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Neighbour says Billy Bob Thornton's daughter was 'normal'

Updated: 2011-06-03 09:36

(Agencies)

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Neighbour says Billy Bob Thornton's daughter was 'normal'

A neighbour of Billy Bob Thornton's daughter, who has been found guilty of manslaughter, has described her as a "quiet and normal person".

Amanda Brumfield, who is estranged from the actor, was convicted of the aggravated manslaughter of her best friend's 12-month-old daughter, in Orlando last Friday (27.05.11) but Charles Moorefield - who lived near Amanda - revealed he was shocked by the ruling.

He told media: "She seemed like a quiet and normal person. Both she and her husband Stuart were nice people and they were not troublesome neighbors or anything like that.

"I spoke to her a few times and she seemed like a quiet and normal person - I used to see her playing with two young boys in their yard but I'm not sure if they were her sons or not.

"I believe her husband still lives in the house but nobody has seen her for quite a while - I did not know Billy Bob Thornton was her father."

The child, Olivia Madison Garcia, had died during a sleepover in 2008, but Brumfield denied charges of manslaughter, claiming the girl had fallen and hit her head while trying to climb out of a playpen and her death was an accident.

Her defence suggested the fall might have aggravated a previous injury.

While she was acquitted of first-degree murder and aggravated child-abuse charges, the prosecution said it was "impossible" for a fall like the child suffered to cause a three-and-a-half inch fracture on the back of the girl's skull and the bleeding and swelling found in her brain.

Brumfield, 32 - who will be sentenced in July - is the actor's eldest daughter, from his first marriage, to Melissa Parish. He has not thought to have been in contact with her for some time.

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