Charged with first-degree murder in the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, Anthony was acquitted in July 2011 of murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter. The jury convicted her only of lying to investigators, and an appeals court later threw out two of those four convictions.
In March 2025 Anthony began posting videos on TikTok and writing on Substack, describing herself as a "legal advocate" and "researcher," Parade reported.16 In a 2022 Peacock docuseries, Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies, she gave her first on-camera interviews about the case and said, "I still don't know what happened to Caylee."15
Anthony was acquitted of every charge that she caused her daughter’s death, and that verdict is final. What follows is what investigators and prosecutors alleged, what the defense argued, what witnesses said at trial, and what the court record shows about the four statements of which she was convicted. Testimony was evidence for the jury to weigh; the jury did not find that she killed her daughter.21
Caylee Marie Anthony was born on Aug. 9, 2005, when her mother was 19.6 She was reportedly last seen alive on June 16, 2008, and her mother did not report her missing for about a month; Caylee’s grandmother reported her missing on July 15, 2008.62 Her skeletal remains were found on Dec. 11, 2008, in a wooded area near the Anthony family’s home in the Orlando area, and were identified on Dec. 19.61
On July 16, 2008, Orange County sheriff’s Detective Yuri Melich interviewed Anthony twice, first at the family home and, several hours later, at Universal Studios Orlando, according to the appeals court’s opinion.1 The State charged that she gave him four false statements: that she was employed at Universal Studios in 2008; that she had left Caylee with a babysitter at an apartment complex on June 9, 2008; that she had told two former Universal co-workers about the disappearance; and that she had received a phone call from Caylee on July 15, 2008.1 She was arrested that day on charges including child neglect and giving false statements.6 Prosecutors described the babysitter as nonexistent.3
A grand jury indicted her on Oct. 14, 2008, on first-degree murder and other charges, and she pleaded not guilty.6 She was tried on seven counts: first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and four counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer.16 On April 13, 2009, prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty, reversing an earlier decision.6 Judge Stan Strickland stepped aside from the case in April 2010 and was replaced by Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr.6
Because of the coverage in Orlando, the jury was chosen in Pinellas County, about 100 miles away, and was sequestered in an Orlando hotel during the trial.73 Jury selection began May 9, 2011, and opening statements were given May 24.6
The prosecution’s case. Prosecutors Jeff Ashton and Linda Drane Burdick argued that Anthony killed Caylee in June 2008 because the child interfered with her social life, and they pointed to her lies about the babysitter and about a boyfriend, to the chemical signature of decomposition in her car, and to a tattoo of an Italian phrase meaning “beautiful life” that she got about the time the family and police learned Caylee was missing.3 Forensic scientist Arpad Vass testified on June 6, 2011, that a decomposing body was the only plausible explanation for the odor in the car’s trunk.6 Dr. Jan Garavaglia, the chief medical examiner for Orange and Osceola counties, testified that she ruled the death a homicide by “undetermined means,” and said, “There is no child that should have duct tape on its face when it dies.”5 A University of Florida forensic anthropologist testified, using a computer animation the defense objected to, that tape was placed on the skull before the body decomposed; Judge Perry allowed the animation and denied a defense motion for a mistrial.5 The prosecution rested on June 15.6
The defense’s case. Defense lawyers argued that Caylee drowned accidentally in the family’s swimming pool and that the death was “an accident that snowballed out of control.”3 Jose Baez challenged the analysis of air from the trunk and argued that no one could prove a stain there came from decomposition.3 Under cross-examination by defense lawyer J. Cheney Mason, Garavaglia acknowledged that tests on the bones were negative for volatile chemicals.5 The defense noted that no fingerprints were found on the duct tape and that the only DNA on it excluded both Caylee and her mother, the Christian Science Monitor reported.4 Anthony did not testify, and the defense rested June 30.6 “Don’t speculate,” Baez told jurors. “Don’t guess.”4
On July 5, 2011, after about 10 hours and 40 minutes of deliberation over two days, the jury of seven women and five men acquitted Anthony of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child, and convicted her of the four counts of providing false information.62 No medical examiner had determined how Caylee died, and the evidence was circumstantial, the Associated Press reported.2 Lamar said, “We’re disappointed in the verdict today because we know the facts,” and called the case “very, very difficult to prove.”2
On July 7, Perry sentenced her to one year on each false-information count, to be served consecutively, and a $1,000 fine per count, rejecting the defense’s argument that she had told “one, continuous lie.”8 With credit for nearly three years in jail, she was released July 17, 2011.86 In September 2011 Perry ordered her to pay more than $217,000 in investigation costs.6
On Jan. 25, 2013, the Fifth District Court of Appeal held that her statements in each of the two July 16 interviews amounted to a single offense, and ordered two of the four convictions vacated on double-jeopardy grounds.113 It upheld the other two, finding that she was not in custody for Miranda purposes when she spoke to the detective, and rejected her argument that the false-information statute was unconstitutionally vague.1
On Jan. 25, 2010, while awaiting trial, Anthony pleaded guilty to 13 counts of check fraud; prosecutors said she used a former friend’s checks during the summer of 2008.9 Judge Strickland sentenced her to time served plus probation.9 Agence France-Presse reported that the checks totaled $644.25.10 After her release, Strickland amended the sentencing order to require a year of supervised probation after release, and she completed it in August 2012.1011
Anthony filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 25, 2013, listing about $800,000 in liabilities, and her debts were discharged that year.614 A woman who shared the name of the babysitter Anthony described sued her for defamation in 2008; on Sept. 18, 2015, a bankruptcy judge dismissed the claim, writing that Anthony’s “fabricated version of events did not implicate Plaintiff in the disappearance of the child.”14 A defamation suit by the county utility worker who found the remains was still pending in bankruptcy court at the time.14
In April 2012 Gov. Rick Scott signed a law, inspired by Caylee’s death, raising the maximum penalty for knowingly giving police false information about a missing child from one year in jail to five years in prison.12
Anthony was 19 when her daughter was born in 2005 and 25 at the time of her trial.62 She lived with Caylee at her parents’ home in the Orlando area.26 She told the detective that she worked at Universal Studios Orlando; the jury convicted her of giving false information to police about that.18
No diagnosis found by a court or given in testimony was found in the sources reviewed.
She was in jail for nearly three years before her trial ended, and was released on July 17, 2011.26
In a 2012 interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan, she said she did not kill Caylee.6 In 2022 she worked as a legal assistant for her former lawyer Patrick McKenna, according to Parade, and that year she gave her first on-camera interviews about the case in the Peacock docuseries Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies, in which McKenna said he believes she is innocent.1615 In March 2025 she began posting on TikTok and Substack.16
Prosecutors argued that Anthony killed her daughter in June 2008 because the child interfered with her social life, and pointed to the month she went without reporting Caylee missing, her lies about a nanny and a job, evidence of decomposition in her car, and duct tape found with the remains.32 "What do guilty people do? They lie," Linda Drane Burdick told the jury.3 After the verdict State Attorney Lawson Lamar called it a "dry-bones case" that was "very, very difficult to prove."2
Anthony did not testify.6 Her lawyers argued that Caylee drowned accidentally in the family's swimming pool and that the death was "an accident that snowballed out of control," and they challenged the forensic evidence from the car trunk.3 "Casey did not murder Caylee. It is that simple," Jose Baez said after the verdict.4 Anthony has said since that she did not kill her daughter, and in 2022 she said, "I'm a convicted liar."615
Anthony, 19, gives birth to her daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony.6
Caylee is reportedly last seen alive.6
Anthony's mother reports Caylee missing.6
In two interviews with an Orange County sheriff's detective, Anthony makes the statements that later lead to her false-information convictions; she is arrested the same day.16
A grand jury indicts her on first-degree murder and other charges; she pleads not guilty.6
A county utility worker finds skeletal remains in woods near the Anthony home; they are identified as Caylee's on Dec. 19.6
Prosecutors announce that they will seek the death penalty.6
She pleads guilty to 13 counts of check fraud involving a friend's checks; she is sentenced to time served plus probation.9
Opening statements in Orlando, before a jury chosen in Pinellas County.67
The jury acquits her of murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter and convicts her of four counts of providing false information.26
Gov. Rick Scott signs a law, inspired by Caylee's death, increasing the penalty for lying to police about a missing child.12
She completes a year of probation for the check-fraud case.11
The Fifth District Court of Appeal orders two of her four false-information convictions vacated; she files for bankruptcy the same day.16
A bankruptcy judge dismisses a defamation suit against her.14
Peacock releases a docuseries in which she gives her first on-camera interviews.15
She begins posting videos and commentary online as a self-described "legal advocate."16
The criminal case is over: the acquittals are final, two misdemeanor convictions stand, and her sentences have been served.1611 Her debts were discharged in bankruptcy in 2013.14 A defamation suit filed by the county utility worker who found the remains was still open in bankruptcy court in 2015; the sources reviewed do not report its outcome.14