i covered this case elsewhere when poor little Christopher was missing. i have never forgotten it. the child was raped and murdered by his neighbors in the trailer park. George Edenfield and his 58-year-old father sodomized the boy and forced him to perform oral sex. this woman, the wife and mother of other 2 defendants held the little boy down for her husband and son to rape while she masturbated. dear GOD! a woman! a female monster. she pleaded out to take Death off her table. so soon her trial begins and i will watch and report here.
BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- A woman who testified that her husband abducted, assaulted and killed a 6-year-old Brunswick boy and who was prepared to do the same against her son will now face a trial on the same charges.
Peggy Edenfield, her husband, David, and adult son, George, were all charged with false imprisonment, sexual assault and murder after Christopher Barrios' naked body was found stuffed in a garbage bag in March 2007.
The state made Peggy Edenfield a plea offer on charges in her role in Christopher's death. During a status hearing in her case with Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett on Monday afternoon, she rejected the offer to plead guilty in exchange for 30 years in prison and elected to face a trial.
While the death penalty is still off the table, a guilty verdict could land Peggy Edenfield in prison for life.
The Barrios family was not happy that Peggy Edenfield could get a lesser penalty than her husband and called Monday's development a victory.
David Edenfield, 62, was convicted and sentenced to death in October 2009. George Edenfield was found incompetent to stand trial last summer.
According to the plea offer Peggy Edenfield signed in November 2007, the state would remove the death penalty and would not seek life in prison without parole as options in her case if she agreed to testify against her husband and son and tell investigators what happened to Christopher's clothes.
The agreement called for the state and defense to either agree on a plea agreement or take her case to trial after the cases against David and George Edenfield were completed.
Going forward with another trial, attorneys for both sides said they would like to explore a change of venue -- either moving the trial to another county or importing a jury from elsewhere in the state.
"I'm going to be there, guaranteed. That won't stop me," Christopher's grandmother, Sue Rodriguez, said of moving the trial. "Just like the mailman, rain, sleet or snow, I'm going to be there."
links to the complete contemporaneous backstory will be found here at News4Jax, paper of record. i will be following their reports. i was still in Florida when this happened just over the GA. line, the story was HUGE.
BRUNSWICK - Peggy Edenfield will be the next - and possibly last - member of her family to stand trial in the sexual abuse slaying of 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. almost four years ago.
An hour before conducting a hearing Monday about her case, Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett ordered her son, George Edenfield, to remain in a state mental hospital undergoing treatment until psychologists determine he is mentally competent to stand trial.
A convicted child molester, George Edenfield, 36, faces the death penalty if convicted of murdering the Brunswick kindergartner who was his family's neighbor in a Glynn County mobile home park.
Last August Scarlett ordered George Edenfield evaluated and treated if necessary by psychologists with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
Although he marginally understands the charges against him, George Edenfield remains incapable of assisting his lawyers in his defense, and still is incompetent to stand trial, psychologists said in a Jan. 10 summary of their findings.
There is a chance he "could be restored to competency" and should continue treatment and evaluation at Central State Hospital, the psychologists said in the report that Scarlett attached to his order.
Scarlett informed Peggy Edenfield and her lawyer, Richard Allen, of his ruling in her son's case at the beginning of her hearing. The 59-year-old woman showed no emotion at the information, which means she could be last to be tried in the slaying. Wearing a blue print dress with her hair in a bun, Peggy Edenfield looked straight ahead during the brief hearing.
Prosecutors consent to a change of venue for her trial, Special Assistant District Attorney John Johnson told Scarlett.
"We'd like to get it done before the end of the year," Johnson said.
Christopher disappeared while playing outside at Canal Mobile Home Park on March 8, 2007. Police recovered his body a week later stuffed inside black plastic garbage bags in woods about 2 miles from the park.
Peggy Edenfield's 62-year-old husband, David, was the first of the three family members to stand trial. In October 2009, a jury found him guilty of murder and imposed the death penalty. He is appealing his conviction.
Peggy Edenfield testified against her husband and she agreed to testify against their son if he stands trial. In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty against her.
Last week, Peggy Edenfield rejected a plea bargain that Christopher's grandmother told reporters called for her to serve 30 years in prison for the slaying.
"I want her to get a jury trial. I believe a jury will convict her and give her a lot more than 30 years," Sue Rodriguez said after the hearing.
This brings tears to my eyes. Such a beautiful child & what an absolutely horrific way to go. As a parent, I don't know how one would ever be able to come to peace with this tragedy. Bless his soul.
(02-15-2011, 09:40 PM)Lady Cop Wrote: when i heard details of case, i was tortured by what this innocent trusting child endured.
i hope these people die screaming.
I can understand. He was a very handsome young man with an incredible, infectious smile. I want to write that I hope he didn't suffer too much but how horrible that looks in print. These perps should all get the needle. Some cases cry out for it.
To the people responsible for this terrible crime, let me give you this advice: Tools needed: hammer and box of nails. Place self unclothed on a wooden bench. Stretch scrotum/vagina between fingers pressing firmly onto bench. Drive nail through left side of scrotum/labia into bench (repeat with right). Repeat this process until you are out of nails. Conclude process as follows: Pull feet onto bench and stand up as quickly and with as much force as possible.
"The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it." - George Bernard Shaw
Peggy Edenfield's lawyer wants her murder trial in the sexual abuse slaying of 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. moved out of Glynn County.
Citing excessive pre-trial publicity, Richard Allen has filed a motion seeking a change of venue. His 59-year-old client would "be unable to find a fair and impartial jury" in the county, Allen said in a motion filed Wednesday in Glynn County Superior Court.
Allen declined comment Friday.
District Attorney Jackie Johnson said it's likely that prosecutors will agree to a venue change.
If he grants the motion, Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett will decide whether to import a jury from another county and bring them to Brunswick for the trial or move the trial to another county.
No trial date has been set. Edenfield is undergoing evaluation to determine whether she is mentally competent to stand trial. She faces a life sentence if convicted of murdering the Brunswick boy.
Christopher disappeared while playing outside at Canal Mobile Home Park on March 8, 2007. Police recovered his body a week later inside a black plastic garbage bags in woods about two miles from the park.
Edenfield, her husband, David, and their son, George, a convicted child molester, were neighbors of Christopher. All three were charged with his murder.
David Edenfield, 61, is on Georgia's Death Row after a jury found him guilty of malice murder in October 2009. He is appealing his conviction and death sentence.
George Edenfield remains in a state mental hospital undergoing treatment until psychologists determine he is competent to stand trial.
Disgusting. She will be convicted for sure and I hope she gets life without the possibility of parole. Then she will get tortured and killed in prison.
all three of these subhumans should be skinned alive and thrown into a pit of feral hogs.
BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- A 62-year-old Glynn County woman about to go on trial in the 2007 slaying of a 6-year-old boy pleaded guilty but mentally retarded Thursday to five of the eight charges she was facing.
After an emotional, day-long, Peggy Edenfield pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, child molestation, cruelty to a child, concealing a death and tampering with evidence in the death of Christopher Barrios. Charges of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault were dropped.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett sentenced Edenfield to 60 years in prison -- the maximum for the charges.
The Barrios' family, which has been represented at every court hearing for the past four years, called the outcome not exactly justice, but the best the state could do.
“It’s good to see that she’ll die in prison," said Mike Barrios, the victim's father. "She deserved worse.”
"She stood there in doorway, small room, she prohibited him from leaving (as her husband and son were molesting the boy in their bathroom). He made statements to her, 'Help me. I need to leave. They’re hurting me.' She stood in that doorway, which effectively prevented him from leaving the room."
"She became excited and personally masturbated herself in front of Christopher while the murder was going on. ... She did not kill Christopher, but aided and abetted in the acts going on at that time."
BRUNSWICK GA. peggy edenfield was sentenced to 60 years in prison Thursday after she pleaded guilty to five of eight charges in the sexual abuse slaying of 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. four years ago.
The state dismissed two felony murder charges as part of the negotiated plea made over objections from Christopher's father, Mike Barrios, and grudging acceptance from Christopher's paternal grandmother, Sue Rodriguez.
Edenfield, 62, pleaded guilty but mentally retarded to false imprisonment, child molestation for *****ating while Christopher was molested and choked to death, second-degree cruelty to children, concealing the death of another and tampering with evidence. A second child molestation count was merged into the one she pleaded guilty to.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett, at the recommendation of prosecutors, sentenced her to the maximum on each charge, which adds up to 60 years in prison.
Edenfield, who a state psychologist said has an IQ of 62, made the last-minute plea deal during what was to have been her final hearing before her trial beginning Sept. 26.
Immediately after Scarlett imposed the sentence, Peggy Edenfield's sister, Sharon Phillips jumped up in the audience and shouted that Edenfield's lawyer, Richard Allen, has only seen her sister twice in the nearly five years she's been jailed awaiting trial and had left her essentially defenseless.
"She doesn't even get a chance to defend herself?" Phillips yelled.
Phillips also accused Glynn County police Capt. Marissa Tindale of spraying Lysol on her sister while questioning her about Christopher's disappearance and death.
At that point, Rodriguez leapt to her feet on the other side of the courtroom and shouted at Phillips, "What about Christopher?"
Taken aback, Phillips yelled, "I'm so sorry about that. It's not her fault. Peggy doesn't even know what an indictment means."
Rodriguez then said "Where's my baby? ... Where was his defense from her?"
Bailiffs escorted Phillips out of the courthouse. No charges were filed against her or Rodriguez for their outbursts.
Mike Barrios told the Times-Union that he didn't want any kind of a plea bargain.
"I just can't do no deal with Peggy Edenfield. Christopher wouldn't have wanted me bargaining like that," Barrios said.
Barrios said he is glad that Edenfield won't ever get out of prison, but the plea bargain brings no solace or closure.
"It's good to see that she will die in prison, but she deserves worse. ... Nothing will bring Christopher back," Barrios said from behind the wheel of his car just before driving from the courthouse.
Rodriguez told the Times-Union she could accept the plea deal but didn't like it.
"I feel like Christopher got some justice today. ... She's gone for good, now. She won't ever get out to do this to someone else's innocent baby," Rodriguez said.
2 counts dismissed
Edenfield faced trial on two counts of felony murder and two counts of child molestation along with single counts of false imprisonment, first-degree cruelty to children, tampering with evidence and concealing the death of another.
She was charged with causing Christopher's death two ways: first by encouraging or helping her husband, David, and their son, George, sodomize and choke him, and secondly by keeping him inside the Edenfield home while he was molested and killed.
The uncertainty that a felony murder conviction would withstand a legal challenge on appeal prompted prosecutors to dismiss those two counts, Special Assistant District Attorney John B. Johnson told the court as he asked Scarlett to accept it.
"She did not actually kill Christopher," said Johnson, citing the evidence which showed that Edenfield *****d while the boy was molested and strangled, and kept him from fleeing but didn't physically cause his death.
The evidence was clear, however, that Edenfield did nothing to help the Brunswick kindergartner when he cried out in fear and pain and begged "Help me ... he's hurting me ... No ... Let me go," while he was molested and choked, Johnson said, relating Edenfield's statements to police and her testimony during her husband's trial.
Body was hidden
After the boy was dead, Edenfield used bleach to clean fingerprints and DNA off his body. She then helped her husband and son hide his body. Later, they moved it because they feared George Edenfield would lead police to it, Johnson said.
"We were not able to seek the death penalty against her," said Johnson, noting the evidence did not meet Georgia's legal standard for the death sentence.
Turning toward Edenfield, who showed no expression, Johnson told her: "Mrs. Edenfield, I'll tell you right now, I expect you to die in prison."
The 60-year sentence, Johnson said, is twice the minimum of 30 years that Edenfield would have served before becoming eligible for parole if she had been convicted of felony murder.
Allen asked Scarlett to show his client mercy. He cited a report from a state psychologist who examined Edenfield to determine if she was mentally competent to stand trial.
He noted the psychologist said Edenfield is mentally competent, however, her IQ of 62 means she also is mentally retarded.
Allen said the report contained mitigating factors that would explain why Edenfield *****d while Christopher was molested and strangled, although he did not detail those factors.
Edenfield replied "yes, sir" when Scarlett asked if she understood and was guilty of the offenses she was charged with. She also told the court she was satisfied with Allen's representation.
Scarlett made no comment as he sentenced her to the consecutive, maximum prison terms on each of the five counts she pleaded guilty to.
After the sentencing, Tindale said she never sprayed Edenfield with Lysol. Tindale, who supervised the investigation into Christopher's slaying, said she did disinfect the interview room after Edenfield left it.
Christopher disappeared while playing outside at Canal Mobile Home Park on March 8, 2007. Police recovered his nude, decomposed body a week later inside five black plastic garbage bags in woods about two miles from the park.
The three Edenfields were the boy's neighbors.
David Edenfield has been on Georgia's Death Row since shortly after a jury found him guilty of malice murder in October 2009.
A convicted child molester, George Edenfield, remains in a state mental hospital undergoing treatment until psychologists determine he is competent to stand trial.
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