From left: William McCue and Carina McCue (Gwinnett County Police) and Zowey McCue (Crowell Brothers Funeral Home).
A 51-year-old Georgia man spent years abusing his children, which led to the death of his 10-year-old daughter who could not be rescued from a house fire because she was forced to sleep on a piece of plywood on a bathtub.
William McCue received three consecutive life prison sentences without the possibility of parole, along with a fourth life sentence plus 120 years behind bars, for the murder of Zowey McCue. A jury on Thursday found him guilty of felony murder, two counts each of rape and incest and three counts of aggravated child molestation, the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office said.
Carina McCue, 42, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree cruelty to children, aggravated assault and false imprisonment and was required to testify against her husband at his trial. She was sentenced to 90 years in prison.
A fire broke out at the McCues' home in Loganville, about 35 miles northeast of Atlanta, on April 17, 2022. Carina McCue got her then 12- and 8-year-old sons out of the home but could not reach Zowey because she was trapped in the windowless bathroom that served as her bedroom. The girl died of smoke inhalation.
William McCue was not at home at the time of the fire.
The oldest McCue son, who was 15 at the time, testified that he set the fire at the home to escape the abuse his parents inflicted upon him and his siblings.
According to testimony, the children were beaten, forced to wear shock collars and had to stand naked on cinder blocks for hours or even days at a time.
"They were not allowed to use the toilets but instead Lowe's buckets that were emptied once a week and they were never enrolled in school nor homeschooled," prosecutors wrote. "Evidence showed that the children flourished once they were away from their parents, although they were developmentally and educationally years behind their respective ages."
Carina McCue testified that her husband admitted to her that he had been sexually assaulting their oldest daughter, then 17, for years.
Jurors handed down a guilty verdict after about four hours of deliberation.
"The treatment of these children was horrible," District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said in a statement. "This child's death was unconscionable and preventable, and she and her siblings deserved better than they received from their parents."
Zowey's obituary shows she died just three days after celebrating her 10th birthday.
"Zowey enjoyed playing with Legos, playing house, board games, coloring, drawing, throwing the frisbee, playing outside, riding her bike, swimming and jumping on the trampoline. Zowey was a loving little girl, who loved to help with anything she could," the obituary reads. "At a young age she was so involved with learning as much as she could. She was a princess and to her family she was their little 'lady bug.' Her infectious smile was known and her heart was so giving to many."