Jury gets case of ex-Millcreek mom accused of child abuse

By ED PALATTELLA, Erie Times-News

ed.palattella@timesnews.com

A jury will resume deliberations on Thursday morning in the case of a former Millcreek Township resident accused of abusing her four adopted children between March 2007 and January 2010.

The defendant, Annissa D. Schoolfield, 41, now of Cleveland, is accused of cutting the children's hands, siccing a dog on one of them, handcuffing another to a basement staircase and trying to choke another with a plastic garbage bag, among other allegations.

Schoolfield testified in her own defense Wednesday and said the children were lying.

The jurors deliberated 40 minutes Wednesday before Erie County Judge Shad Connelly dismissed them for the day. They will resume deliberations Thursday morning. The trial started on Monday.

Schoolfield is accused of 14 counts, including the first-degree felony of aggravated assault.