CO - Chandler Grafner, 7, starved to death, Denver, 6 May 2007

  • #41
Chandler's parents just entered a plea of "not guilty."

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=80375

A couple charged with murder and child abuse in the death of a 7-year-old entered a not guilty plea Monday.

According to the Denver District Attorney's Office, Chandler Grafner's guardian Jon Phillips and his common law wife Sarah Berry are scheduled to go to trial on March 31. The trial is expected to last three weeks.

According to a state report, Grafner died of cardiac arrest and weighed roughly 34 pounds.

Court documents say he was kept in a closet for days without food, water or access to a bathroom.

Attorneys for the couple have said Grafner had pre-existing medical conditions that could have caused his death.

Pre-existing medical conditions that would cause him to weigh 34 pounds and be covered with cuts and bruises? My butt!

Thanks for this update, hipmamajen! I know all kids are built differently and there is a wide range in height and weight and body type, BUT my 7-year-old boy weighs 81 pounds, so I can't even imagine one who weighs 34 pounds. Breaks my heart.
 
  • #42
When i was 8 years old, i weighed 38lbs, i have a small stature though..
 
  • #43
Wow you guys have big 2 year olds! My 3 year old is 32 lbs. She is tall and lean. She is so active it is hard to keep much fat on her but I am pretty sure she is still within her normal weight. Her 3rd year check-up is actually today :crazy:

Very sad regarding this boy. He was slowly starved to death.
 
  • #44
  • #45
  • #46
RIP Chandler..May you be high with the angels and in the loving arms of the Lord..You are truely missed ecspecially by those who never had the chance to meet you!
 
  • #47
  • #48
My 7 year old weighs 50 pounds and looks like she is starved, although she eats constantly
 
  • #49
Chandler's internal organs were dehydrated according to the coroner who testified. Can you even conceive of that? His pancreas and insulin levels were normal at the time of autopsy, so the argument by the defense was specious at best.

This little boys' mother failed them with neglect and abuse so the two little boys were sent to the younger boy's bio dad. Neither adult in the home had any biological ties to Chandler. I don't know if it made it easier to lock him in a drawer (although it was called a linen closet) and deny him food and water. I love, in a way, that this brave confiding little boy had the courage to tell his teachers and then threaten the caregivers with death if they did not get him water...ultimately his courage caused his death at their hands...he had bedsores from his confinement and proximity to his own feces...

I applaud the female for pleading guilty-it was the right thing to do. I do not know what I wish for the male....this is heartwrenching.
 
  • #50
Most of this information is in the above posts. Just making it easier to see overall.

Sarah Berry

Guilty Plea
Location: La Vista Correctional Facility
Sentence Date: 09/29/2008

Offense: 2nd Degree Murder
Sentence: 48 years

05/01/2042 - 1st Parole Hearing
08/17/2042 - Parole Eligibility Date
08/17/2054 - Mandatory Release Date

Jon Phillips

Jury Trial - Guilty
Location: Freemont Correctional Center
Sentence Date: 08/12/2008

Offense: 1st Degree Murder
Sentence: LWOP

Offense: Child Abuse Resulting in Death
Sentence: 48 years

Offense: Tampering with Evidence
Sentence: 1 year

All sentences are consecutive.

Projected Release Date: None
 

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