REMEMBERING ADRIANNA

Adrianna Waller was only 11 months old. She lived in Oklahoma City with her mother, Shonda Waller, and Charles Frederick Warner, her mother's boyfriend. Warner's children also lived in the home. Adrianna was still a baby, but court records preserve one small and incredibly important glimpse of who she was. On the morning of August 22, 1997, Adrianna woke up and spent time in bed playing with her mother. She was described as her normal, playful self. Nothing appeared to be wrong with her. It was an ordinary morning with a little girl who should have had an entire childhood ahead of her. Adrianna was approaching her first birthday. There should have been a first birthday cake. First steps. First words. School days. Friends. Dreams. A lifetime for her mother to watch the playful baby beside her grow into the person she was meant to become. Instead, Adrianna would be dead before that day was over.

ADRIANNA'S STORY

On August 22, 1997, Adrianna began her morning at home with her mother. Her mother changed her diaper and noticed nothing unusual. Adrianna appeared comfortable and playful.Later that morning, Charles Warner returned home. Adrianna's mother prepared food for the older children and fed Adrianna baby food.

The family had originally planned to go grocery shopping together. Instead, Warner suggested that Shonda go alone and leave the children at home with him. At approximately noon, she left. Adrianna was alive and behaving normally when her mother left the house. When Shonda returned around 2:30 that afternoon, she looked in on Adrianna and saw her lying on a bed. A short time later, when Shonda said she wanted to leave again to have the telephone connected, Warner went to get Adrianna. He brought the baby from the bedroom and said that she was not breathing. Shonda grabbed her daughter. On the way to the hospital, she desperately performed CPR on her baby. Adrianna could not be saved. She was only 11 months old. Doctors discovered that the baby who had appeared healthy and playful only hours earlier had suffered devastating physical injuries. Adrianna had suffered severe injuries to her head, chest and abdomen. The examination revealed multiple fractures and serious internal injuries. Doctors also determined that Adrianna had been sexually assaulted. Her death was not an accident. The investigation determined that Adrianna had been fatally abused during the period she had been left in Warner's care.

WARNING SIGNS

Evidence presented during the criminal case showed that the violence against Adrianna may not have begun on the day she died. During Warner's trial, his young son testified that he had previously seen his father abuse Adrianna. Evidence was also presented concerning Warner's previous violence and abuse toward others. That history became important after Adrianna's death. She was 11 months old. She could not tell her mother that someone had hurt her. She could not explain that she was afraid. She could not describe what happened when the adults around her were not there to see it. Like every baby, Adrianna depended entirely upon the people around her to recognize danger and protect her from it. On August 22, 1997, she was left with someone entrusted to care for her. Within hours, she was dead.

JUSTICE FOR ADRIANNA

Charles Frederick Warner was prosecuted for what happened to Adrianna. He was convicted of first degree murder by child abuse and first degree rape. For Adrianna's murder, the jury recommended the death penalty. For the rape, Warner received an additional sentence of 75 years in prison. His convictions and death sentence went through years of appeals. Ultimately, the convictions remained in place. On January 15, 2015, more than 17 years after Adrianna died, the State of Oklahoma executed Charles Warner by lethal injection. Adrianna's mother did not consider Warner's execution something done in her daughter's honor. Before the execution, Shonda publicly expressed her opposition to the death penalty and said that executing Warner would not honor Adrianna. She explained that her position was rooted in her own beliefs and faith. Her words are an important part of Adrianna's story. Justice for a murdered child does not erase what happened. It cannot return the years that child should have lived. And ultimately, Adrianna's memory belongs to Adrianna, not to the punishment imposed upon the person who took her life.

 

Charles Frederick Warner

Relationship to Adrianna: Mother's boyfriend

Convictions: First degree murder by child abuse and first degree rape

Sentence: Death for murder and 75 years for rape

Final outcome: Executed by lethal injection on January 15, 2015

 

FOREVER REMEMBERED

On the morning of August 22, 1997, Adrianna Waller was playing with her mother. That small detail survived in the court record years after she was gone. She was her normal, playful self. That is the Adrianna we choose to remember. Not simply the injuries described in an autopsy. Not a criminal trial. Not decades of appeals. Not an execution. Adrianna was a little girl who played with her mother that morning. She was approaching her first birthday. She should have awakened for thousands more mornings. She should have learned to walk and talk. She should have gone to school. She should have had the opportunity to decide for herself who she wanted to become. Instead, the world was given only 11 months of Adrianna. Her life was short, but it was a life. She was here. She played. She was loved. And she mattered. Abuse Angels remembers Adrianna Waller, the playful little girl whose life ended before her first birthday and who deserved an entire lifetime beyond those 11 months. We remember Adrianna. We speak her name. And Adrianna Waller will not be forgotten.