Sylvia Marie Likens, born on January 3, 1949, tragically died at the age of 16 in October 1965, after enduring abduction, rape, torture and murder by Gertrude Baniszewski, Getrude’s children and others.
Her harrowing ordeal involved neglect, starvation, dehydration, physical and sexual assault and ultimately led to her death in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Sylvia’s case sparked significant changes in Indiana’s laws regarding child abuse reporting and raised awareness about the horrors of such crimes.
Siblings
Sylvia had four siblings, Daniel and Dianna who are twins two years older than Sylvia and Benny and Jenny, twins, one year younger than Sylvia.
Jenny suffered from polio, causing one of her legs to be weaker than the other.
She was afflicted with a notable limp and had to wear a steel brace on one leg.
Sylvia was very fond and protective of her more timid and insecure sister Jenny.
The two sisters would visit local ice skating rinks, where Sylvia would help Jenny skate by holding her hand, while Jenny skated on her unaffected foot.
Murder
In July 1965, Sylvia’s parents, Lester and Betty Likens, hired Gertrude Baniszewski to care for their daughters Sylvia and Jenny while they traveled with their carnival work.
Gertrude agreed to watch the girls for $20 per week.
Over the next few months, Gertrude and her children began physically and emotionally abusing Sylvia.
They starved her, burned her with cigarettes, beat her.and carved words like “prostitute” and “I am a prostitute and proud of it” into her flesh.
Gertrude’s own children participated in the torture, as did neighborhood kids who were invited over to abuse Sylvia.
Sylvia was kept locked in the basement, attic, or her room for days at a time without food or water.
She was forced to eat her own feces and drink her own urine.
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Gertrude told Sylvia that if she told anyone about the abuse, she would be killed.
On October 26, 1965, after months of horrific torture, Sylvia died from a brain hemorrhage, shock and malnutrition. The autopsy found over 150 wounds on her body.
Gertrude, her children, and several neighborhood kids were arrested and charged with Sylvia’s murder.
The case shocked Indiana and led to changes in child abuse reporting laws.
It also raised awareness about the need for better protection of children from abuse and neglect.
Sylvia’s tragic death at just 16 years old was the result of unimaginable cruelty and a failure of the system to protect a vulnerable child.
Her story continues to haunt and impact all who learn of it.
Gertrude Baniszewski trial
In Gertrude’s trial, which took place in May 1966, she denied knowledge of the torture, claiming the children must have been responsible.
She entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.
The jury found her guilty of first-degree murder, while her daughter Paula Baniszewski was found guilty of second-degree murder.
Additionally, Richard Hobbs, Baniszewski’s son John, and another neighborhood boy, Coy Hubbard, were convicted of manslaughter.
Gertrude and Paula Baniszewski received life terms at the Indiana Women’s Prison, while the boys were sentenced to two-to-21-year terms at the Indiana State Reformatory.
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