Girlfriend pleads guilty in starvation case
By Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published August 11, 2008 at 7:53 p.m.
Updated August 11, 2008 at 8:04 p.m.
Photo by Javier Manzano © The Rocky
Sarah Berry was sentenced to 48 years in prison Monday in the starvation death of 7-year-old Chandler Grafner.
Chandler Grafner with Sarah Berry in photo showing the youngster getting his hair groomed
The jury had barely begun deliberations Monday in the murder trial of Jon Phillips when his girlfriend, Sarah Berry, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder.
Phillips, 27, and Berry, 23, were both charged with first-degree murder in the death of 7-year-old Chandler Grafner, who doctors said died of starvation and dehydration while being kept in a closet.
Berry's trial was to get under way Tuesday, while deliberations continued in the Phillips case.
But last-minute negotiations resulted in a plea bargain that spares Berry from a possible life prison sentence for first-degree murder.
She will be sentenced to 48 years in prison Sept. 29.
She faced the same charges as Phillips: first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and destruction of evidence.
Berry appeared in court in a khaki jail uniform, shackles around her waist. Flanked by her public defenders, Jason Young and Willie Rios, she answered questions from the judge in a faint voice, barely whispering at times.
"Guilty," she said, choking back tears.
She left the courtroom with her eyes downcast, not looking at her family. She will be sentenced Sept. 29.
Prosecutors and Berry's public defenders declined comment because the jury is out in the Phillips case. Grafner family and friends also declined comment, as did Berry's family.
Earlier in the afternoon, prosecutor David Lamb jabbed his finger in the air toward Phillips and told a Denver jury that the only justice in Chandler's sad death is to convict Phillips of murder.
A 'prison cell'
"He chose to deprive this child of food and water knowing if you do that, the child is going to die," Lamb said, at times struggling to keep his emotions in check during his closing argument.
Chandler was starved to death while kept in the dark on the floor of a locked linen closet where he was forced to wallow in his own feces and urine, Lamb told the jury.
"That was his prison cell," Lamb said.
But defense attorney Darren Cantor said Chandler was not denied food and water by Phillips. Instead, he said, Chandler died of an undiagnosed form of diabetes that caused his body to feed on itself.
Lamb scoffed at that, noting that withholding food had long been a punishment for the boy, who came with his half-brother to live with Phillips and his girlfriend Sarah Berry after their birth mother lost custody.
Chandler was even made to eat oatmeal as punishment while the rest of the family had Easter dinner in April 2007, Lamb said.
When Chandler was examined by authorities after he came to school with a blackened ear and was asked if he had anything to eat that day, Lamb said, Chandler replied, "I'm not good so I don't get things."
"What has to be done to a child of 7 to describe himself as not good enough for food?" Lamb asked.
Once Phillips got custody of the boys in January 2007, he "thought no one was watching Chandler any more and that's when things changed dramatically," prosecutor Verna Carpenter said. "But he forgot someone was watching — a really smart 5-year-old boy who led us to the evidence." She referred to Chandler's little brother Dominic.
Carpenter and Lamb reminded jurors of the horrific key points of the trial:
--Pictures his little brother Dominic drew of Chandler showing him screaming for food and water.
--The cellphone call Berry made to Phillips after Chandler became so desperate for water that the threatened to escape from the closet, get a knife and kill them if he didn't get a drink. That call came eight days before he died May 6, 2007.
--The feces-encrusted box and shower curtain retrieved from the garbage, which Dominic said was thrown there by his parents after Chandler died.
Cantor attributed the stench from the apartment and the large number of air fresheners there as efforts to deal with a pet cat who wasn't box-trained.
That prompted Carpenter to retort, "That cat basically must have exploded in the closet." Carpenter said a cat couldn't account for the amount of feces found in the closet, on the box and the air mattress.
'Winds of emotion'
Carpenter contended that the defense failed to deliver on the promise made during opening statements to show that Chandler died of diabetic ketoacidosis.
By the time Dr. Stephen Factor testified, Carpenter said, his opinion changed.
"That's because there weren't any ketones in Chandler's body," she said. "There was no acetone in his blood."
Factor testified that Chandler's blood sugar was abnormally high and he believed Chandler had undiagnosed diabetes. He said Chandler could have suffered extreme dehydration and starvation because of it. But he did not find evidence of ketoacidosis.
Cantor said "the winds of emotion have blown through this case" from the moment paramedics arrived at Chandler's apartment and saw something they weren't prepared to see.
"Those people had every reason to be upset," he said, But Chandler's condition wasn't the result of intentional starvation by Phillips, he said.
Lamb disagreed.
"By May of 2007, Jon Phillips had had enough to Chandler Grafner" and wanted to raise only Dominic, his biological child, Lamb said. "He had an intense dislike for Chandler Grafner.
Evidence of mounting abuse and scrutiny by teachers, social workers and police posed a problem for Phillips, Lamb said.
"He had a choice to make," Lamb said. "He chose a dead body over explaining a sick and battered child. A dead body doesn't talk about the closet or the bruises, and a dead body won't put you in jail."
A verdict of "anything less than murder in the first degree is not the full measure of justice," Lamb said. "Anything less than that is a gift of mercy to a man who showed none."
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August 11, 2008
8:29 p.m.
Suggest removal
EZBakeOven writes:
She doesn't even look like her mugshot. Well, I hope the little piggy enjoys her stay, gorging herself, all the while thinking about how she starved Chandler to death.
August 11, 2008
8:47 p.m.
Suggest removal
HolierThanThou writes:
The crime was sick but the woman plead guilty. Sometimes the conscience is slow to awaken. She's probably gaining weight because of depression. If she sits in her cell all day doing nothing except being sad then she will gain weight.
I believe you all shall get your wish for her early demise. I don't believe she's likely to survive even ten years of her sentence in prison. By the time that would happen you all will have forgotten her and wonder why they published that line in the news.
August 11, 2008
9:16 p.m.
Suggest removal
Alexandra writes:
I am surprised! I thought for sure she would wait until the slimeball himself was found guilty (and I am confident he will be) and then claim he abused her too and she was forced and all that c#*p they come up with sometimes.
I wish that POS boyfriend would have saved us all some time and money and done the same. Can you just STAND his face in that picture--that arrogant, expressionless mug.... I never knew I could hate someone the way I do when I look at him. There is no legal punishment suitable for him.
Rest in peace you sweet young child and may Dominic find some peace in his life too. I see a long tough road for that poor boy--
Does anyone know where he is living? Have any news reports said?
-Alex
I hope the jury is back tomorrow.
GUILTY all counts......
August 11, 2008
9:25 p.m.
Suggest removal
ShadyGrady writes:
What an idiot. If she had turned on Phillips she would have gotten out in 10 years.
August 11, 2008
9:59 p.m.
Suggest removal
Barron writes:
I haven't been following this story every day because it's too disturbing. After reading this today I have to wonder what kind of person (and I'm using that term loosely) would do this to a child? most people wouldn't treat an alley rat like this. Both of these people need to be removed from society for good.
August 11, 2008
10:41 p.m.
Suggest removal
RoloFan writes:
I'm not here to defend Ms. Berry, but she was only 22 at the time of Chandler's death. Do any of you think that she might have also been abused by Phillips? Certainly he controlled her. And who's to say that 48 years in prison isn't punish enough? She will be 71 before she's released. She pretty much kissed her life away and she will have 48 years to think about how she wrecked her life and Chandler's. She'll be an old woman before she knows what freedom is.
August 11, 2008
10:57 p.m.
Suggest removal
ColetteDD2 writes:
Whether due to guilt, depression or adjusting to prison life Berry is already paying for her choices. Her acceptance of a plea spares everyone the time, money and trauma of a second trial. A sliver of compassion into an incident virtually devoid of any is worthy of note.
Colette, Denver, CO
August 11, 2008
11:05 p.m.
Suggest removal
lyssa2593 writes:
Hi my name is Alyssa Sells, I am Chandlers big cousion I think that Sara Berry desveries way more then 48 years in prison. I think that she should be locked in a closet like Chandler was with no food or water. I just want to thank everyone who donoted money for a headstone for Chandler.