How Could You? Hall of Shame-Chandler Grafner case -Child Death UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Denver, Colorado, the 2007 case of adoptee Chandler Grafner aka Chandler McLain-Norris is making news again as a Denver federal judge has cleared the way for a lawsuit. “According to a lawsuit, filed on behalf of the boy’s estate and his biological parents, Jefferson and Denver Human Services departments and two Denver employees specifically, were repeatedly told about the abuse but failed to take action.

The agencies have governmental immunity from being sued, but Wednesday the Judge ruled the two employees did not have the same immunity, because their failure to take action was so outrageous it “shocks the conscience.”  Judge: Lack of intervention in boy’s death “shocks the conscience” [Fox 31 12/7/11 by Julie Hayden]

Summary of Chandler’s story

Taken from a series of Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News articles cited on his memorial blog here:

Christina Grafner, 28, had been married to Greg Grafner, 26, at the time of Chandler’s conception. Before they divorced, Greg was told that he was not the father. His 18-year-old biological father was Josh Norris who then joined the Navy before Chandler was born.  Christina then moved in with another boyfriend Darren McClain (which is part of the name on his birth certificate) before Chandler was born on April 12, 2000.

Josh had planned on taking care of the child. Since he could not leave basic training, he was unable to be at the hospital for the premature birth. Josh’s mother did try to see Chandler in the hospital, but she was turned away never to see him. Josh never met him either. Christina finally ended up with Darren’s friend, Jon Phillips. Dominick is Jon and Christina’s son.  Jon Phillips lived with Christina, Chandler and Dominick for some time. Are you able to follow all of that?

The placement through the foster care system came after Christina was arrested due to child neglect and child abuse resulting from her substance abuse. The courts initially gave custody to Christina’s mother, Sandra Younger. Due to a violation in a court order (allowing unsupervised visits with Christina) and several major safety issues in the home,Sandra lost custody. In her place, Jon Phillips gained custody of BOTH Dominick and Chandler. Jon had a common law wife Sarah Berry. Horrendous abuse and neglect occurred in the home. Chandler died of cardiac arrest due to starvation and dehydration (ketoacidosis) on May 6, 2007. At age 7, he weighed merely 34 pounds.

Sarah Berry, then 21, was convicted and sentenced to 48 years in prison. Jon Phillips, then 26, was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Details

Colton Levi Clark Blog explains more of the details.

The Initial Removal from Christina

“In October 2004 the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services received a referral call regarding Chandler and his younger half brother, Dominic [sic]. According to the report, Chandler was four years of age and still not potty trained. He was still drinking from a bottle and had expressed fear of his “Dad” (referring to Jon Phillips who was living with Christina at the time and the father of his half brother Dominic [sic].) Those allegations were considered unfounded and the case was closed in January 2005 with a risk level of medium.

In September 2005, Chandler who was then age five and a neighbor child, aged three were found walking in a busy intersection around 9:30AM in the morning. The children had been missing for almost an hour. Christina Grafner was charged with Child Abuse and pleaded guilty to this charge on November 2, 2005. She was placed on one-year probation and the case was closed a year later. The children were still residing with her.

For the remainder 2005, several referrals were made to DHS regarding the two boys and some of those calls were from Christina’s mother Sandra Younger. In December of 2005 Sandra Younger reported to DHS that Christina and the boys were no longer residing with her and had moved to Jefferson County. Because Jefferson County could not find a valid address for Christina and the boys, the assessment was closed.

In March of 2006, a Wheat Ridge police officer responded to a call of a vehicle blocking traffic. It was found that Christina Grafner appeared to be under the influence of cocaine or meth and found a crack pipe in her vehicle. Her two boys, Chandler and Dominic[sic] were in the vehicle with her at the time. They were not in car seats and were not wearing shoes and according to the officer looked neglected. He noted that Chandler looked extremely thin and it was found that the boys had not eaten in at least a day (some reports state three days). The officer also noted that Chandler’s teeth were decayed.”

Sandra’s Violations that Caused Both Children to Be Placed with Jon

“It also found that Sandra Younger was transporting the children without a legal driver’s license and insurance and did not provide car seats for the children. In addition, Ms. Younger was found to be living with someone with a criminal history.”

“The Jefferson County DHS was granted temporary custody of both Chandler and Dominic. A treatment plan was devised for both Christina Grafner and Jon Phillips. In the meantime DHS placed the boys with Phillips, with the approval of Sandra Younger.

Sandra withdrew her support however when Jon Phillips no longer allowed visitation between her and the boys which was part of the agreement written out by DHS.”

Life with Jon/Shift to Being Homeschooled

“Red flags flew when he was hard to get in touch with, never responded to numerous calls or were not present for home visits. Neither he nor his common law wife Sarah Berry ever signed the Treatment Plan devised by DHS.

Still, the adoption proceeded and in January of 2007 it was finalized. Christina Grafner was not present during any court proceedings regarding custody nor was the biological father Josh Norris notified. In that same month DHS was notified by the Denver Public School system of possible abuse of Chandler. A bruise on his neck and a black ear was noticed and when asked he stated his father Jon Phillips smacked him while he was in the shower.

In later testimony Dominic would describe the showers. He described how Phillips and Berry gave the boys baths when they were good and what he called “mean showers” when they were bad. And he said “There were other days, when Chandler would be bad, he was in the closet.’ How often was he in the closet, the detective asked? “A lot of times,” the little boy replied.

DHS did follow up on the report and came to the school the following day. However Jon Phillips held Chandler out of school that day. Initial attempts to contact him failed and when DHS was finally able to meet up with Chandler and his family it was a full five days later after the initial incident.

At that time the caseworker described the child’s injuries as less than severe than the school system reported (of course it was, it had time to heal) and Chandler then told the case worker that he had slipped and fell in the shower.

Jon Phillips and Sarah Berry stated that they believed the report to be a retaliatory one since they had conflicts with the school. Chandler was quickly taken out from public school and once again DHS received another referral from the school stating that Chandler had not been to school in a month.

Since they found no abuse or neglect in the allegations, DHS did not follow up with the family to see why Chandler no longer attended school.

On Sunday, May 6, 2007 the Denver Police Department responded to a 911 call at the Phillips Berry residence. Prosecutors would later determine that both Berry and Phillips waited hours before calling 911 in order to dispose of evidence of their abuse of the child.

According to the evidence in testimony as well as the words of Chandler’s little brother Dominic [sic], seven-year-old Chandler was held imprisoned in a closet where he was made to urinate, defecate, live and sleep there. When authorities found him, he weighed only 34 lbs. He was seven.

According to reports he begged Dominic[sic] for food but Dominic [sic]was afraid he too would be in trouble and could not get him anything. Among the damning evidence presented during the trial was a cell-phone call in which Berry asked Phillips what to do after Chandler became so desperate for water that he threatened to escape from the closet, get a knife and kill them both if they didn’t give him a drink. That call was made nine days before Chandler died.

Chandler was described as looking like a concentration-camp prisoner and was covered with 20 to 25 bruises and abrasions.

The closet was described a space no larger than an oven. Hours after Chandler had died but before 911 was called Phillips and Berry ripped up and disposed of the feces-encrusted carpet and other evidence from the linen closet in the dumpster that police later discovered.

During the trial of Sarah Berry, Dr. Nancy Krebs, director of nutrition at Children’s Hospital, testified that the severity of Chandler’s dehydration would have taken one to two weeks without drinking any or very little fluids.

Krebs said Chandler showed all the classic signs of dehydration and starvation, including a severe deficiency of vitamin C, or scurvy, which caused his fingernail beds to bleed before he died. Chandler also suffered from a severe deficiency of niacin, or vitamin B3, which caused his skin to flake off or develop lesions.

“It is quite apparent that he was quite ill,” she said. “I can’t say if he was able to walk or not, but if he could, it wouldn’t be very fast or very far because of the loss of muscle in his legs. “His hands and feet would have been cold because his body was trying to conserve energy. He would have had very little desire to move around.””

More Detail from Media Articles

“They also wouldn’t let him use the bathroom. Chandler instead would defecate on his hands and soil the walls, further angering Phillips and Berry. ”

“But while Phillips had told a judge that he wanted Chandler, Dominick said Phillips frequently called Chandler “bad,” and his father and mother would put Chandler “into the closet and leave him there all day and night,” Denver detective Dave Neil wrote in a police probable-cause statement.

Dominick said that Phillips and Berry had stopped feeding him and Chandler lunches weeks before Chandler died on May 6.

Investigators said in the document that authorities have pictures from January – the last time social services visited the home – showing Chandler in good health. There was no explanation of why his treatment allegedly changed.

In the spring, the only food Dominick received was Cap’n Crunch cereal in the morning and dinner at night, according to Neil. Dominick said the best dinner was tacos, but he would get one taco. He said if he wanted more food, he would receive oatmeal.

Dominick told investigators that Chandler would often not receive any food. If he complained, the adults would give him some oatmeal “but he would have to stay in the closet to eat it,” the document alleges. ”

Dominick said that on a few occasions his older sibling would ask him to get him something to eat, but Dominick refused because he was afraid.

The child claimed the adults placed Chandler in the closet for the last time on Friday, May 4, for taking food from the kitchen. He was left there until Sunday, May 6, the day he died.

Dominick said his father removed Chandler from the closet, carried him to the middle of the living room and placed him on the floor, the documents say. Then the father removed a box, believed to be a litter box that Chandler was forced to use. A curtain was also removed from the closet and the items were placed in a Dumpster. Phillips and Berry changed Chandler’s clothes before calling 911, Neil wrote.

[Starved boy suffered for months, cops told Denver Post 7/11/07 by Howard Pankratz]

“Prosecutor Lamb told the jury the abuse of Chandler began in January 2007, when Phillips punished him for stealing candy by making him take an icy shower, then hit him in the right ear so hard it turned black. Teachers noticed the bruised ear and called authorities. Chandler eventually was pulled from school and wasn’t seen after Easter, April 8, until he died on May 6, 2007.”

[DA: Man kept boy on closet shelf until death Denver Post 7/30/08  by Mike McPhee]

“Chandler Grafner was so desperate for food and water that he threatened to get a knife and kill his parents if they didn’t give him a drink, jurors heard in a phone message Thursday.

The chilling recording, left nine days before Chandler died, appears to defy statements Jon Phillips made to police that the 7- year-old boy was well fed and had water to drink.

Prosecutors played a recorded cell phone message from Sarah Berry to Phillips on April 28, 2007, telling him, “Dominic (Chandler’s younger half-brother) just called me over and said Chandler told him you and I better get him something to drink or he’s going to get out of there, go to the kitchen and get a knife and kill us both.”

“Detective Larry Moore, who went to the apartment where Chandler died, said it was filled with the stench of feces and urine despite obvious efforts to clean the place up.

He said a fan in the bathroom, set on “high,” was sucking air out of the area where the closet was located. He said he also found air purifiers, air filters and cans of air freshener all over the apartment.

Moore said Chandler was kept in the bottom of a linen closet in an area that measured 35 inches wide, 29 inches deep and 18 inches tall.

The walls, floor and bottom of the lowest shelf were smeared with human feces, he said.

Moore said a note was tacked on one of the apartment walls that read, “God says listen to Mom and Dad. Do not lie. Do not steal. Do not blame your brother for what you do. Be thankful for what you have.”
Next to the note was a photo of the two boys “with what looked like prison bars drawn over,” Moore said.”
“Jurors also heard from Amy Domanski, teacher’s aide for Chandler’s kindergarten class at Holm Elementary School, who tearfully described her relationship with Chandler, a happy boy whom she said loved school.

Domanski was the first to notice when Chandler came to school Jan. 17, 2007, with a blackened ear and confided to her, “My dad clobbered me.”

Domanski also testified she noticed red marks on Chandler’s neck at the time, and when she asked him what happened, he replied, “My dad squeezed my neck.”

She said when she asked Chandler why his father “clobbered” him, he told her that it was because he had been fighting with Dominic.

Domanski also described an incident in which it appeared that Chandler was being coached in his responses when asked about his injuries.

On March 6, when Chandler went to school with puffy eyes, Chandler told her, “I know, I was supposed to tell you I have pink eye,” she testified.

But in her last conversation with Chandler, she said, “He asked me to stop interrogating him because when I do, he gets into so much trouble,” Domanski said. “He was begging me, he was pleading. How I saw it, it was a plea.”

Chandler’s kindergarten teacher, Beverly Kibble, said she saw Chandler’s ear, which she described as “very blue,” on Jan. 17, but did not notice any marks or bruises on his neck.

She also testified that Chandler was telling other students several days afterward that his parents were angry at his teachers for calling the police.

When Kibble told him that she just wanted to make sure he was OK, “He took a deep breath, and said, ‘Anyway, I just fell down in the shower,’ ” she said.

Acting principal Maureen Hogan said she was the one who called social services after seeing Chandler on Jan. 17. ”

[Chandler Grafner threatened to kill parents for a drink Rocky Mountain News 7/31/08 by Tillie Fong]

“In an unexpected development Monday, Sarah Berry, the co-defendant of Jon Phillips in the Chandler Grafner starvation murder trial, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder just hours before she was scheduled for trial.

No one from the district attorney’s office would discuss Berry’s change of plea after Phillips’ two-week trial went to the jury about 4 p.m.

Berry changed her plea just 30 minutes later, as Phillips’ jury barely got started in its deliberations in the death of the 7-year-old boy. Her trial was to begin this morning, and she faced a first-degree murder charge.

That charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. By pleading guilty to a lesser charge, Berry agreed to a 48-year prison sentence and five years’ probation.”

[Woman pleads guilty in Chandler’s starvation Denver Post 8/12/08 by Mike McPhee]

Memorial Video

http://www.youtube.com/embed/6txlSOaMgyU

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Update: “The Colorado Court of Appeals has ordered a new sentence for a man convicted of starving a 7-year-old to death while forcing him to spend his last few days in a closet.

The court ruled Thursday that consecutive sentences of life in prison for Jon Phillips on his convictions of first-degree murder and 48 years for fatal child abuse are improper because the charges were based on the same evidence in the May 2007 death of Chandler Grafner.

The court ruled that the sentences should be served at the same time.

The ruling is expected to have little impact because of his life sentence.

A state watchdog program was set up following the deaths of at least 45 children in the child welfare system over five years, including Grafner.”

Murder sentence changed for man convicted of murder in boy’s starvation death

[The Republic 10/25/12 by Associated Press]

Update 2:“A foster mom who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of a 7-year-old who was left in a closet and starved to death, has filed an appeal to overturn her plea.

Sarah Berry took a plea deal in 2008 shortly after her boyfriend at the time, Jon Phillips, who had custody of the boy, was sentenced to a life sentence for the death of Chandler Grafner.

Grafner was found starved to death and inside a small closet in 2007 at the Denver apartment the couple shared.

Berry’s attorney told a judge her public defenders “ignored the only defense” and didn’t investigate soon enough to build a case for their client. She said they had enough testimony from two experts regarding Berry’s mental state to build a case.

Both the defense and prosecutors cross-examined one of the public defenders on Friday in Denver District Court.

The attorney, Jason Young, said the two experts who interviewed Berry did not present enough evidence of mental abuse to build a mental state defense.

He said he asked Berry whether Phillips had ever physically abused her and, “got nothing.”

“I worked my tail off in the case,” said Young, who joined the court through Skype, “and I would like to think I handled it to the best of my ability.”

Berry’s attorney, however, argued against that statement, saying both experts told the attorneys she was mentally distressed and needed further review.

“She wants her opportunity to present the case,” she said.

In court, Young said he wasn’t presented with a plea deal until toward the end of Phillip’s trial. He added the judge told him Berry would get 48 years and wasn’t open to further negotiations.

He testified that Berry asked him whether she should take the deal and he told her, “yes.”

Prosecutors argued Young and his colleague did what they had to do and Berry didn’t have to take the offer.

Both Grafner’s biological parents sat inside the courtroom throughout the three-day trial. Christina Grafner told Denver7 reporter Brendaliss Gonzalez that she was “conflicted by the case.”

“At first I was really angry” [when hearing about the appeal, but,] she said, “It’s in God’s hands now.”

Both sides made their final arguments on Friday afternoon and the judge will present a written verdict.

If he agrees to her appeal, Berry’s conviction could be overturned and she could get a chance for a trial. ”

Sarah Berry, convicted for leaving 7-year-old in a closet & starving him to death, files for appeal [The Denver Channel 3/24/16 by Brendaliss Gonzalez]