A Lowndes County, Ga., sheriff's deputy who worked off-duty at the bar told police Richard had been warned repeatedly to avoid using "undue force" on bar patrons.

FINAL DAYS

"Our whole family is struggling with how this could happen," said Parrish, Jessica's aunt.

"We keep asking ourselves, 'why didn't we go jump on (the investigator's) desk, why didn't we storm the DCF office?' Apparently, a call is not enough."

In a 15-page letter to police, a Shands Hospital social worker recounted in detail the last two days of Jessica's life. Jessica was in a deep coma, and doctors waited for permission to harvest her organs before disconnecting life-support.

In the final hours, Parrish, Clark and other relatives changed Jessica from a hospital gown to a floral sun dress so her father's parents could say goodbye. "The family members present made several angry comments about Mr. Nixon while we were dressing her as they found each bruise and abrasion on her body," social worker Patricia Goodrich wrote.

Later, Bernard Miller, the girl's father, asked that Richard Nixon leave the room when Jessica was removed from the tubes that - barely - sustained her, "out of respect," Goodrich wrote.

"I watched two people who appeared to have difficulty showing sustained interest in the dying of their child during two intensely emotional and eventful days," Goodrich wrote. "Mr. and Mrs. Nixon were disturbing people to work with."

During the next few weeks, Richard and Sarah Nixon each applied for - and received - $3,985 of taxpayer money as victims of crime. An official with the Florida Attorney General's Office said she will ask prosecutors to have a Columbia County judge to order the money returned.