Death of Caylee Anthony

Caylee Marie Anthony was a toddler who lived in Orlando, Florida, with her mother, Casey Anthony, and her maternal grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony. On July 15, 2008, Caylee was reported missing in a 9-1-1 call made by Cindy Anthony, who said she had not seen the child for thirty-one days. Cindy told dispatchers that Casey had given varying explanations for Caylee's whereabouts before eventually saying she had not seen her daughter for weeks. Casey subsequently told police that Caylee had been kidnapped by a nanny, Zenaida "Zanny" Fernandez-Gonzalez, on June 9, 2008; investigators found this false, as the apartment identified as Fernandez-Gonzalez's had been vacant for more than 140 days, and no such nanny arrangement could be verified.

Casey was arrested and later indicted in October 2008 on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and four counts of providing false information to police. She pleaded not guilty to all charges. Prosecutors later announced they would seek the death penalty.

On December 11, 2008, a meter reader who had repeatedly reported a suspicious object in wooded area near the Anthony home led police to skeletal remains found in a laundry bag with a blanket; duct tape was recovered near the skull. Medical examiner Jan Garavaglia confirmed the remains were Caylee's on December 19, 2008, and ruled the death a homicide by undetermined means.

At trial, which began May 24, 2011, before Judge Belvin Perry, the prosecution—led by Assistant State Attorney Linda Burdick—argued that Casey used chloroform to incapacitate Caylee and then suffocated her with duct tape in order to free herself of parental responsibilities. The defense, led by Jose Baez, argued that Caylee had drowned accidentally in the family pool and that her grandfather, George Anthony, had helped conceal the death. The defense also raised allegations that Casey had been abused by her father and brother. Numerous forensic witnesses testified regarding chloroform evidence, cadaver-dog alerts, computer search history, and analysis of the duct tape and remains; some prosecution evidence, including a claimed 84 computer searches for "chloroform," was later acknowledged by the software's own developer to have been the result of a program error.

On July 5, 2011, the jury found Casey not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and aggravated child abuse, but guilty of four counts of providing false information to law enforcement. She was sentenced to the maximum penalty on each of those four counts, served consecutively, and given credit for time already served, resulting in her release on July 17, 2011. She was also ordered to pay $217,000 toward investigative and prosecution costs. In 2013, a Florida appellate court reduced her false-statement convictions from four to two, finding that some of the statements had been made within a single interview and could not be separately punished under double jeopardy principles.

The case drew extensive media attention, described by Time magazine as "the social media trial of the century," with significant coverage from television hosts including Nancy Grace. The acquittal produced substantial public outrage, including protests outside the courthouse and record engagement on social media and cable news. Civil litigation followed, including defamation suits brought by Fernandez-Gonzalez and by Roy Kronk (the man who found the remains), as well as a fraud suit by search organization Texas EquuSearch; various of these matters were later settled, dismissed, or affirmed on appeal through the 2010s. Public advocacy following the case led several U.S. states to consider "Caylee's Law" measures regarding mandatory reporting of missing or deceased children.