July 7th, 2011
08:17 PM ET

Lightning strikes tree near Caylee Anthony memorial site

Hours after Casey Anthony learned on Thursday that she will leave jail next week, lightning apparently struck a tree next to a makeshift memorial in honor of her slain daughter,  Caylee.

No one saw lightning strike the pine tree on Suburban Drive in Orange County, Florida, where teddy bears and flowers mark the spot where 2-year-old Caylee's remains were found on December 11, 2008.

But long, diagonal strips of exposed wood scarred the tall pine tree, WESH reported, and bits of bark lay scattered across the road.

"It could be a sign from the angels that they aren't happy with what's happened," a visitor to the site told the Orlando Sentinel newspaper. "The rain, the lightning, the storm - it's the heavens indicating they aren't happy."

There are more lightning strikes in Florida per square mile than in any other state, according to weather.com.

A Pinellas County jury acquitted Anthony, 24, of murder and manslaughter charges Tuesday in the death of her daughter. The same jury convicted her of four charges of obstruction of justice for lying to police during the search for Caylee.

Judge Belvin Perry sentenced Anthony to four years in jail - one year for each of her four convictions - but with credit for nearly three years already served and good behavior, her release date was set for Wednesday, July 13, a court spokeswoman said.

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Filed under: Casey Anthony • Crime • Weather
soundoff (1,086 Responses)
  1. Offense

    I believe in God, but I would just like to see a little offense instead of strictly defense. The innocent should not be at the mercy of the wicked and our laws should not protect those who see fit to ride the line and make everyone else's lives miserable. I beg for this to happen.

    July 7, 2011 at 9:39 pm | Report abuse |
  2. TomFromNH

    Everyone has their limit, and I just hit mine. I used to respect CNN, I really did. But now, Nancy Grace has taken over the network with her self-righteous judgmental finger wagging, it's become the TV version of the national inquirer, and they're suggesting that God struck a tree with lightening because of court case.

    I'm tired of being treated like I'm an idiot. There are plenty of other places to get your news, and I'm just going to have to find one of them.

    July 7, 2011 at 9:39 pm | Report abuse |
  3. ECM

    That's natures way of saying to drop the subject. Yay God!

    July 7, 2011 at 9:40 pm | Report abuse |
  4. jony

    God is not happy with dancing devil.

    July 7, 2011 at 9:41 pm | Report abuse |
  5. deb

    Maybe the universe is really ticked off at the travesty of a trial and verdict.....it's not nice to mess with Momma Nature.

    July 7, 2011 at 9:41 pm | Report abuse |
  6. M_Edwards

    How is this news? Lightning stuck my friend's tree and crushed her fence, but you don't see CNN going on about it. I mean really, this story has the impression of showing a supernatural response to the verdict, which any self respecting news source would shrug off and move on to a story from the Middle East.

    July 7, 2011 at 9:42 pm | Report abuse |
    • AdmrlAckbar

      It's news because anything that sparks the whole idea of God topic brings out loudmouthed loonies from both sides of the polarized belief spectrum!

      July 7, 2011 at 9:50 pm | Report abuse |
    • Joe

      Thank you for injecting some common sense into the discussion.

      July 7, 2011 at 9:52 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Marge

    Hmmmm God also is not happy with the verdict.

    July 7, 2011 at 9:44 pm | Report abuse |
  8. jchild

    All of you pawns and the press are working on making Anthony rich from your incompetence on the murder of her daughter

    July 7, 2011 at 9:45 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Kianna

    Lightning should strike CA when she walks out the door of the jail on Thursday of next week.

    July 7, 2011 at 9:46 pm | Report abuse |
  10. RB

    I'm always impressed when I hear the amazingly intelligent comments of those who do not believe in the supernatural. It actually takes more faith to be an atheist than a believer. We live in a world of free-will. That's why bad things happen here. If it wasn't so, God's followers would be robots and what would our commitment be worth? True Christians help others and DON'T judge. If you want to experience real love, find a true Christian, not a Pharisee.

    July 7, 2011 at 9:46 pm | Report abuse |
  11. CriticalThinkingPowersActivate

    Oh My God, Becky..Look at that tree...it is so brown...and that lighting bolt hit it real hard!!

    July 7, 2011 at 9:47 pm | Report abuse |
  12. I_see_the_sign

    A bird shat on the courthouse steps the moment the verdict came in. Praise the Lord!

    July 7, 2011 at 9:47 pm | Report abuse |
    • CriticalThinkingPowersActivate

      LOL

      July 8, 2011 at 1:10 pm | Report abuse |
  13. D-Nice

    Really CNN, you are cherry picking blog posts off an Orlando news papr and posting them as news. I guess someone didn't feel like working today. What a freakin joke you people are.

    July 7, 2011 at 9:48 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Nicole

    And next on CNN... the grilled cheese sandwich Casey Anthony ate for lunch today had what appeared to be a frowny Jesus face.

    July 7, 2011 at 9:48 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Rakus

    Oh well... if angels were smarter they would have done it sooner so that the prosecution could use that as evidence. What a piece of crap news. How can CNN report something like this is beyond my understanding.

    July 7, 2011 at 9:48 pm | Report abuse |
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