I've been searching desperately for the true story that inspired the movie "A Promise to Carolyn"(starring Delta Burke). I tried to search by using the character's names. This attempt was unsuccessful. I'm waiting to hear from the producer, and from the screenwriter.

This movie was about a sadistic stepmother who abused her husband's children to the point of death. She killed the baby girl, Carolyn. She killed this two-year old by lifting her up by her thighs above her head, slamming her to the floor, causing her to slide across the floor and hitting her head on the base of a wooden rocking chair. This occurred in 1955, but the stepmother went to trial in 1990, where she was convicted according to the laws of 1955 thereby receiving a suspended sentence. At that time, child abuse was not even a term. The term Battered Child Syndrome came into existence in the late 50's, as more pathologist recognized skeletal fractures present at the time of death in toddlers and slightly older children. Carolyn's body was exhumed, and by the grace of God, the nurse who attended with the physician on the night of Carolyn's emergency room visit, was still living though very old. On Carolyn's hospital record, there was a statement scribbled in the margin that said "This baby was beaten badly." The handwriting was different than that of the doctor's. It is assumed that it was the attending nurse.

http://www.geocities.com/murder_sto...to_carolyn.html

Does this help?