Silent Screams

Autumn Hallow was eight years old and lived with her father, Brett Hallow, and his wife Sarah at The Depot at Elk River Station, an apartment complex in Elk River, Minnesota. Her mother had not been allowed to see her since January 2020. The couple gave the pandemic as the reason.

Autumn’s siblings later told investigators she was kept from food, tied with a belt and a shirt, and zipped into a sleeping bag overnight when she wet herself or tried to eat. By the time she died she was severely emaciated. Police had been called to the address more than thirty times over the preceding months and years for noise, welfare checks and reports of suspected maltreatment. On June 21, 2020, officers accepted a wave from the apartment balcony instead of going in, and no one in authority saw her alive after that. On August 13, 2020, the Hallows called 911 and said she had drowned in the bathtub. Officers found her dry, with rigor mortis already set in, and blood in the bathroom.

Cameras inside the apartment had recorded months of the abuse. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by asphyxial injuries and blunt force trauma. Both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in June 2021, and on September 23, 2021, each was sentenced to forty years: 320 months in prison followed by supervised release.