Remembering Sky

Sky Lyric Allen was two years old. There is painfully little preserved publicly about the ordinary pieces of Sky's life the things she loved, what made her laugh, or the personality she was developing. Most of what remains in public records is instead connected to the criminal case surrounding her death. But Sky was a little girl before she was ever the subject of a police investigation or a court opinion. She was a daughter. She was two years old. She depended completely upon the person responsible for caring for her to keep her safe. Her name was Sky Lyric Allen, and her life deserves to be remembered separately from the violence that ended it.

​Sky's Story

On May 2, 2013, Marina Middlebrooks killed her two-year-old daughter, Sky. This is not an allegation based only on circumstantial evidence. During the later criminal proceedings, Middlebrooks and prosecutors formally stipulated that Middlebrooks, acting alone, caused Sky's death by stabbing her in the neck. Evidence presented at trial showed that Middlebrooks believed she and Sky possessed what she described as a special “green aura.” She believed people wanted access to this perceived gift and were persecuting them. Middlebrooks came to believe that she and Sky needed to die and go to heaven in order to escape. According to testimony from a psychiatrist who evaluated Middlebrooks, Middlebrooks described placing scissors in Sky's hands and helping the two-year-old stab herself in the neck multiple times. The physical evidence documented the brutality of what happened. Sky suffered multiple stab wounds. One of those wounds severed her jugular vein, causing massive and ultimately fatal blood loss. The medical examiner determined that her wounds were consistent with being inflicted by the sharp edges of an opened pair of scissors. Afterward, Middlebrooks left with Sky's body in her vehicle. A passerby later saw Middlebrooks' vehicle swerving on Ray Owens Road in Columbia County before it crashed into a tree and called 911. First responders found Middlebrooks in the driver's seat. She was wearing only a sweatshirt and was covered in blood. She had suffered numerous wounds herself, including punctures and lacerations to her neck, face, chest, arms, wrists, and knee. Then responders discovered Sky. The two year old's body was on the rear floor of the vehicle, underneath a pile of clothing. Sky was unclothed. Her body was covered in dried blood. She had a gaping stab wound to her neck, and her body had already become cold. A bloody pair of scissors was found in the front passenger seat. Sky was dead.

​The Question of Mental Illness

Mental illness became a central issue in the criminal case against Marina Middlebrooks. Middlebrooks did not dispute at trial that she had killed Sky. Instead, she pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury heard extensive and conflicting testimony about her mental state at the time of Sky's death. Experts for the defense described a history of psychiatric problems, paranoid delusions, and hallucinations. One psychiatrist testified that Middlebrooks believed she and Sky possessed a special “green aura,” that people wanted access to this perceived gift, and that she and Sky needed to die and go to heaven in order to be safe. That psychiatrist diagnosed Middlebrooks with acute schizophrenia and believed that, at the time of Sky's death, Middlebrooks did not recognize that what she was doing was wrong.

The State challenged that conclusion. A forensic psychologist who evaluated Middlebrooks testified that he believed she had exaggerated or fabricated symptoms after Sky's death in an effort to avoid criminal responsibility. The jury also heard testimony from a former cellmate who said Middlebrooks had denied being mentally ill and had given a different explanation for why she killed Sky. The legal question before the jury was not simply whether Middlebrooks had ever experienced mental illness. The jury had to determine whether she met Georgia's legal standard for insanity at the time she killed Sky specifically, whether she lacked the mental capacity to distinguish right from wrong in relation to what she was doing. The jury rejected the insanity defense and found Middlebrooks guilty.

Justice for Sky

Marina Mae Middlebrooks was indicted on charges of malice murder, felony murder predicated on aggravated assault, and first degree cruelty to children. Following a trial in February 2016, a Richmond County jury found Middlebrooks guilty on all three counts. On February 29, 2016, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for malice murder, plus 20 years in prison for first-degree cruelty to children. The felony-murder count was ultimately vacated by operation of law.

 

Person convicted: Marina Mae Middlebrooks

Relationship to Sky: Mother

Convictions: Malice murder and first degree cruelty to children

Sentence: Life without the possibility of parole plus 20 years

 

Middlebrooks sought a new trial, but that request was denied. She subsequently appealed her convictions to the Georgia Supreme Court. On February 21, 2023, nearly ten years after Sky's death, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Middlebrooks' convictions.

​Forever Remembered

Sky's name now appears in police reports, medical testimony, criminal proceedings, and a Georgia Supreme Court decision. Those records preserve in terrible detail how her life ended. But Sky was not a court case. She was a two year old little girl. She was far too young to understand the beliefs that surrounded her death, far too young to protect herself, and completely dependent upon the adult responsible for her safety. The details of what happened to Sky deserve to be told truthfully. Her wounds should not be minimized, and neither should the terror and violence inflicted upon such a small child. But those wounds are not Sky's identity.  Her name was Sky Allen. There should have been years of memories attached to that name instead of a Supreme Court case. Abuse Angels remembers Sky, tells the truth about what happened to her, and makes certain that behind every discussion of a conviction, an insanity defense, or a sentence, the little girl at the center of it all is never forgotten.