Jeanie Ditty, who was accused of murdering her daughter, was recently released on bail after her first trial ended in a hung jury. Inside Edition spoke to the little girl's great aunt, Michelle Smith, and grandmother Tina Goodwin.
Haunting photos of a woman at a gravesite being comforted by the superimposed, ghost-like image of her 2-year-old daughter took on a whole new meaning when that mother, 29-year-old Jeanie Ditty, was accused of beating the little girl to death.
Ditty was charged with first-degree murder and child abuse in Macy Grace’s death, but her trial ended in a hung jury with jurors voting 10 to 2 for conviction.
Just before Thanksgiving, Ditty was released on $25,000 bail while awaiting her second trial.
Inside Edition spoke to Macy’s great aunt, Michelle Smith, and grandmother Tina Goodwin, who say they are outraged over the outcome.
"To say that we are devastated, that’s not even a big enough word,” Smith said.
“We will fight to our last breath until this baby gets the justice that she deserves,” Goodwin said.
Ditty was a soldier at Ft. Bragg and a competitive bodybuilder. When she brought her daughter to the hospital in 2015, she claimed the little girl had choked on a banana. But suspicions were immediately raised, because the toddler was covered in bruises.
“I looked at her and said, ‘What happened to this baby?’ She looked at me and told me, ‘Don't you start on me too,’” Smith said.
After two days in the hospital, Macy was taken off life support. A month later, Ditty hired photographer Sonny Jo to take the haunting photos.
“She thought that would make her look like she was a grieving mother. That she was a good mother. That Macy was her whole life,” Smith said.
Smith says she is worried Ditty is going to hurt someone after being released on bail.
This weekend marks exactly six years since Macy died.
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