Daughter testifies in Thompson's trial ...

A 17-year-old girl braced herself inside the family van, trying to keep her weight off her 5-year-old sister struggling beneath her, the teen told a jury Thursday.

She put one arm on a car seat and the other on a window, hoisting herself up so her adopted sister, Rachel Joy Thompson, could get a breath of air. "I would try to hold myself up as long as I possibly could," the 17-year-old said in a flat voice, her face expressionless. "But my arms would get...

[excerpt from an article]

Published on 2001-09-14