_ATTALLA, Alabama - You would think in this day and age, people would adhere to a level of moderation when applying discipline to their children.

That was not the case with one Alabama family. And it cost this 9-year-old girl her life.

Savannah Hardin died after being forced to run for 3 hours around her house, supposedly for lying to her grandmother and stepmother about eating a candy bar.

That 3 hour run caused Savannah to go into a seizure caused by dehydration and over-exhaustion.

She was rushed to Children's Hospital in Birmingham, where they were not able to wake her. She eventually passed away. After an autopsy showed Savannah had fatally low levels of sodium and was extremely dehydrated, the State Pathologist ruled her death a Homicide.

A candy bar is no cause to brutally punish a child and put them in harms way. Verbal discipline and additional chores would have sufficed. What in god's name caused these two women to torture a child like this?

Does their geographic location and socioeconomic background play a part in this?

I believe it's safe to say YES.