‘Evil’ grandmother smirks as she admits making grandson, 13, live naked in dog cage

A grandmother who prosecutors branded ‘evil’ reportedly smiled as she admitted to making her 13-year-old grandson live naked in a dog cage.

Vickie Seale Higgenbotham, 58, originally pleaded not guilty to the horrific abuse of the child, but changed her plea to guilty on Tuesday morning.

Authorities say Higgenbothem was the ringleader in the case that saw the boy’s mother, Dannielle Nicole Martin, 32, and stepfather, Joshua David Martin, 26, charged as well.

Acting on an anonymous tip, police discovered the boy sitting on a plastic bag, naked and chained at the ankles, on a stairwell at the family’s home in Autauga County, Alabama in September 2018.

Prosecutor Jillian Jordan Evans said that the boy had also been forced to sleep in a metal dog cage ‘for a period of more than two years.’ When he was allowed to sleep in a bed, he was chained to the foot of the bed and often had his hands chained behind his back.

Evans continued: ‘(Higgenbotham) is the pure form of evil. She did all these things to the child, who is her grandson. Due to the nature of the abuse, the state will be seeking the maximum punishment.

Investigator Steven Geon testified that the boy was found to be ‘extremely’ malnourished, which required ‘long-term’ treatment at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

‘When we asked them why he was chained, they told us it was for punishment, that he had kicked his brother in the side the night before,’ according to the Montgomery Advisor.

The other end of the chain was reportedly attached to a door handle. Investigators said he had been chained for more than 12 hours before he was found.

The boy had marks on his ankles and wrists that indicated he had been bound. A five-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl were also in the home and showed signs of malnourishment, but not as severely as the 13-year-old. All three children have been removed from the home.

The boy’s uncle’s Douglas Phillips, 38, and Matthew Phillips, 29, were also arrested. Authorities said the men lived in the home, where they aided and abetted the abuse by doing nothing to stop it.

When asked why she used such severe methods of punishment, Dannielle Nicole Martin said ‘Because we don’t believe in butt whoopings.’ She pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse in May.

Joshua David Martin, Douglas Phillips and Matthew Phillips are still facing one charge each of aggravated child abuse. Their trial dates have not been announced.