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 Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.

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PostSubject: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeThu Oct 01, 2009 5:04 pm

Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. - 6 - Georgia

Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. 29vju40

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- Glynn County police, the Georgia State Patrol, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and other agencies have joined the search for a 6-year-old boy who did not return home Thursday night.
According to police, Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. was last seen walking in the Canal Mobile Home Park on Horseshoe Lane around 6:15 p.m. When he was not home just after 8 p.m., police were called.
He was last seen wearing a blue or green long-sleeve shirt with a white T-shirt underneath and long black pants. He was wearing white tennis shoes with a blue stripe on the side with a Velcro closure on top.
He is a Hispanic and black male with short black hair and brown eyes. He is between 3 feet 6 inches and 4 feet tall and weighs between 60 and 70 pounds.

"We did a search all night long," Glynn County Police Chief Matthew Doering said. "At daylight this morning we started another search of the area ... but this morning we included two helicopters."

K-9 units and mounted patrols are also on the scene assisting with the search.

Doering has requested that the state issue a Levi's Call -- which is Georgia's equivalent of an Amber Alert -- but there's no confirmation it has been issued.

The Glynn County Police Department asks anyone that has seen Christopher or can provide further information to call 912-554-7803 or Silent Witness at 912-264-1333.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/11212402/detail.html


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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeThu Oct 01, 2009 5:04 pm

Levi's Call Issued for Missing Boy & Reward Increased to $40000

Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. 20qgksj


BRUNSWICK, GA (AP) -- The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has issued a Levi's Call for a six-year-old boy who disappeared from the Glynn County trailer park where he lives.

Authorities have searched nonstop since Christopher Michael Barrios Junior was reported missing Thursday about two hours after he was last seen near his home in the Canal Mobile Park Home in the coastal county. Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said he believes the boy was abducted, but so far no clues about what
happened have emerged.

G-B-I spokesman John Bankhead said Levi's Calls are mostly used for confirmed abductions but "given the scenario, we felt it was best to go ahead and issue one."

Authorities expanded the investigation over the weekend to include checking Dumpsters, motels, dirt roads, wells and any other site where the boy could be found. Doering said officers have
spoken with family members and friends, but the interviews have turned up little helpful information.
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeThu Oct 01, 2009 5:05 pm

Two Arrested In Disappearance Of Missing Boy

March 13, 2007

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- A tip from a convicted child molester led police Tuesday to search a wooded field and canal near the home of a missing 6-year-old boy, but a search party of more than 200 officers and volunteers failed to find the child six days after he vanished.

Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said the man, a registered sex offender, told police he had a role in abducting Christopher Michael Barrios. The man was arrested Friday on charges of violating his probation, which prohibits him from having contact with children under 18.

Doering said police consider the man a suspect in Christopher's disappearance, but declined to name him.

Police searched the suspect's mobile home Monday night after the man's mother told investigators the boy may still be alive, Doering said. Police found a piece of evidence related to Christopher's disappearance at the trailer, but Doering would not say what it was.

He said both the suspect and his mother both have changed their stories a number of times when talking to police.

"He's made four, five or six different statements, all conflicting," Doering said. "If we didn't think there was some credence to it all, we wouldn't be here. How much? I don't know."

Neighbors last reported seeing Christopher on Thursday evening walking the road not far from the homes of his father and grandmother, who live in a mobile home park about a half-mile from Interstate 95 just outside the port city of Brunswick on the Georgia coast.

Police found one of the boy's toys, a Star Wars lightsaber, outside near where was last spotted.

Dozens of volunteers have spent days helping search for the boy along the roadsides and in the woods surrounding the mobile home park.

On Monday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued a Levi's Call, the state's equivalent of an Amber Alert, for Christopher. Typically, that's only done in a known child abduction case.

"The only thing that makes any sense is he was abducted," Doering said.

www.wsbtv.com/news/11242981/detail.html
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeThu Oct 01, 2009 5:05 pm

Judge orders psychological evaluation of David Edenfield
Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Iy0qzd
Christopher Michael Barrios Jr.
David Edenfield's attorneys raise the issue as the trial is about to start.
* By Teresa Stepzinski
* Story updated at 10:40 AM on Tuesday, Sep. 15, 2009
BRUNSWICK - David Edenfield will be evaluated by a state psychologist to determine whether he was mentally competent, retarded or mentally ill when 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. was abducted, sexually abused and slain two years ago.
Edenfield, 59, faces the death penalty if convicted of murdering the Glynn County boy. Jurors will be selected beginning Monday in Jeff Davis County then brought to Brunswick for the trial, which could begin as early as Sept. 28.
There is no indication that the evaluation will delay the trial, court authorities said Monday.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett has granted District Attorney Stephen Kelley's request for a state expert to examine Edenfield in response to his attorneys' notification Sept. 3 that his "psychological condition may become an issue."
Scarlett ordered Edenfield to cooperate with the state expert during the evaluation, a ruling filed Friday showed.
If Edenfield does not cooperate, or if his attorneys fail to give the state copies of all documents provided to the defense psychologist, they will not be allowed to use any of it during Edenfield's trial, Scarlett said in his ruling.
In a written motion Thursday seeking the evaluation, Kelley said the notice "is so general that it fails to specify the exact mental issue or issues that the state should be prepared to address,'' or whether Edenfield's mental competency will be used as evidence during his trial or sentencing.
In Georgia, both the state and defense are allowed to have independent mental health experts examine a person on trial if his or her competency is questioned.
Edenfield's attorneys, James Yancey Jr. and John Beall IV, have told prosecutors verbally "that mental retardation is not an issue in this case," Kelley said in the motion.
Kelley said Edenfield can be evaluated by mental health professionals at Georgia Regional Hospital facilities in Savannah or Milledgeville "without delay and would not impose any additional cost" to the state, Glynn County or Georgia Public Defender Standards Council.
The Barrios boy's body was discovered inside a black plastic trash bag hidden in woods about 2 miles from the Canal Mobile Home Park in Brunswick, where he had lived with his extended family.
Edenfield, his wife, Peggy, 58, and their 33-year-old son, George, were neighbors of the Barrios family. All three remain jailed without bail on charges of malice murder, kidnapping and child molestation.
Kelley is seeking the death penalty against the father and son. Peggy Edenfield has agreed to testify against her husband and son in exchange for prosecutors not asking that she get the death penalty.


Trial to start in killing of 6-year-old Christopher Barrios

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Teresa Stepzinski
* Story updated at 5:59 PM on Sunday, Sep. 20, 2009


BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Jury selection begins Monday in Hazlehurst for the death-penalty murder trial of David Edenfield, who is one of three family members charged with the sexual abuse slaying of 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr.

Jurors will be selected in Jeff Davis County then taken to Brunswick for the trial, which could begin as early as Sept. 28.

Christopher was killed March 8, 2007. His body was discovered a week later inside a black plastic trash bag hidden in woods about 2 miles from the Canal Mobile Home Park in Brunswick, where he had lived with his extended family.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett has ruled that prosecutors can use Edenfield’s statements to Glynn County police detectives as evidence.

The 59-year-old Edenfield blamed his son for killing Christopher, but initially admitted only to participating in the disposal of his body. He later confessed to greater involvement in the slaying, which resulted in police charging him with murder, retired detective Ray Sarro testified last month during a pretrial hearing.

Edenfield’s attorneys, James Yancey Jr. and John Beall IV, contend he can’t receive a fair trial anywhere in Coastal Georgia because of extensive news media coverage of the case and public hostility.

That question should be answered when the 175 potential jurors summoned are questioned during the selection process.

Edenfield, his wife, Peggy, 58, and their 33-year-old son, George, were neighbors of the Barrios family. All three remain jailed without bail on charges of malice murder, kidnapping and child molestation.

District Attorney Stephen Kelley is seeking the death penalty against the father and son. Peggy Edenfield has agreed to testify against her husband and son in exchange for prosecutors not asking that she get the death penalty.
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeThu Oct 01, 2009 5:06 pm

Edenfield trial begins in Christopher Barrios Jr. murder case

Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. 10pante

Edenfield

He's accused of murdering Brunswick boy

* By Teresa Stepzinski
* Story updated at 10:39 AM on Monday, Sep. 21, 2009

BRUNSWICK- Jury selection begins today in Hazlehurst for the death-penalty murder trial of David Edenfield, who is one of three family members charged with the sexual abuse slaying of 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr.

Jurors will be selected in Jeff Davis County, then brought to Brunswick for the trial, which could begin as early as Monday, Sept. 28.

Christopher was killed March 8, 2007. His body was discovered a week later inside a black plastic trash bag hidden in woods about 2 miles from the Canal Mobile Home Park in Brunswick, where he had lived with his extended family.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett has ruled that prosecutors can use Edenfield's statements to Glynn County police detectives as evidence.

The 59-year-old Edenfield blamed his son for killing Christopher, but initially admitted only to participating in the disposal of his body. He later confessed to greater involvement in the slaying, which resulted in police charging him with murder, retired detective Ray Sarro testified last month during a pretrial hearing.

Edenfield's attorneys, James Yancey Jr. and John Beall IV, contend he can't receive a fair trial anywhere in Coastal Georgia because of extensive news media coverage of the case and public hostility.

That question should be answered when the 175 potential jurors summoned are questioned during the selection process.

Edenfield, his wife, Peggy, 58, and their 33-year-old son, George, were neighbors of the Barrios family. All three remain jailed without bail on charges of malice murder, kidnapping and child molestation.

District Attorney Stephen Kelley is seeking the death penalty against the father and son. Peggy Edenfield has agreed to testify against her husband and son in exchange for prosecutors not asking that she get the death penalty.
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeThu Oct 01, 2009 5:06 pm

First day of Barrios Trial Wraps Up
Ann Butler Created: 9/30/2009
Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. 169hxtj
BRUNSWICK, GA -- The jury in the trial of David Edenfield wrapped up its first day of testimony today with a description of the 61-year-old defendant's interrogation following the disappearance of 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr.

Former Glynn County Investigator R.J. Sorrow testified that Edenfield admitted seeing his son George sexually molest Christopher. Sorrow said Edenfield also told him he helped his son choke Christopher.

"I asked him if the devil had told him to do anything, or hurt the missing child, Christopher, and he told me 'yes,' that the devil told him to kill him," Sorrow testified.

The Barrios' neighbors David Edenfield, 61, his wife, Peggy, and their son George are charged in the 2007 death of the first-grader; they are being tried separately. Christopher Barrios had been playing in the yard of the mobile home park where he lived. That evening, his grandmother Sue Rodriguez was unable to find him.

Michael Barrios, Christopher's father, was the first to testify today. He said he saw the Star Wars toy his son had been playing with abandoned in the Edenfields' yard next door to the Barrios' mobile home. That tipped off police to question the family.

It took about an hour for both sides to complete their statements earlier this morning. Special Assistant District Attorney John Johnson described for the jury the events leading up to Christopher's death in the Edenfields' mobile home.


"Christopher Barrios did not want to be there. He told them to let him go. He said 'I want to leave. Let me go. Don't do this. I'm going to tell my parents,'" Johnson said.

Defense attorney James Yancey, Jr. countered that the case is about the facts. Yancey did not talk about the evidence specifically, but said the prosecution cannot connect Edenfield to the murder.

"The most important part of this case is that the case will remove the death penalty against Peggy Edenfield and will also remove life without parole as a possibility of sentencing against Peggy Edenfield," Yancey said, referring to a deal she made with prosecutors in exchange for testifying against her husband.

Neighbors and officers who searched for Christopher also testified along with Michael Barrios' girlfriend, Paula Anderson. She told the jury that Christopher went to his grandmother's home next door and that he had the Star Wars toy with him.

The trial, attended by a small crowd today, is expected to last three to five days at the Glynn County courthouse. The defense and prosecution are expected to call several dozen witnesses.

The jury was seated in Jeff Davis County, about 90 miles from Brunswick, where they will be sequestered during the trial.

Peggy Edenfield, 58, will be tried last per a deal with the prosecution to testify against her husband. George Edenfield's trial is pending a determination of his mental fitness for trial.


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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeThu Oct 01, 2009 5:06 pm

Ga. prosecutor: Boy, 6, begged his killers to stop
By RUSS BYNUM -

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- Jurors in a Georgia courtroom Wednesday heard a horrific videotaped confession from a man who admitted he and his adult son stripped, sexually assaulted and strangled a 6-year-old boy inside a mobile home as the child pleaded with them to stop.

"He said 'I'm going to tell my daddy and my grandma,' and George choked him," 61-year-old David Edenfield said in the videotape, referring to his son, 34-year-old George Edenfield. David Edenfield later admitted helping strangle the boy.

The jailhouse interview filmed by police was shown during the first day of testimony in the trial of the elder Edenfield, who faces the death penalty if convicted of the March 2007 slaying of Christopher Michael Barrios. The boy was missing for a week before police found his naked body dumped off a road and wrapped in trash bags.

Judge Stephen G. Scarlett looks at a photo of Christopher Barrios, 6, during the trial of David Edenfield at the Glynn County Courthouse Wednesday, September 30, 2009 in Brunswick, Georgia. Edenfield is on trial for the murder of Christopher Barrios, 6, in March 2007.

David Edenfield, 61, sits in Courtroom 1 of the Glynn County Courthouse Wednesday, September 30, 2009 in Brunswick, Ga., during the first day of his trial for the murder of Christopher Barrios, 6, in March 2007.

Special Assistant District Attorney John B. Johnson, right, holds up a map of the trailer park that Michael Barrios, left, lived in when his son, Christopher Barrios, 6, was killed, during the trial of David Edenfield at the Glynn County Courthouse Wednesday, September 30, 2009 in Brunswick, Georgia. Edenfield is being tried for Christopher Barrios' murder in March 2007.

Prosecutor John B. Johnson told jurors in his opening statement that Edenfield and his son lured the boy into their trailer across the street from the home of Christopher's grandmother, then took turns molesting him.

"You will hear him say this from his own mouth," Johnson said of David Edenfield. "Christopher Barrios didn't want to be there. He said, 'Let me go! Please don't do this! I'm going to tell my parents!'"

David Edenfield is the first suspect to stand trial in the slaying. His son and wife, Peggy Edenfield, have also been charged with molesting and killing the boy, then hiding his body. The jury was selected from residents some 90 miles away because of pretrial publicity, and the jurors are being sequestered in Brunswick.

Jurors later saw the first hour of the interview the elder Edenfield gave to a police detective a day after the boy's body was found. He at first blamed his son and denied any involvement, but slowly began to describe a horrible scene.

Edenfield said he and his wife watched while his son forced the boy to have sex.

Edenfield later admitted touching Christopher himself after Glynn County police detective Raymond Sarro showed him photographs of the boy's dead body. He said the child had been crying and pleading for them to stop.

Edenfield at first said he told his son to stop choking Christopher, then changed his story. He said he placed his own hands on top of his son's while they strangled the boy. Asked why he did that, Edenfield said, "I guess instinct."

"You saw your opportunity, when George was choking him, to see what it felt like?" Sarro asked.

"Yes, sir."

Defense attorney James Yancey Jr. told jurors the elder Edenfield's confession was influenced by the police interrogators, but stopped short of telling jurors he was coerced.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett recessed court before Edenfield's attorneys had a chance to cross-examine Sarro. The detective was to return to the witness stand Thursday.

Christopher lived in a mobile home park in the port city of Brunswick, about 60 miles south of Savannah, where his father and grandmother had separate homes. He would pass the Edenfields' trailer when walking between them.

A shy boy with a big smile that showed off the silver caps on his front teeth, he loved superheroes such as Batman and Spider-Man.

The Edenfields moved into the mobile home park where the boy lived just a few months before his death. The family had been forced to move because George Edenfield was a convicted child molester. The family's previous home was close to a playground, a violation of Georgia's sex offender registry law.

Sarro testified police found Christopher's toy Star Wars lightsaber in the Edenfields' yard a few hours after the boy went missing. He said he then noticed the Edenfields peeking out their windows, which seemed suspicious because other neighbors were out helping search for the boy.

He said George Edenfield admitted he'd seen Christopher outside, then told the detective he heard voices calling his name.

"I asked him what voices did he hear that called his name, and he said 'the devil,'" Sarro said. "I asked if the devil told him to do anything to hurt the little boy. He told me yes, that the devil told him to kill him."


http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/253/story/857960.html
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeFri Oct 02, 2009 4:45 am

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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeMon Oct 05, 2009 6:07 am

Testimony begins in David Edenfield's death penalty murder trial

Judge Stephen G. Scarlett looks at a photo of Christopher Barrios, 6, during the trial of David Edenfield at the Glynn County Courthouse on Wednesday in Brunswick. Edenfield is on trial for the murder of Barrios.

He and son are accused of sexually abusing and slaying 6-year-old Christopher Barrios

* By Teresa Stepzinski
* Story updated at 2:09 PM on Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2009


BRUNSWICK - Prosecutors described in graphic detail today the sexual abuse and slaying of Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. in the first day of testimony in the death penalty murder trial of David Edenfield who is charged with murder in the 6-year-old boy's death.

Edenfield, 59, is charged with abducting, molesting and strangling the Glynn County kindergarten student who disappeared March 8, 2007. Christopher's body was found a week later hidden inside five plastic trash bags dumped in woods about 2 miles from his home off Canal Road north of Brunswick.

His wife, Peggy Edenfield, 58, and their son, George Edenfield, a 33-year-old convicted child molester, also are charged with the sex abuse slaying. All three are jailed without bail, and the elder Edenfield is the first to stand trial in the case.

In laying out a timeline on Christopher's disappearance, his family testified of their efforts to find him and calling police when they failed.

The trial opened this morning with Special Assistant District Attorney John B. Johnson telling the nine-man, seven-woman jury the evidence against David Edenfield would be graphic and beyond a reasonable doubt. The jurors were brought from Jeff Davis County and four of them are alternates.

Christopher spent the last two hours of his life stripped naked, raped and sodomized before being choked to death as he pleaded for David and George Edenfield to stop and let him go. After being abducted, the boy was molested and murdered in George Edenfield's bedroom as Peggy Edenfield watched while masturbating, Johnson said.

"He was stripped of his clothes and sexually molested by George Edenfield, then David Edenfield became part of it and began molesting Christopher, too," Johnson said.

Johnson told jurors that David Edenfield later confessed to Glynn County police. In the confession, which was recorded, David Edenfield admitted sodomizing Christopher and said he helped his son choke Christopher to death.

"Christopher Barrios told them: 'Let me go. I don't want to do this. I'm telling my parents' as he was being sexually assaulted," Johnson said.

David Edenfield described himself as acting instinctively, Johnson said.

"You will hear his words. George Edenfield put his hands around Christopher's neck and began choking him. David Edenfield put his hands over George Edenfield's and instinctively began choking Christopher, too," Johnson said.

The evidence also will show how David Edenfield, Peggy Edenfield, George Edenfield and their friend Donald Dale later disposed of Christopher's body.

When found, Christopher was wrapped in five black plastic bags. Leaves and pine straw inside the bag indicated the body had been hidden outdoors before being stuffed into the bag and dumped where it was discovered, Johnson said.

Because of decomposition, authorities had to use dental records to identify Christopher. No DNA evidence was recovered, however, saliva found on Christopher's back, and semen traces on the plastic bags substantiated David Edenfield's confession, Johnson said.

In his opening statement, lead defense counsel James Yancey Jr. focused on George Edenfield's background as a convicted sex offender, and the police methods of questioning David Edenfield. George Edenfield confessed to the killing almost immediately after police began interviewing him, Yancey said.

"George Edenfield admitted that he in fact killed Christopher Barrios," Yancey said.

Yancey said the evidence will show that police manipulated David Edenfield during a series of lengthy interrogations until he confessed.

In additon, both Peggy Edenfield and Dale later made plea bargains with prosecutors in the case, Yancey said.

Although Peggy Edenfield has agreed to testify against her husband and son, prosecutors did not include her in the list of state witnesses read off this morning to Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett.

Dale was on the defense witness list, along with David Edenfield's daughter Minnie Edenfield.

Christopher's father, Mike Barrios, was the first to testify. He was followed by Christopher's stepmother, Paula Anderson, and the boy's grandmother, Sue Rodriguez.

They testified to the timeline leading up to Christopher's disappearance about 6 p.m. that day, Anderson's and Mike Barrios' efforts to find him and, when they couldn't, the 911 call to police for help.

This afternoon, police were expected to testify about the search and statements the Edenfields made about Christopher.

Check back with Jacksonville.com or Thursday's Times-Union for more.

http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2009-09-30/story/testimony_begins_in_david_edenfields_death_penalty _murder_trial
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeWed Oct 07, 2009 5:02 am

Edenfield Guilty on All Counts; Sentencing Phase Starts
Ann Butler Created: 10/5/2009

BRUNSWICK, GA -- After deliberating for about two hours Monday afternoon, the jury has returned guilty verdicts on all nine counts against David Edenfield.

Six-year-old Christopher Barrios Jr was found dead in 2007 one week after he disappeared from his home. Edenfield, his wife, Peggy, and their son George were all charged in the murder. David Edenfield's trial is first.

The jury found Edenfield guilty on all counts: kidnapping; murder; enticing a child for indecent purposes;
false imprisonment; cruelty to children; aggravated child molestation; child molestation; concealing the death of another person; and tampering with evidence. He will face the death penalty. The sentencing phase of the trial is now under way.

After the sentence was handed down, Christopher's father, Michael Barrios reacted, "Very happy, very happy. It's not over with yet. We've got the sentencing to go through now."

"The truth came out in court."

Members began deliberations shortly before 2 p.m. Monday on the sixth day of the trial, following closing arguments.

In his closing, District Attorney Stephen Kelley told the jury that all fingers pointed to Edenfield in Christopher's murder.

"What it boils right down to is David Edenfield has convicted himself. He's his own architect, his own planner and he has convicted himself," Kelley said.

He played for the jury a portion of Edenfield's taped confession and his response to investigators when asked what he would have done differently.

"Well, I'm going to tell you it was my fault; it was my boy (George)," Edenfield says. "I should have been a grown man and stopped it right then, but I didn't."

Kelley asked the jury to convict, reasoning, "Why should we care? Why should the jury care if a child suffered a horrendous, tortuous death?"

This is a case about "simple people, simple facts and there is a simple answer to all of this," he said.

Defense attorney James Yancey Jr. spent about an hour during his closing Monday hammering home the conflicting testimony of Peggy Edenfield, who took the stand over the weekend. She will not face the death penalty in exchange for her testimony and will be tried last.

"I will stand here before and tell you I cannot tell you which one is false because there is so much that's been said," he said. "Whatever Peg Edenfield said is questionable."

The prosecution rested its case Sunday after using Peggy Edenfield's testimony at the last minute. Originally, the prosecution planned the medical examiner who testified Friday as its final witness. The defense rested Saturday without calling any witnesses.

On Sunday, the prosecution played a video of Peggy Edenfield, describing in horrific detail what happened in the last few minutes of Barrios' life.

"I heard him say stop, he was crying," Edenfield explains on tape.

She tells police interviewers about watching her husband, and son molesting Christopher. "I tried to get them to stop, they wouldn't stop. I said, 'you all stop,'" says Edenfield.

She also was on the witness stand for several hours.

In cross examination, defense attorneys tried to highlight some of the contradictions in Peggy Edenfield's testimony over the last two days. But the video clearly laid out what was at the heart of the prosecution's case, with Peggy Edenfield describing how George and David Edenfield choked Christopher after they molested him.

In the video Edenfield gestures to her own neck to show how it happened saying, "George had his hands like this and David had his hands on top of George's."
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeWed Oct 07, 2009 3:48 pm

Jury deliberating on death penalty in Edenfield case

DA calls him an animal, defense lawyer reminded jury Edenfield is a human being

* By Teresa Stepzinski
* Story updated at 5:05 PM on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009


BRUNSWICK-- A jury is deliberating whether David Edenfield should get the death penalty for sexually assaulting and choking to death 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. about 2-1/2 years ago.

The jury began deliberating a full day after finding the 61-year-old Edenfield guilty of murder, cruelty to children, three counts of aggravated child molestation and other charges in the March 8, 2007 death.

In an impassioned closing argument, District Attorney Stephen Kelley urged the jurors to exact a punishment that fits the "outrageous, heinous, senseless and tragic'' crime.

"But for one man's cold heart, but for one man's depraved mind, Christopher Barrios would be alive today,'' Kelley said.

But at one point, Kelley went too far, referring to Edenfield as "this animal.''

Edenfield's lawyers objected and asked for mistrial. Judge Stephen Scarlett denied the request and Kelley apologized to the jury.

In his closing argument, John Beall IV asked the jurors to spare Edenfield saying he "is not a cancer on society, but a human being.''

"We ask you to consider mercy even though some of you may feel David deserves none,'' Beall said.

Alternative sentences are life without parole and life with eligibility for parole.

In Georgia, only a jury can impose the death sentence and only be a unanimous vote.

This morning, the last of witnesses in the penalty phase of the trial testified.

Edenfield is not psychotic or a paranoid schizophrenic, testified Philip Barron, a forensic psychologist at Georgia State Hospital's regional facility in Savannah.

Barron contradicted the findings of defense psychologist James Starke, who testified Monday that Edenfield suffered from those psychiatric disorders and also was delusional.

"In my opinion, the diagnosis rendered by Dr. Starke was incorrect," Barron testified. "He ignored actual observations and went by very tenuous [mental health testing] data.

Barron was Kelly's last witness. Monday night, jurors heard emotional testimony from Christopher's family about how the boy's murder has affected them.

Kelley presented documents showing Edenfield was convicted of incest against his mentally retarded daughter in 1994. He was sentenced to 10 years probation.

Edenfield has repeatedly denied that he molested her.

The jury also heard from Edenfield's sister, his former boss and past neighbors and friends, who testified about his character.

Glynn County Tax Commissioner Florrence Dees testified that Edenfield, his wife, Peggy and their son, George, who is a convicted child molester, were her former next-door neighbors in downtown Brunswick. She has known Edenfield and his family since 1975, Dees testified.

"I don't think David could do brain surgery, but he worked hard and took care of his family," Dees testified.

"He was a good neighbor, courteous and nice to everybody," she said.

Edenfield's lead lawyer, James Yancey, rested the defense's case for mitigation this morning without calling any additional witnesses.

Special Assistant District Attorney John B. Johnson began giving his closing argument in the penalty phase about 1 p.m. but was interrupted about 1:15 p.m. when fire alarms sounded. Edenfield was escorted from the courtroom and Judge Stephen Scarlett instructed everyone in the courtroom to vacate the building. The fire department gave the all clear at 1:30 and court resumed.

http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2009-10-06/story/jury_deliberating_on_death_penalty_in_edenfield_ca se
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeWed Oct 07, 2009 3:49 pm

Jurors in Edenfield trial examine photos of slain 6-year-old Christopher Barrios


Defense should begin Saturday in David Edenfield's death penalty murder trial

* By Teresa Stepzinski
* Story updated at 1:22 PM on Friday, Oct. 2, 2009


BRUNSWICK -- Jurors examined crime scene and morgue photos of Christopher Barrios Jr.'s decomposed body this morning as police testimony entered its third day in the death penalty murder trial of David Edenfield.

Several jurors recoiled in their chairs or quickly looked away when first given the photos.

Edenfield, 61, his son, his wife Peggy, and their son, George, 34, are all charged with molesting and murdering 6-year-old Christopher. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against all but Peggy Edenfield, who has agreed to testify against her husband and son.

A Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner who performed the autopsy on the Glynn County boy is expected to testify this afternoon

It was unknown if Edenfield will testify in his own defense when the trial continues Saturday.

As former Glynn County police detective Ray Sarro testified, the jury looked at photos of Christopher's naked decomposed body as police found it wrapped in five black plastic trash bags on March 15, 2007, a week after he disappeared while playing near his home.

Sarro then testified about interrogating Edenfield on March 13, 2007. As he would in other police interviews, Edenfield initially denied any involvement. He instead blamed his mentally retarded son, George, a convicted child molester, for abducting, molesting and killing the boy, Sarro said.

Edenfield gradually incriminated himself, however, as Sarro and police Capt. Marissa Tindale pressed him for details, saying they had evidence showing he was lying and withholding information about the slaying.

Because of equipment problems, only the audio portion of the interrogation was recorded.

Sarro, reading from a transcript of the interview, said Edenfield originally said he overheard his wife, Peggy, George and family friend, Donald Dale, talking about hurting Christopher, which they described as "a problem" they needed to deal with.

"George said he didn't know if he hurt Christopher or not but guessed that he did hurt him, and there was a problem. They didn't say how they were going to get rid of him," Edenfield said.

Edenfield said George, Peggy and Dale were in George's bedroom and he was out in the living room sitting in his recliner watching television when he overheard them talking because "the walls are thin."

"George and Donald said they had a problem with the little boy and what were they going to do about it. Peggy was in there in the room, too," Edenfield said.

Sarro testified that as Edenfield continued talking he said he never saw George, Peggy or Dale take Christoher's body out of the home or carry it past him in a trash bag.

At that time, Sarro said, the boy's body had not been found. When it was recovered two days later it was wrapped in trash bags similar to those later found inside the Edenfield home, previous police testimony has shown.

Replying to a question from Tindale, Edenfield later admitted the others got rid of Christopher's body.

" . . . They got rid of Christopher the same day he went missing but not in my car," Edenfield said.

Other testimony this morning included Glynn police detective Mike Owens who told jurors that he interviewed a woman and her daughter who substantiated Dale's whereabouts on the day Christopher was killed.

Dale had been working all day with his landlord renovating a house. Owens said Ruth Daniels told him that about 9 p.m. Dale borrowed her pickup truck to go to the Edenfield home after they called him.

Prior evidence has shown that Dale arrived at the home after police had begun searching the area for Christopher. The evidence also showed that Christopher was killed and his body was dumped before the police there for the search.

http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2009-10-02/story/jurors_in_edenfield_trial_examine_photos_of_slain_ 6_year_old_christoph
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeWed Oct 07, 2009 3:50 pm

Edenfield calmly says killing 6-year-old Christopher Barrios was exciting



Accused killer says he wanted 'to see what it felt like to choke somebody'

* By Teresa Stepzinski
* Story updated at 1:22 PM on Friday, Oct. 2, 2009

BRUNSWICK - Jurors watched intensely Thursday the rest of a DVD recording of David Edenfield confessing that he sexually assaulted then choked 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. to death.

On the recording, Edenfield is seen calmly describing the killing as exciting and saying he acted instinctively to kill the boy.

As in Wednesday's opening of his death penalty murder trial, Edenfield, 61, showed no emotion as he watched himself dispassionately describe how he and his 34-year-old son, George Edenfield, killed the kindergartner who had begged them to stop. The boy was killed after he threatened to tell his father and grandmother the Edenfields had molested him, David Edenfield told a Glynn County police detective during the 21/2-hour interview.

David and George Edenfield, who is a convicted child molester, and Peggy, David's wife and George's mother, were neighbors of Christopher's extended family in Canal Mobile Home Park on Horseshoe Lane.

All three are charged with molesting and murdering the boy. District Attorney Stephen Kelley is seeking the death penalty against all but Peggy Edenfield. David Edenfield is the first to stand trial.

Aside from the DVD of Edenfield, much of Thursday's testimony centered on the results of DNA tests, identifying Christopher through dental records and other forensic evidence. Special Assistant District Attorney John B. Johnson told Judge Stephen Scarlett that he would likely call four more witnesses today and conclude the state's case.

Prosecutors played another shorter DVD of an interview with Edenfield, in which he described his son as mentally retarded and said his son alone was responsible for Christopher's death and molestation.

He continued those denials initially in the longer recorded interview before he gradually detailed how he sodomized then helped strangle the boy.

Edenfield said he put his hands on top of George's and together they choked the boy, he said on the recording.

"I guess it was just instinct ... I just wanted to see what it felt like to choke somebody," said Edenfield, who initially denied squeezing the boy's neck.

After Christopher was dead, Edenfield said he, George and Peggy Edenfield sexually gratified themselves.

"Christopher was dead. I guess it excited all of us," Edenfield said.

Edenfield said he didn't know how the boy got into their home, but George had him in his bedroom, where he stripped off his clothes before sexually assaulting him.

Kelley played the first hour of the recording Wednesday.

Some of the jurors grimaced Thursday morning as they listened to Edenfield detail in crude, sexually explicit language the March 8, 2007, slaying he first blamed on his son. As he was being sexually assaulted, the boy cried and begged them to stop, which prompted George to say they would have to kill him, David Edenfield said.

"Christopher was crying, not screaming, just kind of scared. He was saying: 'No. Stop. Stop. Stop' while George put his hands around his throat and choked him," Edenfield said.

The boy struggled and tried to push George's hands away. George grabbed and held the boy's hands behind his back so he couldn't fight or escape while being sodomized then strangled, Edenfield said.

Detective Ray Sarro asked Edenfield if he helped restrain the boy. Sarro, who has since retired, told Edenfield to tell the truth because police had evidence that would reveal if he lied, the recording showed.

"Yes sir, I was holding him down and he was alive then. It was just me holding him down," Edenfield said.

He confessed to Sarro during an interrogation March 16, 2007, the day after authorities found the boy's decomposed body wrapped in five black plastic bags and dumped in woods.

Edenfield told Sarro that Christopher was molested and slain before they called a family friend, Donald Dale, to come to their home to help dispose of the body.

That call was about 8:40 p.m. March 8, 2007, about two hours after the boy was last seen alive by neighbors.

Dale's landlord, Tim Frayne, testified Thursday that Dale was with him from 9 a.m. until about 8:45 p.m. March 8, 2007, and therefore could not have been at the Edenfield home before Christopher was killed and his body disposed of.

Sarro left Edenfield alone several times during the interrogation at Glynn County police headquarters. During those times, Edenfield picked up crime scene photos of Christopher's body, muttered to himself and tossed them back onto a table where Sarro had left them.

At times, Edenfield put his head in his hands, rested his head on his folded arms on top of the table or leaned back in his chair while waiting for Sarro to return.

After returning, Sarro asked Edenfield what he thought when he looked at the photos.

"It's my fault. I should have been a grown man and stopped it, but I didn't. I should be punished .... I guess go to prison and get killed for it," Edenfield replied.

Sarro later asked Edenfield if he felt any emotions at seeing the photo of the boy's decomposed body.

"It's a horrible, horrible sight. It never should have happened," Edenfield responded.

Also Thursday, Barbara Retzer, a forensic biologist with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, testified she analyzed saliva found on Christopher's body, semen found on the bags he was wrapped in and blood samples from all three Edenfields.

She found no DNA linking the Edenfields to the boy, Retzer testified. The advance state of decomposition, as well as heat and humidity, would have degraded any DNA until it could not be detected, she said.

Scarlett told the attorneys to "be prepared to work a full day" Saturday. He gave no indication whether the trial would recess Sunday. By law, Georgia juries cannot deliberate on Sunday, but are allowed to hear evidence.

http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2009-10-02/story/edenfield_calmly_says_killing_6_year_old_christoph er_barrios_was_excit
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeWed Oct 07, 2009 3:51 pm

Defense to begin today in Georgia child's slaying



Edenfield may not take stand, but at least three witnesses are expected.

* By Teresa Stepzinski
* Story updated at 6:15 AM on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009

BRUNSWICK, Ga. - A state medical examiner used a medical model to show jurors Friday how 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. was choked to death after being sexually assaulted two years ago.

David Edenfield, 61, rested his chin on one hand or looked straight ahead while listening to the testimony in the third day of his death penalty trial on murder, molestation and abduction charges in the Glynn County boy's killing.

The kindergartner died as a result of asphyxiation, testified Jamie Downs, medical examiner for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's crime lab in Savannah.

Downs, a nationally recognized forensic pathologist and expert in child and sexual abuse homicides, performed the autopsy on Christopher after his decomposed body was recovered March 15, 2007, a week after he was slain.

Balancing a model depicting the inside of a human throat on the rail of the jury box, Downs explained that Christopher was killed by someone who choked off his supply of oxygen by crushing his windpipe, voice box and carotid artery.

"The most likely means this was done was neck compression, be it by an arm around from the sides in a sleeper choke hold, by a towel around the neck or by placing the palms of the hands on opposite sides of the neck and compressing inward," Downs testified.

Downs said he found a human bite mark on Christopher's back. There also were bruises and other trauma injuries to the boy's throat, genitals and legs consistent with being raped and sodomized, he testified.

"The injuries were sustained while he was still alive," Downs testified.

He also found saliva on the body and other biological evidence on black plastic trash bags wrapped around him. Because of decomposition, however, Downs said he was unable to extract usable DNA to compare with samples from Edenfield, his wife, Peggy, or their son, George, who is a convicted child molester.

Downs was the last prosecution witness called, but Edenfield's attorneys, James Yancey Jr. and John Beall IV, recalled former Glynn County police detective Ray Sarro for cross examination. District Attorney Stephen Kelley is expected to rest the state's case this morning and Yancey and Beall will offer evidence in Edenfield's defense.

It was unknown whether Edenfield will testify. His attorneys, however, said they planned to call three witnesses.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett told the jury, which is being sequestered, that he would like to hold court Sunday afternoon if evidence is not completed today. Scarlett asked jurors to vote on whether they wanted to do that or recess until Monday.

If jurors convict Edenfield of murder, they would immediately begin hearing evidence in the sentencing phase of the trial.

Also Friday, several jurors flinched or quickly looked away when they were given crime scene and morgue photos of Christopher to examine as police testimony continued to establish the sequence of events in the slaying.

Edenfield, 61, Peggy, 58, and their son, George, 34, are all charged with molesting and murdering Christopher. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against all but Peggy Edenfield, who has agreed to testify against her husband and son.

Sarro returned to the witness stand as the jury looked at photos. He identified each photo and testified about interrogating Edenfield on March 13, 2007. As he would in other police interviews, Edenfield initially denied any involvement. He instead blamed George, who is mentally retarded, for abducting, molesting and killing the boy, Sarro said.

Edenfield said his wife and family friend, Donald Dale, then helped dispose of the body.

"He said George brought him [Christopher] inside to play video games and then George hurt him. After Christopher was killed, they wrapped him up in a blue blanket, then Peggy and Donald Dale took his body out to the woods and dumped him," Sarro testified.

Edenfield gradually incriminated himself, however, as Sarro and police Capt. Marissa Tindale pressed him for details, saying they had evidence showing he was lying and withholding information about the slaying.

Sarro, reading from a transcript of the interview, said Edenfield originally said he overheard his wife, Peggy, George and Dale, as they talked about hurting Christopher, which they described as "a problem" they needed to deal with.

"George said he didn't know if he hurt Christopher or not but guessed that he did hurt him, and there was a problem. They didn't say how they were going to get rid of him," Edenfield said.

Edenfield said George, Peggy and Dale were in George's bedroom and he was out in the living room sitting in his recliner watching television when he overheard them talking because "the walls are thin."

Sarro testified that as Edenfield continued talking he said he never saw George, Peggy or Dale take Christopher's body out of the home or carry it past him in a trash bag.

At that time, Christopher's body had not been found, Sarro said. When it was recovered two days later, it was wrapped in five trash bags similar to those later found inside the Edenfield home, previous police testimony has shown.

That slip of the tongue about the trash bag, Sarro testified, reinforced police suspicions that Edenfield actively participated in the slaying.

Replying to a question from Tindale, Edenfield asserted the others got rid of Christopher's body.

"... They got rid of Christopher the same day he went missing, but not in my car," Edenfield said.

Other testimony Friday included Glynn police detective Mike Owens, who told jurors that he interviewed a woman and her daughter who substantiated Dale's whereabouts on the day Christopher was killed.

Dale had been working all day with his landlord renovating a house. Owens said the woman told him that about 9 p.m. Dale borrowed her pickup truck to go to the Edenfield home after they called him.

Prior evidence has shown that Dale arrived at the home after police had begun searching the area for Christopher. The evidence also showed that the boy was killed and his body was dumped before the police arrived for the search.

http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia...childs_slaying
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeWed Oct 07, 2009 3:52 pm

Grandmother of Christopher Barrios suffers chest pains as Peggy Edenfield recounts bo

Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. 24cvz7r


Peggy Edenfield describes her son, George Edenfield and husband David Edenfield with both of their hands around the throat of 6 year old murder victim Christopher Barrios, Jr. during her lengthy time of the witness stand Saturday

Grandmother of Christopher Barrios suffers chest pains as Peggy Edenfield recounts boy's strangling

Testimony in murder case is rambling, often contradictory and confusing.

* By Teresa Stepzinski
* Story updated at 9:34 AM on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009


BRUNSWICK — Christopher Barrios Jr.’s grandmother suffered chest pains in the courtroom Saturday afternoon, forcing her to leave briefly as their family’s former neighbor Peggy Edenfield testified that her husband and son choked the 6-year-old boy to death after sexually assaulting him two years ago.

Sue Rodriguez was helped outside by relatives and bailiffs shortly after 3 p.m., but returned about 20 minutes later.

She told The Times-Union that she had a “sick sharp pain” in her chest from stress as Edenfield entered her fourth hour of convoluted testimony about Christopher’s killing, in which she downplayed her involvement, in her husband’s death penalty murder trial.

“Listening to all the lies coming out of her mouth, it got to me,” said Rodriguez, who was Christopher’s paternal grandmother.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett recessed the trial at 6 p.m. Saturday as Peggy Edenfield was nearing her sixth hour of testimony.

The nine-man, seven-woman jury will return at 1 p.m. today to continue hearing evidence. By law, Georgia juries cannot deliberate on Sundays but are allowed to hear evidence.

Rodriguez went pale , then left the courtroom clutching her hand to her chest shortly after Edenfield testified that after discovering Christopher in their home, she “grabbed him by his hand, led him to the door and walked him home.”

She then recanted, telling jurors that she did not try to get Christopher out of their house, although she was aware that because son George Edenfield was a registered sex offender, he was not allowed to be around children.

Peggy Edenfield repeatedly contradicted herself — at times changing her testimony from one sentence to the next — as she described her husband, David, and their son, George, a convicted child molester, strangling Christopher together.

Although initially denying the boy was ever in their home, she told jurors that without her knowledge or permission, Christopher came in with George, to play video games in George’s bedroom. She testified that while leaving the bathroom, she discovered her husband and son sodomizing Christopher, who had been stripped of his clothes by David Edenfield.

Father and son then began choking him, Peggy said as she continually sighed and hesitated, as if struggling for words during her testimony.

“My son had his hands around the boy’s neck and my husband had his hands on top of his [George’s] hands,” she testified. “I tried to get my husband’s hands off my son’s and my son’s off the boy’s neck, but I couldn’t.”

Although a telephone was nearby, Peggy Edenfield did not call 911, nor did she run outside to seek help.

“I didn’t do nothing … I didn’t know my neighbors that good,” she replied when defense attorney James Yancey Jr. pressed her about why, as a mother herself, she didn’t try to save Christopher.

David, 61, Peggy, 58, and George, 34, all are charged with abducting, molesting and murdering Christopher on March 8, 2007.

The kindergartner and his extended family, including Rodriguez, were neighbors of the Edenfields. Rodriguez had lived directly across the Edenfield home, where evidence has shown Christopher was sodomized then slain before his naked body was wrapped in five plastic garbage bags and dumped about 2 miles away in woods.

David Edenfield is the first to stand trial. District Attorney Stephen Kelley is seeking the death penalty against David and George.

In a plea bargain, Peggy Edenfield agreed to testify against her husband and son in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty or life without parole against her.

She took the witness stand about mid-morning in the fourth day of the testimony. Peggy Edenfield was expected to be the prosecution’s last witness before Kelley rested the state’s case against her husband today.

It was unknown if David Edenfield would testify in his own behalf when Yancey and co-counsel John Beall IV begin the defense case.

Peggy Edenfield testified that Christopher was killed before she called family friend Donald Dale to come over and hook up cable converter boxes to their televisions. After Dale arrived, her husband recruited him to help dispose of the boy’s body. He asked Dale but ordered her to help, she testified.

“My husband took the little boy, who was in a trash bag, out of the home and put him in the trunk of his car,” she said.

The four of them drove to a site that she said she didn’t recognize. She said she stayed inside the car as the men took Christopher’s body out of the trunk to bury it. She said she didn’t know if they actually buried his body then or not.

Dale, who later pleaded guilty but mentally retarded to lying to police investigating the slaying, is on the defense witness list.

http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2009-10-03/story/grandmother_of_christopher_barrios_suffers_chest_p ains_as_peggy_edenfi
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeWed Oct 07, 2009 3:53 pm

Edenfield found guilty in Christopher Barrios' murder


Jury was out less than two hours.

Story updated at 5:20 PM on Monday, Oct. 5, 2009

It took a jury less than two hours to convict David Edenfield on eight counts in the sexual abuse and slaying of 6-year-old Christopher Barrios. Edenfield showed no emotion when the jury's verdict was announced.

Before the verdict was announced, Judge Stephen Scarlett had warned those in the courtroom that he would not tolerate any emotional outbursts. Scarlett added that if people weren't emotionally prepared to hear the verdict, "you need to excuse yourself at this time."

Edenfield was found guilty of malice murder, false imprisonment, cruelty to children, three counts of aggrevated child molestation, one count of concealing a death and one count of tampering with evidence.

The sentencing phase begins this afternoon. For more information, see tomorrow's Florida Times-Union and Jacksonville.com.

http://jacksonville.com/news/2009-10-05/story/edenfield_found_guilty_in_christopher_barrios_murd er
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PostSubject: Re: Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P.   Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. (6) R.I.P. Icon_minitimeThu Oct 08, 2009 8:22 am

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man was sentenced to death Tuesday for molesting and strangling a 6-year-old boy inside a mobile home before the child's body was wrapped in trash bags and dumped near a road.

Jurors deliberated two hours before unanimously agreeing on a death sentence for 61-year-old David Edenfield. He was convicted Monday of aggravated child molestation and murder in the March 2007 slaying of Christopher Michael Barrios.

Edenfield stood passively as the judge read his sentence, and the victim's family silently dabbed at tears.

Edenfield was the first of three family members to stand trial in the case. His wife and their 34-year-son have also been charged with abducting, molesting and killing the boy.

"He got his justice — Christopher got it today," said Sue Rodriguez, the boy's grandmother, smiling through tears. "Now we've got two more to go."

Christopher went missing March 8, 2007, from the Brunswick mobile home park where his father and grandmother both had homes. His body was found a week later by a roadside, wrapped in trash bags.

Edenfield's family had moved into a home across the street from Christopher's grandmother four months earlier. Police found one of Christopher's toys, a Star Wars lightsaber, in Edenfield's front yard. Edenfield's grown son, George Edenfield, was a convicted child molester.

The elder Edenfield confessed to the crime in a videotaped interview with a police detective the day after the boy's body was found.

On the tape, Edenfield said he and his son molested the boy inside their home while his wife, Peggy Edenfield, watched. He said Christopher pleaded with them to stop and threatened to tell his father and grandmother, prompting Edenfield's son to begin choking the boy.

Edenfield told police he placed his own hands on top of his son's as Christopher choked to death.

"Fortunately for us, they had that confession," said Mike Barrios, the boy's father, who had listened stoically to a week of grisly trial testimony. "Christopher's up in heaven. He's smiling down now."

Before jurors began deliberating Edenfield's sentence, his defense lawyers urged them to consider mercy. The attorneys accused George Edenfield of instigating the boy's abduction and killing.

"David Homer Edenfield is going to die in prison, that's a fact," defense attorney John Beall told the jury. "Here's another fact. This beautiful little boy was murdered and will never come back."

Beall and James Yancey Jr., Edenfield's other lawyer, did not speak to reporters after sentencing.

In a fiery argument, District Attorney Stephen Kelley asked the jury to sentence Edenfield to die, saying "maybe he's just rotten from the inside out. ... And his words on that tape were, 'It felt good.'"

The judge halted the prosecutor's heated presentation when Kelley pointed at Edenfield and called him an "animal." Edenfield's attorneys asked for a mistrial based on the outburst, but Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett denied the motion.

Because of pretrial publicity, the jury was drawn from a community 90 miles away, and the jurors were sequestered during the weeklong trial in Brunswick, 60 miles south of Savannah.

George Edenfield, who is mentally retarded according to his father, is still being evaluated to determine if he's competent to stand trial. Peggy Edenfield would be tried last, according to deal in which prosecutors agreed to spare her from the death penalty if she testified against her husband and son.

Kelley declined to say much about those pending cases Tuesday.

"We've still got a lot of work to do," he said.
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