REMEMBERING TANNER

Tanner Lee Webb was three years old. His mother remembered him as a happy, outgoing and loving little boy who had an extraordinary ability to make people smile.

His grandmother remembered a little boy surrounded by family. Tanner spent much of his young life either in his grandmother’s home or with his maternal great aunt and uncle. His extended family helped care for him from the beginning, when his parents were themselves very young. Photographs of Tanner show a smiling little boy with bright red hair. In one, he beams at the camera from his stroller. In another, he is outside playing with a child sized truck. Those are the images that should define Tanner. He had just celebrated his third birthday eight days before his death. He should have had countless birthdays still ahead of him.

TANNER’S STORY

On October 21, 2006, Tanner was home in Flower Mound with his stepfather, twenty two year old Russell Miller. The two were alone. Later that evening, Russell called for emergency help and reported that Tanner was unconscious and not breathing. Russell offered an explanation  He said he had been swinging Tanner in his arms when the little boy accidentally struck his head against a piece of furniture. Tanner was rushed to a Fort Worth hospital. He could not be saved. Doctors pronounced him dead. But Tanner’s body showed far more than an isolated accidental injury. Police reported bruising and injuries to his head, neck and torso. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner determined that Tanner died from blunt force trauma to the head. Further examination revealed an extraordinary number of injuries across Tanner’s small body. Later accounts based upon his autopsy reported 43 external injuries, with bruising extending from his heel to his face. There were also unexplained burns.

The autopsy reportedly documented injuries concerning for sexual abuse. Inside Tanner’s head, there were multiple hemorrhages. The evidence did not support the story that Tanner had simply bumped his head while being swung in Russell’s arms. Police arrested Russell the following day. Tanner had turned three only eight days earlier.

WARNING SIGNS

The condition of Tanner’s body raised troubling questions about whether the violence he suffered extended beyond the fatal assault. This was not a child with only one injury. His body contained dozens. There was extensive bruising. There were unexplained burns. And there were injuries of different kinds across multiple areas of his body. Tanner was three years old. He could not be expected to understand abuse or know how to get himself away from an unsafe adult. The extent of his injuries showed just how vulnerable he had been.

JUSTICE FOR TANNER

Russell Miller was arrested shortly after Tanner’s death. The initial charge reported publicly was manslaughter, and his bond was set at $1 million while investigators awaited the complete medical examiner’s findings. The criminal case ultimately resulted in a much more substantial prison sentence. On August 31, 2007, Russell was convicted in Denton County of injury to a child in connection with Tanner’s death. He received a 50 year prison sentence.

Russell Miller

Relationship to Tanner: Stepfather

Conviction: Injury to a child

Sentence: 50 years in prison

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Tanner lived for three years and eight days. That is painfully little time. But it was enough time for the people who loved him to know his personality. Happy. Outgoing. Loving. A little boy who could make someone smile even after a difficult day. Those memories give us something the criminal record cannot. The record tells us how Tanner died. His family tells us who Tanner was. He was a redheaded three year old with a huge smile. He was a grandson who held a special place in his grandmother’s heart. He was a little boy who should have continued playing outside, making people laugh and growing into whoever he was going to become. The injuries inflicted upon Tanner matter, and they should never be hidden. But the person who inflicted them does not get to define Tanner’s memory. Tanner Lee Webb was here. He was loved. And three years and eight days were nowhere near enough. Abuse Angels remembers Tanner Lee Webb. Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.