Story highlights
Joyce Garrard collapsed in prison and later died at an Alabama hospital
Prosecutors said she forced her granddaughter to run for hours as punishment for taking candy
The 9-year-old died as a result of dehydration
An Alabama woman who was convicted of murder in her granddaughter’s running death has died in prison, authorities said.
Joyce Garrard, 50, was sentenced to life without parole for the 2012 death of her granddaughter, Savannah Hardin.
The 9-year-old died after Garrard forced her to run around the family’s house for three hours as punishment for lying about taking a chocolate candy bar, authorities said.
Savannah was crawling, crying and begging to stop running, prosecutors said at the time. A state pathologist ruled the girl’s death a homicide, saying she was extremely dehydrated.
Garrard died at an Alabama hospital Friday evening, according to the state’s Department of Corrections.
She collapsed last week at the prison in Wetumpka, Alabama, and was airlifted to a hospital, where she died five days later.
The cause of death was not immediately available.
CNN’s Keith Allen contributed to this report