Katrina Fortne of Beverly Hills sentenced to serve 25 years for child abuse
Citrus County Sheriff's Office
Citrus County, Florida - At a pretrial hearing on Friday, April 11, 2025, 32 year-old Karina Fortune of Beverly Hills, Florida pled guilty to a charge of aggravated child abuse and was sentenced to serve 25 years in the Florida Department of Corrections, following her arrest, earlier this month.
On March 22, 2025, Citrus County Sheriff's Office detectives received a report that a 13 month-old child was either missing or had been abducted. When they spoke with the child's grandmother, she informed them, that earlier in the week, she'd left the infant in the care of a friend, who was later identified as Katrine Fortune. When the child was returned to the grandmother, she noticed that the infant's face and body was covered with makeup, which initially led the grandmother to believe that the child was not her grandchild. However, she later realized that the child was indeed her grandchild, and the makeup had been applied in an attempt to conceal severe physical injuries.
A medical examination revealed that the infant had suffered horrific abuse, which included extensive bruising, burn marks, a fractured arm and collarbone, and severe dehydration.
Ms. Fortune provided detectives with numerous unreasonable explanations regarding the infant's physical condition and also lied about the timeline during which she had custody of the child. Fortune eventually confessed to Special Victims Detective Levi Garrison that she'd stepped on the child's body, fed the child scalding-hot formula, and concealed the injuries the child had suffered, fearful they would be discovered.
"This is a very disturbing and tragic case of child abuse, and it's great to hear that the victim is now in a safe, loving environment and recovering," said Detective Garrison. "The timeline provided outlines a series of events that show the escalation of the abuse and the defendant's attempts to evade responsibility. Special thanks to the Department of Children and Families, the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office, ASA Yeager, Jessie's Place, responding deputies, and medical professionals for providing much-needed care for the victim."