determine that Gary wasn’t a threat; he was simply a terrified father.

At the hospital, it was determined that Stevie had been without oxygen for at least 20 minutes. Agonal breathing was observed, as well as parietal and occipital skull fractures, diffuse subdural hematoma with midline shift, and an abdominal abnormality. Emergency surgery was considered the best option, so Stevie was transported to Children’s Mercy Hospital in downtown Kansas City. Upon examination, the attending neurosurgeon bluntly told Gary and Abigail that the injuries were unlikely to be accidental and were in all probability the direct result of intentionally inflicted trauma by another individual.

Due to the severity of Stevie’s condition, multiple staff members at both hospitals filed reports with the Missouri Department of Social Services Children’s Division. The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Stevie Osborne’s wellbeing began with the Children’s Division making troubling findings as they looked into the horrific conditions Stevie was found in. During questioning, Gary reported that he had not noticed any bruises or markings on his daughter the night before he had dropped her off, and he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary about her physical appearance. Additionally, family members who attended the Christmas party raised concerns about Stevie’s wellbeing the day before and expressed the severity of her illness multiple times during the party.

The Children’s Division also spoke with Abigail about the party and the days leading up to it. She reported that while she was at work, she had received a text message from her boyfriend about Stevie’s condition. She got home at 2:00 a.m. She failed to seek medical care for symptoms that should have been obvious to a critical care nurse. On the day of the Christmas party, family members asked Abigail about the bruises, vomiting, and general lethargy of Stevie. However, Abigail just brushed it off as Stevie being under the weather and having the normal clumsiness of childhood injuries.

When the Children’s Division asked Joseph why he had helped change her clothing so often that day, he claimed it was his way of taking responsibility for her not feeling good and for letting her hit her head the day prior. Joseph’s story almost completely matched all the other reports; he noticed bruises on Stevie’s forehead, ears, and neck. However, he was then confronted about an argument-turned-altercation that he had with Abigail after the Christmas party. Abigail confronted Joseph about the bruises. Joseph didn’t like this line of questioning and quickly became angry. The situation escalated into a physical altercation, with Joseph pulling Abigail’s hair and throwing her onto the bed while she was still holding little Stevie. Abigail was close to calling the police, but they eventually agreed that Joseph would move out in the following days.

Joseph admitted that it turned physical when he pulled her hair and then threw her onto the bed. He also claimed that it was an accident and he never meant to cause harm intentionally. Joseph also raised concerns that Stevie’s paternal grandfather, Dennis Morris, may have been the one causing the bruises on Stevie’s abdomen on December 19th, although it’s unclear why he decided to target Dennis specifically. Apparently, he had shown the bruises to Abigail after they got home, but neither of them thought much of the markings. On December 23rd, when the vomiting didn’t stop, Joseph brought it to Abigail’s attention again, but as he told the Children’s Division, any concerns he had were never taken seriously.

As Stevie lay in the hospital fighting for her life, Gary went back to see her with staff, kissed little Stevie, and told her she was going to be okay. Gary thought he would be able to take his daughter home—maybe not right away, but eventually—and thanks to this incident, she would never have to go back to Abigail’s house, something, according to Gary, she never wanted to do. Gary tried to see the silver lining amidst all the turmoil. While the doctors were prepping little Stevie for surgery, one of the doctors came to sit down with Gary and gave him devastating news. They explained that Stevie had been hit hard enough that her brain was no longer communicating with the rest of her body, and that her eyes showed no reaction to light. Stevie was showing symptoms of brain death.

In an attempt to save Stevie, the doctors were going to perform a critical intervention surgery for her. This involved, as doctors described, a risky and invasive procedure called a craniotomy, where a section of the skull is surgically removed to access the brain for life-saving surgery. Little 2-year-old Stevie faced surgery that no child should ever have to go through. After taking Stevie away for surgery, Gary and Abigail were brought into a room where they were met by a hospital chaplain and the surgeon. They told Gary they were very sorry, but little Stevie wasn’t going to come home. Unfortunately, during this delicate procedure, Stevie’s condition worsened, and she went into cardiac arrest. The hospital staff immediately began CPR and used a defibrillator in an attempt to revive Stevie. Unfortunately, these attempts were unsuccessful.

Stevie Osborne was pronounced dead at 1:28 p.m. on December 23rd, 2019, just 2 days before Christmas. According to Gary, he was frozen in shock and looked over at Abigail. Now, allegedly according to Gary, he saw a cold and tearless expression on her face as she picked up her phone to call her mom and allegedly said, “You can tell everybody to go home, she’s dead.”

An autopsy was performed on Christmas Eve, where the horrifying extent of Stevie’s injuries would come to light. Chief medical examiner Dr. Alaf Hosein at Frontiers Forensics Midwest Morgue performed the autopsy. He discovered contusions to the forehead, scalp, upper lip, lower chest, abdomen, pelvis, both hands, right wrist, and lower leg, as well as hemorrhages in the abdomen and bowels, and multiple hemorrhages between the skull and the scalp. With all of the evidence from the autopsy, Dr. Hosein concluded Stevie’s cause of death was homicide due to blunt force trauma to the head.

The criminal investigation began and lasted until January 6th, 2021. Joseph, who had been the primary suspect of the investigation, had a warrant issued for his arrest. Upon hearing this news, Joseph decided to take one final step: a step into the bathtub at his father’s home, where he subsequently removed himself from this earth with a gun. According to Gary, the police told him in so many words that Joseph’s final action should be taken as an admission of guilt and they would no longer be pursuing criminal charges against Abigail. However, the Children’s Division report did determine that Abigail was at fault for negligence in the care of little Stevie.

Joseph Chilson left a note that his brother found on his computer and forwarded to Gary. Gary brought the letter to the police in an effort to continue the case against his ex-wife, but was told it wouldn’t make much of a difference. The police refused to continue looking into Abigail, resulting in Gary being robbed of not only his daughter, but the justice he felt she so rightfully deserved. In Joseph’s two-page letter written on Christmas Eve, he discussed the social needs of man and stated that without the social side of man, we are just animals. He expressed his loneliness and how his self-destructive thoughts became more persistent each day. He admitted to watching videos about the afterlife and concluded that whatever it is, our soul doesn’t truly end.

He asked to have a small funeral or none at all, and that he wanted a couple of friends to smoke one in his memory on the day of his passing. Giving advice to someone named Jake, he later went on calling his father misguided, hoping he would find peace knowing that he would be in a better place and not feeling horrible feelings when he wakes up every morning. Joseph clarified in his note that he never harmed Stevie, and that her death had nothing to do with his decision. He made it clear that his final act was not an admission of guilt.

Later in the letter, he went on to summarize his life as follows: “Life is like an hourglass. The second you’re born, it gets flipped over and the clock ticks. My life, I’ve wasted those ticks, and somewhere along the way my hourglass got a little chip in it, and it started to get bigger and bigger until one day the glass finally broke and the sand went everywhere. That day is coming soon. I’m really hoping to be Caucasian in my next life; being treated differently all your life by your ethnicity is a sure way to be raised in a cruel world. My belief is that I am going to have to work my way up the food chain again.” Addressing his inner turmoil with his half-Korean heritage, his last request was for his friend to scatter his ashes around the world as he saw fit.

According to Stevie’s father, Gary, he’s left with a constant state of “what ifs,” noting—and I quote—”Everything was good before we got married, but I was very young and very stupid, and I hate to say this, but at the time I was in love and I ignored so many red flags and a lot of things that I look back on now and I’m like, ‘Wow, if I had noticed that, maybe I could have saved Stevie.'” Gary feels strongly that Joseph wasn’t the only one who wanted or had anything to do with this to his daughter. Apparently, the authorities used only Joseph’s death, as well as the fact that her ear cartilage was bruised, to say only Joseph did it. Their reasoning, according to the authorities, was that the amount of force it would take could only be generated by a man.

Gary felt let down by the justice system, often being left in the dark about the details of the ongoing investigation. He understood that details would be limited because of the nature of the case, but he felt completely left out of the loop most days while trying to get justice for his daughter. He attempted to call the victim’s advocate nearly every day for almost 2 years; he never got his calls answered or even got a call back. The advocate had so little involvement that he couldn’t even remember her name. Instead, Gary decided to work directly with the Clay County Prosecutor, Robert Sanders, to make any headway on getting justice for Stevie.

Sadly, the prosecutor called Gary and his family, requesting they come to his office. He’d apparently done his research and had answers for the family. When they arrived, they were met with four armed officers standing outside the office. Gary knew at that moment in the pit of his stomach that the news was going to be bad. The prosecutor told Gary, “It’s not illegal to be stupid. It’s not illegal to be a bad mom.” Gary couldn’t believe what he was being told. He knew that if Abigail sat in front of a jury of her peers, they would feel differently. The prosecutor later noted, “We got the guy that hurt your daughter.”

This left a bitter taste in Gary’s mouth, because to Gary, they never got anybody. He wasn’t arrested, he wasn’t tried or convicted, and he took himself out of the equation. Someone needed to be held accountable for what happened to Stevie. Gary felt that Abigail was complicit in everything that happened. As a nurse, she should have known something was seriously wrong with her child and prevented her death. Tensions became heightened at the prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor told Gary, “You’re not going to yell at me in my office,” to which Gary responded, “My daughter was murdered less than 5 minutes from here, and you’re worried about being yelled at?”

Gary and his family were then escorted out by the armed officers and left feeling like the prosecutor not only didn’t understand, but just didn’t care about them. This is poignantly highlighted by the severe and underwhelming media coverage of Stevie’s murder; information was quite literally scarce to non-existent. This however did not leave Abigail free of justice and consequence. Due to the investigation initiated by the Children’s Division, Abigail faced the risk of losing her nursing license in Missouri. In her defense, she filed a civil lawsuit against the Children’s Division and its director, Jennifer Tidball. However, before the lawsuit was decided, Jennifer resigned from her position as director and returned to the role of Chief Operating Officer.

Prior to the court date, both parties had a month to gather evidence and submit them as exhibits. In April, the Children’s Division planned to submit doctor’s reports, autopsy reports, and post-mortem photos, while Abigail had not submitted anything. Additionally, the Children’s Division intended to present their own investigator, Patricia Roth; forensic medical investigator Jim Horton; and pediatric specialist Dr. Kachelski. Abigail planned to provide her grandmother, stepmother Connie Morris, and herself as witnesses.

During the bench trial on March 7th, 2023, Connie Morris informed the judge that during the Christmas party, she hadn’t noticed any bruising that other family members had mentioned. Not only did she not notice any bruising, she claimed Stevie wasn’t sick at all that day, contradicting the stories provided by everyone else at the party and contradicting her own report to the Children’s Division. During Patricia Roth’s testimony—who was the Children’s Division investigator—it was revealed that the department hotline received an astonishing six calls regarding Stevie’s wellbeing on the night of December 23rd after the Christmas party.

Abigail testified that Stevie had thrown up about six times between 8:45 and 10:00 p.m. She also admitted that Stevie felt warm to the touch and considered the possibility of a concussion, but instead tried to treat Stevie with Dramamine and Sprite. When asked about Joseph’s anger problems, Abigail admitted that he would become so angry that he would punch things, including a hole in a door. Despite knowing this, she still left Stevie with him on December 23rd instead of her great-grandmother Virginia, due to concerns about leaving a sick child in the care of an 82-year-old woman.

Dr. Kachelski took the stand and testified that the injuries she had examined showed more than just normal childhood injuries, but were consistent with child abuse. She pointed out that the bruise on Stevie’s forehead would have been clearly visible as she was suffering from intracranial bleeding down through her brain stem. She also raised concern over unusual bruising on her abdomen and inner thighs. Given all of the evidence that Abigail admitted to being aware of, combined with her medical experience, there should have been no reason for her not to report this. Dr. Kachelski came to two conclusions: Abigail had failed to protect the child from physical neglect, and raised high concern for medical neglect.

In the end, the court found sustainable evidence to believe Abigail was aware and negligent in responding to seek medical attention, and aware of the threat that Joseph could pose with his anger issues, especially displaying them the day before being left alone with the child. All of these reasons led the judge to deny Abigail’s appeal for her name to be taken off the central child abuse and neglect registry.

Family and friends gathered at Park Hill Baptist Church in Kansas City on Saturday, December 28th, 2019, to celebrate the short life of Stevie Lynn Allison Osborne. The service was paid for by Gary’s workplace trauma fund and was attended by co-workers. He didn’t know if Abigail was guilty or not as the criminal investigation was ongoing, and if she was innocent, he didn’t want to deprive his daughter of having her mother at her funeral. Gary decided to allow Abigail, despite his family’s reservations, grief, and anger. The Platte County Sheriff’s Office was also in attendance to ensure peace was kept during the service.

Abigail shared these somber words at the funeral: “Stevie is love in the purest way, which is why I want to start off by reading 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: ‘Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustices, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.’

Stevie’s love is so much more than all of those things, though. Stevie’s love is beautiful in the way she smiled, happy in the way she laughed, sweet in the way she asked for hugs and kisses, giving in the way she always wanted to hold and not the other way around, reassuring in the way she would grab your face and tell you ‘You’re so nice’ or ‘You’re my best friend,’ fun in the way she would run around chasing the dog and play airplane, adventurous in the way she wanted me to carry her up the big kid stuff at Penguin Park, wild in the way she would run around the store and think it was a game, high energy in the way she was always ready for another vacation, curious in the way she was always getting into something whether it was the cabinets for chocolate chips or my clothes drawers, helpful in the way she carried in groceries with me or tried to dress me, independent in the way she wanted to feed herself and get herself on the potty even if it meant she had to do a complete 360, comforting in the way she would rub your back when you cried and tell you that it’s okay or lay her sweet head on your chest, strong in the way she would lift weights with me at the gym, inspiring in the way she gave me the motivation to finish nursing school and go into Critical Care, contagious in the way she lit up a room and immediately filled the room with positive energy, and magical in the way she allowed me to feel her presence the other day when I couldn’t sleep.”

With Gary and his workplace taking care of the funeral, he left the burial arrangements up to Abigail. However, it wasn’t until 4 hours after Stevie had been buried that Gary found out that Abigail neglected to tell him or any of his family that the burial was happening, ensuring that they couldn’t be there as Stevie was laid to rest. Stevie was buried in a beautiful pink casket in White Chapel Cemetery in Gladstone, Missouri. On her bronze headstone, a picture of Stevie holding a kitten is displayed along with etchings of daisies and the inscriptions: “No one will ever know the strength of my love for you, after all, you’re the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside,” as well as, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away.”

Gary and his mother, Valerie—or Mimi, as Stevie knew her—set up a memorial for her in her room with all of her various stuffed animals, including her sloths. In addition, they had stuffed bears made out of the fabric from Stevie’s clothes. The love and happiness Stevie brought into their lives was not just a fleeting moment, but a treasure that will forever be cherished and remembered.

Gary Osborne currently has an active GoFundMe with two goals: legal support to further seek justice for his daughter to ensure that all of the individuals responsible are held fully accountable, and a lasting memorial. To date, it’s raised $4,178 of its $50,000 goal, and honestly, that’s not enough. We’ve teamed up with Lane from Suffer the Little Children to share Stevie’s story. Lane told Stevie’s story last year, which includes an exclusive interview with Gary and clips of Stevie talking. Honestly, Lane’s episode is nothing short of real journalism; she was the first to bring Stevie’s case to a wider audience, something that the local news couldn’t even be bothered to do.

Now, a lot of times you guys request cases and we want to do them for you, but much like Stevie, the news media just doesn’t cover it and there’s no information. So we’ll link her episodes and case updates, as well as Gary’s GoFundMe, in our description for you. It is our goal to keep Stevie’s story alive, as well as to provide a signal boost to help Gary fund his two goals, which are—and I quote:

Legal Support: The path ahead requires legal representation to seek justice and hold the responsible parties accountable. Your contributions will enable me to access the legal expertise necessary to navigate the complex legal landscape.

A Lasting Memorial: I intend to transform Stevie’s resting place into a haven of beauty, grace, and remembrance. Raising sufficient funds will allow me to gain ownership of the cemetery plot and provide Stevie with a headstone that truly represents her spirit—a place where loved ones can gather, share stories, and find comfort.

According to Gary’s Facebook page, he would also like to purchase a memorial bench at English Landing Park in Parksville, Missouri. In conclusion, we’d like to leave you with the following thoughts from Gary, which he shared on the GoFundMe page, which reads as follows:

“Stevie’s memory shines brightly in my heart, but her resting place doesn’t yet reflect the vibrant spirit she was. I’m determined to give her a headstone that captures her essence—a tribute that solely focuses on her, free from any painful associations.”