Jackson Jambalaya

That much money if obtained under false pretenses, or extorted, should lead to some jail time.

Someone's fixing to become infamous on the internet.

I was afraid of this. I thought something was fishy as soon as I saw the pictures of the little girl. Even with her scars and eyepatch, she's cute as a button. So cute, in fact, that I had a hard time believing anyone would be disturbed to the point they would complain to management.

It's sad that people would pull something like this.

I knew it!!!

they didn't need to stoop to this, Obamacare will pay all her bills.

Does Batson even bill kids? St. Jude's does not, but they do require parents to seek donations directly to St. Jude.

I've been waiting for this to come to light.

Like KFC, I've quietly nodded my head sympathetically whenever someone with a kneejerk reaction to the story railed on about how KFC should be boycotted, sued, the store manager fired, blah, blah, blah. Deep down this story has always smelled fishy to me. I know some people can be cruel, but this story never rang true; generally most people when faced with someone with a disfigurement will either politely ignore that person or offer massive sympathy and assistance. With all of the surveillance cameras in these places, KFC would have had enough proof in 2 days to publicly toss the manager out on their behind; the fact that they didn't told me that they were playing the positive PR game until they had enough evidence to expose these 2 scumbags and determine their legal recourse.

A woman recounts her experience at KFC while with her grandchild via social media.

In a knee jerk reaction, KFC responded to this public relations nightmare with a nice little donation.

Doctors and sovereign citizens took notice of the child's medical needs because of the extreme publicity otherwise known as ' going viral'.

Fact. The child needs medical attention

My opinion: until KFC goes ' on the record' with their findings, this is considered hearsay.
The recollection of events at KFC as reported by the grandmother is also hearsay.

Nothing can be proved or disproved if we DO NOT have any concrete evidence. If KFC did decide to publish their findings or lack thereof, it would be an even worse public relations nightmare up graded to a night terror. Screams of ' the child is innocent, so leave her caretaker/guardian alone so that the child may receive proper medical attention' would ring throughout Facebook, Twitter, etc...

The outrage would also be highly supported by the general consensus that corporations are just heartless if KFC decided to pursue this matter further.

Only in America.....

Someone correct me if I'm wrong....

and you of all people somehow thought Sam Hall was a semi-straight shooter.

And this is why people won't donate to individuals anymore. They're sick of being duped.

The kind thing for KFC to do is present their findings to the family and give them the opportunity to come clean before turning the information over to law enforcement for possible criminal fraud charges.

If the family is smart, they will call the media and admit they made up the whole story "out of desperation", apologize to KFC and the public and ask for forgiveness. But this family doesn't seem to make many smart choices, so I won't hold my breath.

If she has a feeding tube, I doubt she could eat mashed potatoes and drink sweet tea. It just didn't add up.

And to think KF actually refused my comment of a possible hoax, early in grandmaw's get rich quick scheme. LOL About Granny, grandpa and her facebook posting relative. May they rot in pitbull dog crap. Hope DHS gets smart and takes that baby out of that rat infested flea trap. The poor thing will never amount to anything but growing up as trailer trash if they don't. Granny and Grandpaw are perfect examples. Hope their SNAP benefits get cancelled. They got income now!!!

So, this little girl really is mauled however? If she is then we still need to come together and think of her. Don't give to the family but a maybe a trust fund at a hospital to assist with the bills. That's what should have been done from the beginning. I feed the hungry but do not hand them money. Let's put our hearts in the right place. Another concern is if this family is on Medicaid?

KFC has an opportunity to score a major PR coup. After this goes across the wire, KFC should say, "while we realize that this was a hoax and we are greatly offended by the actions of the family, the child is not to blame and is still in need of medical assistance. We at KFC stand by our offer and will provide $30,000 in assistance through a financial mediary." They would have people cheering them from the rooftops.

Ah. What are the odds No one ordered a tea and mash potatoes together on that day? Highly unlikely. So the Laurel Leader Call story has a few holes in it too.
Any BTW. The state give 53 million to KIOR and no one raises a fuss which they most certainly will lose. A disfigured little girl get $130,000 and it's the worse scam of the century. Really.

KF - story attributed to the Laural paper in the very first line? What are you talking about?

This site has been raising hell about Kior. So has Bigger Pie. Nice try.

Can we, as a country, agree to stop being outraged by unverified tales of woe from the internet? This story had so many inconsistencies.

I'd like to know why the child's caretakers had an aggressive breed of dog not properly restrained or why the child was left along around those dogs. Maybe DHS should ask why as well.

Jim Pagan, Jr:
I've been going to KFC my whole life and have NEVER seen anyone order one side dish and a drink. You go to KFC for chicken, not reconstituted (my culinary guess) mashed potatoes and a drink. Plenty of spuds and sweet tea are sold in combos, but never as a stand alone meal. It just doesn't happen.

That being said, as I didn't finish my post before hitting send, I could see someone with dental, jaw or face surgery going in there and ordering spuds. It could happen, especially if you're located close to a hospital. It wouldn't be hard to spot going through the order log. If it's not there, then Granny is lying or just can't "remember " what was ordered.

I'm more concerned about the child. She obviously has terrible injuries from a terrible trauma and needs help.
Now we know she also has a family who would exploit her. And, we know they didn't supervise her or the dogs that are well known to be unpredictable or both.
KFC and the family can take care of themselves. I never worried about them.
I'm still worried about the child and all that energy and concern is still needed where it should always have been focused...on her.

If only the Leader-Call would run a big headline "Haley Barbour's Kior. BOONDOGGLE".

Sounds like granny needs to find her a good lawyer.

Three year olds don't place orders at Kentucky Fried Chicken. If the order was placed, Granny ordered it knowing it was the child's favorite.

I disagree that something smells fishy at KFC. KFC doesn't sell fish products.

And just because some obscure rag in Laurel thinks this story is bogus is no final conclusion.

There is another possibility. If they indeed went to a Kentucky Fried Chicken. Did they have a buffet? The one on State street did. Wouldn't show up on a receipt.

@KF -per the article, KFC reviewed the footages from the Meadowbrook and Woodrow Wilson facilities on the day in question. The say the footage did not show her in either store.

So, if it is true: The day is wrong, or they were in another chain: not a KFC.

My guess is that no matter what the outcome of the investigation KFC will honor its pledge because even if granny is exposed as a filthy liar, the optics of rescinding the donation will look bad. This little girl is the true victim here.

KFC has donated millions to Batson and to others as well. They even came out and said that they turned up nothing so they hired a 3rd party to look over everything. They did/continue to do a good job investigating. They have already donated the funds they promised to this family. They will not ask for it to be returned.

If this does turn out to be a hoax, the mother or grandmother, whoever started this, needs to publically apologize to KFC.

Unfortunately 9:16am, I think you will be correct...

So they get the $30000 for medical expenses, grandma faces charges but probably no prison time. But have to pay restitution, so financially the family will be worse off than before.

I wonder if this family voted for Obama and was a fan of universal health care BEFORE the dog attack.

It will all come out in the wash.

Kentucky Fried Chicken should probably provide the funds in trust, escrow, whatever to Blair Batson for her medical use.

Lets be real honest. 10 pit bulls? In the country? I'm going to profile and say I would not be surprised if there is some dog-fighting somewhere in this wood-pile. If so, that should tell you everything you need to know. Ten pit bulls. Three breaking out and busting through the door?

As for the possibility of a hoax? I started wondering when I inquired as to a bank account for donations and was told there was no separate one. Hmmm..... ok, these are obviously not sophisticated people but my alarm bells warmed up a little.

I'd say the fact Kentucky Fried Chicken has not yet fired anyone speaks volumes. We've all seen corporate reactions to similar incidents. The employee is terminated immediately. The fact it did not happen here says the company did not find sufficient evidence to do so.

If this is indeed a hoax, then it will come out soon enough. If it is a hoax, then the state should step in and determine what is best for that child. Cute little girl and I'm sure there are a few families around here who would be more than happy to raise her.

If no hoax, then the family should set up something for the child that they can not use or exploit.

I have not made a comment on this yet since the investigation is not complete. I have no idea where the Laurel Leader-Call got their confidential information but based on some of their past misreporting, I would take their article with a grain of salt and wait until the facts one way or another are confirmed.

ASof today at 1 p.m. KFC has issues a statement saying NOTHING was found to be true in regards to what the grandmother stated. They also stated they woul dstill honor the 30k toward her doctor's bills or etc. They raised 135k over this! Sad state! They also provided a few things 1st off there IS NO KFC on State St, accorinding to thier fb posts they weren't in Jackson on that date, they rolled the video THEY WERE not in KFC on those dates, no record of that purchase ONLY on those dates and a few other things they want to discuss with the family 1st! Only proof the family has is to say it happened! describe the person, tell thier name, at least get the doggone location right that did this to you! It was fishy from the door and we as a society need to STOP having kneejerk reactions to everything we see in the news! I read a story today about a teenage white girl that was babysitting and her and her bf staged a robbery. She blamed it on the black neighbor! They went snipers ready to arrest him! The 4 yr old when asked what happened said OH NO they were wrong color they were like me white! We need to STOP! We have a responsibilty to at least listen to BOTH sides before reacting! Plus this mess was fishy and dumb from the jump!

Interesting development. Gofundme.com has started to issue refunds upon request. The total is going in reverse now.

This little girl needs to be rescued, not only from the vicious dogs in her environment, but from the evil dogs that are using her while raising her.
Grandpa may have killed off some of his stock, but when things settle down you can bet they will be replaced. His lifestyle is rather obvious and is probably well-known in the pit bull circles. When this story first surfaced and revealed that he had 10 pit bulls I shook my head- oh, yeah, very telling.
If the child remains with those people she doesn't stand a chance of living a decent and safe life as all children should.
Being poor has nothing to do with it. There are more than many folks who are poor but are good and decent folks.
It is the character of the child's caregivers that matter.

9:16 a.m.: "....the optics of rescinding...."? Do you play a consultant on television.

The gofundme account and Facebook page have both disappeared now. How about another statement from the lawyer about that? The whole world wants to know where that money is going now.