Law&Crime Sidebar - 'Monster' Parents Make Shocking Decision in Gruesome Abuse Trial

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

After just one day of gut-wrenching testimony in their abuse trial, Krista and Tyler Schindley decided to plead guilty to starving their adopted 10-year-old son. According to prosecutors, the couple also adopted the boy’s twin brothers, but the 10-year-old was the only one they abused. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber goes through the most disturbing parts of testimony that seemingly pushed the Schindleys to change their pleas.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Go to https://ThriveMarket.com/sidebar to receive 30% off your first order AND a FREE gift when you join Thrive Market today!HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. When the B. Rann away from your residence, Ms. Schindley and you were stopped by the police, you never even asked is okay I've never seen human beings do what you two did to another human being

that is how a Georgia judge described the case of Krista and Tyler Shinley parents who locked their 10 year old son in a dark room and starved him down to just 36 pounds after just one day of gut-wrenching testimony they pleaded guilty to the charges that will keep them behind bars for decades. I'm going to break down the horrifying abuse hidden behind their picture-perfect home

and the boy who fought to survive it. Welcome to Sidebar. Presented by Law and Crime, I'm Jesse Weber. Now, from the outside, their home looked like the picture of suburban perfection. A well-kept house on Westminster Circle and Griffin, Georgia, where the Schindler family lived with their children. Behind closed doors, prosecutors say one child endured unimaginable cruelty, locked in a dark room, denied food, and left to waste away to just

36 pounds. On April 30th, Krista and Tyler Shinley, the adoptive parents, accused of systemically starving their 10-year-old son, stood trial. But after just a single day of testimony, they made a decision that would bring this boy's long nightmare to an end. Now, before that moment came, the horror began to unravel nearly a year earlier. on May 12th, 2023 when a neighbor spotted a barefoot malnourished boy wandering the street alone begging for food. I just had a child walk past my house alone, a small child, and we went out to see if everything was okay. And he's asking us not to tell his parents. I don't know who his parents are, but he's asking to please not take him home. So when police arrive, they found this 10-year-old

boy who we've chosen not to identify, who was visibly emaciated. He told officers he was walking to a Kroger grocery store because he was so hungry. Body cam footage captured his frail appearance and this heartbreaking story. Medical staff confirmed he weighed just 36 pounds, less than half the normal weight for a boy's age. An investigation revealed horrifying details. Court documents stated this child had been locked in his room for years. He was denied light, warm water, food, a bathroom, even human interaction. He suffered disfigurement and dental injuries, allegedly inflicted in front of the other children. In the time of their arrest, the Shinley's face charges, including criminal attempt to commit malice murder, attempted second degree murder,

cruelty to children, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment battery. Warren stated that Tyler Shinley, quote, intentionally withheld food from the boy, constituting a substantial step toward murder, as defined under Georgia Code 1641. According to an arrest warrant reviewed by Fox 5, the said accused Tyler Shinley did commit the offense of criminal attempt when in connection to the charge of malice murder and murder second degree, he intentionally withheld food, starvation from the name victim, a 10-year-old who at the time of the commission was said to be in the care of the name suspect Tyler Shinley.

And the case rested heavily on Georgia statute 1641, which defines criminal attempt, and that says a person committed the offense of criminal attempt when with the intent to commit a specific crime, he performs any act that constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of that crime. Now, the trial officially started on May 1st, and in opening statements, the prosecution laid out a chilling case, arguing that the Shinleys never wanted the child and only adopted him because they wanted his twin siblings. In turn, they showed him no love, and they made no effort to care for him. You're going to hear about a child.

In 2023, he went by the name of Schindley. That wasn't his name at birth. He was born in 2013. You're going to hear that he was taken from his birth mother and placed into the foster care system. You're going to hear that he came to live at 1705, Westminster Circle. and that one very specific bedroom, the one very specific bedroom that was different from every other bedroom. So it took us a while to put this one together, and we're working through lunch, dinner, snacks, but I want to eat healthy.

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You're going to hear that when they initially got custody of they did not live here in Spalding County. They lived in different counties. They lived in Madison County and then in Henry County. And when they lived in Henry County, you're going to hear from some school teachers. some people who had in their class at Rocks Springs Elementary School. And you're going to hear that there were concerns by these teachers, this is a little foster child with the Shemlies, and they were concerns that he wasn't getting enough food. He was constantly upset, he was constantly hungry, and he complained about constantly

being hungry. You're going to hear that when he is found walking down the street alone, barefoot, and size five teeth clothing that hangs off of his little frame, that he's hungry, and all he asks is to be fed and to not have to go back home. You're going to see photographs through the course of this case that showed that he's covered from the top of his head to the soles of his feet and injuries. You're going to hear how the defendants violated law after law, both moral law as well as the rules that are set for by the state of Georgia and how they did it intentionally because you're going to hear that they never wanted and they never hit it they told person

after person that they did not want was their sacrificial lamb because they wanted the twins was the cost of adopting the twins but you're going to hear that the person who paid the cost was not Tyler Shumley and was not Christa Schumley but was him himself

you're going to hear about his life you're going to hear about the cruel and malicious things that were done to him because they didn't want him because he was difficult because they couldn't control them no matter how hard they tried. You're going to hear how the perfect facade of 1705 Westminster Circle is just that

a facade. Because the defendants didn't need anything to take care of it, they chose not to. They chose not to deal with him, to lock him in that one room. Put him out of sight, out of mind, and if I die, soon the better, no more problem. Now, the defense painted a different picture, portraying Krista Shinley as overwhelmed and unprepared to deal with the boy's behavioral issues. Her attorney claimed she sought help, her pleas were ignored, and all mistakes were made, claim was, there was no intent to harm him. Krista watched Furn Schindley is not a monster, ladies and gentlemen. Krista did not set out to adopt or foster any of these children with an attempt to commit the acts alleged in the indictment.

All Krista ever wanted was a big family. One that includes lots of children. even if it meant that they had to adopt and foster. And said, well, we have another kid. And he is the older sibling of the two sets of twins. And his name is . Yes, I do have a lot of problems, behavioral issues, as the state just told you.

So I won't get into all that. that because they already just told you and yes they did tell Krista that he had those problems however what they didn't tell Krista was the severity of the problems she was super super concerned about what was going on about the obsession with food about all the behavioral issues now only at school, but at home as well. Her cries for help went unanswered. She begged them to help, not just her, but also .

She went as far as to do her own independent research to see what could possibly be wrong with heaven because when she did take him to the doctor every time she would take him everything was always considered to be undeterminable when Krista got he was five years old and the doctors don't like to diagnose children with a lot of psychiatric diet diagnoses at such a young age, and y'all hear also all about death. At the end of the day, like I told you guys, her prayers, her wishes, her cries for help went on to answer. Not having the proper tools that she needed to not just comfort. But to calm him also, she was overwhelmed is what Krista was.

But Krista never, never intentionally starved the beat. But here's the thing about that. Testimony from witnesses painted a hauntingly different picture. One of the responding officers described the boy's skeletal frame saying he was so emaciated. It was hard to believe he was actually 10 years old. The officer told the jury he'd never seen a child in such a condition in over two decades of law enforcement. He also shared body cam footage from the moment that he responded to that 911 phone call, offering, again, I don't know a better word to say, chilling. First-hand view of the boy's condition and his desperate attempt to escape.

My initial response was that there's something going on with his child, the appearance, the weight, the discoloration of the body. in certain areas there's some scratch munch that had a little bit of blood the nose like the skin was filling off immediately I felt like that there was some type of issue

going on with the child he shouldn't be very thin okay so at that point Sergeant Webb did you switch the call from non-emergency to something else

my initial innings because I am a parent was to go ahead and see if we can start PMS to check this child status because at the time we had some clue what was going on. Okay. And you were wearing body, Dana. Oh, that's fine. Okay.

And I believe when I spoke to you about this case, Sergeant Webb, you told me you'd never really seen anything like this in a child. Is that... Not any hundred years I've never seen a kid in this condition. At this point, you are walking out to the house and try to figure out what's going on here. Is that there? Yes. Oh, at least be comfortable.

Hey, buddy. It's okay. You all right? What's going to go? What's going on? What's going on? Okay. What's going on?

I don't want to be there. Oh, what do I get? You can? Okay. Okay. You go to school in . Okay, is that money out there in the black heart? So, well, I didn't say you were going to go back.

I got to talk to you first to find out what's going on. We're going to figure all that out any minute. You know your address? Say you right across the street. Were you surprised when he told you that he was 10 years old? And you're training and experience in 23 years of law enforcement. Is that a normal size for a 10-year-old boy? I've seen smaller kids, but this particular kid did have these 10-year-old old.

It was hard for me to believe that. Paramedic recalled the boy arriving at the hospital barefoot, oversized clothes, no underwear, looking so frail. But his joints shut it out like sticks. If you remember a child coming in, never forgetting. I can explain back to the jury in your experience. A lot of it was so significant about that day. As I came in, I saw them bringing the child in only in a structure, bringing him to one of our rooms. And as I came in, I noticed how extremely thin this child here, very skeletal.

appearance. That's not something we see on a regular basis in children that don't have even in general abnormalities, things like that. It was a very rare occurrence to see a child as thin as he seemed to be. I remember looking very skeletal. His joints stuck out a lot, very thin in between, and then, of course, your joints are bigger bones. So his elbows and his knees appeared larger simply because he was so very thin. What do you remember about his clothing? His clothing looked worn. It seemed to be somewhat clean.

It wasn't extremely dirty. But what really struck me is he had on a 5T shirt and a size 5, 6 shorts at 10 years old. And finally, it makes emotional. Yes. And the shirt and the shorts were too big, perhaps. Do you remember he had on shoes or socks? No shoes and no top. Did you all tobacco?

No underwear. Did you all provide himself? Yes, ma'am. Then you had a crime scene investigator who testified that all the other bedrooms in the house were filled with toys and clothes except for one. The boy's room contained a mattress, a puppy pad, no bedding, a single book, light bulbs were missing, the window was nailed shut, and a frosted stick. or blocked visibility. All right. What are we looking at here?

So initially walking into the bedroom, I'm in my photograph. There's a mattress. I can't shirt with a sheet and a puppy pad. 6.59. All right. What are we looking at here? So this photograph you're looking,

it's another overall photograph into the bedroom of the windows in his room. This photograph is very dark, misland as wide. There were no lights in his room. State 60, there was a light fixture. Were there any light bulbs in it? No, no, I'm not. Okay, state 61. What are we looking at here? You're looking at his mattress in the floor and a puppy pad. Okay, did he have any bedding, any kind of pillow, blanket, sheet? No way. How about 62? Was there anything else in that there was a single book that was found in the floor but that was all as far as any kind of entertainment at all for the child okay um state 63 what are we looking at here this is

another photograph of his window the only light source for these windows is the lines have been pulled up however the glass had a frosted sticker over them so you could not see in or out. Could the window be open? No, ma'am. Why not? They have been mailship. So just one day after testimony began, this trial took a very different and dramatic

turn. Shinley's abruptly ended proceedings choosing to plead guilty rather than face a full jury trial. They admitted to 12 charges, including criminal attempt to commit malice murder, multiple counts of cruelty to children, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, family violence battery. Each charge carries severe penalties, up to 30 years for attempted murder, 10 to 20 years for the others. And at their sentencing hearing, the school counselor testified that teachers had raised concerns about the boy's lack of food and that cafeteria staff had witnessed him licking empty

Tupperware. She said she pleaded with caseworkers not to let the Shinleys adopt him. So one particular instance was he didn't have enough food. There was issues and we gave him school lunch and we were we called I think I spoke to dad that he he didn't have enough food and so we wanted to provide him with school lunch today there was no food in the lunchbox I think and later on we found out he ate it on the bus or something and so I called and I got dad first and he agreed for us to get him a school lunch but then we later mom was upset that he's not allowed to eat school lunch you're only allowed to to give him watching his lunchbox because it was a special diet of some sort.

Okay. And that was just one instance. That was one instance. Yes. Were there other times where he was observed, like, licking the bowl, trying to get more food out of what he had? So on another occasion, during the lunchtime, the cafeteria stuff was when he came with the small portions. And one of the cafeteria, the kind of refreshion, the cafeteria, the cafeteria, the cafeteria,

came to report to me that he did not have enough food in the lunchbox and so the little bit that he had she and she was very emotional actually he was licking the little top of where the salary that was in it clean okay well we weren't allowed to give him a lunch from the cafeteria so she just reported it to me okay now did you again confront the defendants the the parents with concerns about not getting enough to eat yes we did and it got to the point where I reached out to the caseworkers about it. Okay, so you actually reported to DeFax that you had concerns about this? Yes.

At the time that this was going on was FACA foster care with the defendants. Yes. Okay, so he had not yet been adopted. Is that correct? No. Okay. Did you express concerns about his adoption to DeFax? Yes, numerous times. Okay.

And besides food, what were those concerns that you had for EFN and his relationship with at the time foster parents, Krista and Tyler Schindley. So on one occasion, we had a meeting, IEP meeting, and during that meeting, it was, a lot was going on. And during that meeting, Ms. Schindley expressed that being forced on her. She only wanted, that she only wanted, she had only one, I want to, not the exact words, but she, what she was referring to that, she only wanted the kids, the sister, the twins, and he was forced on her. And so after the meeting, I emailed the caseworker. And I said, please do not allow them to, and I was, I thought I probably get in trouble, but I was, I was like, please do not allow them to adopt him. I don't

think they love him. Now, by the way, you know, there is. is something to be said in these kinds of cases, it's great when the case can end and it doesn't have to continue because for a jury to be exposed to all this, right, for alleged victims to have to testify, we talk about it all the time, from first responders, paramedics to have to testify about this. It's incredibly difficult. So there is a benefit. There is a good thing to not have this trial continue. But going on to what we saw in court, so Krista Schindley gave a statement, offered a tearless apology, expressing regret, but didn't seem to be taking much accountability. I understand that many people came into contact with us through this case, and they were affected negatively.

And for that, I sincerely apologize to every single person. I know there's people that I have no idea who they even are, and I'm very sorry for that. I'd like to apologize to all of our children. I know the older children have family around them who love them and I'm thankful for that and I just pray that God would bring the right parents along to be able to give the younger children a wonderful life. I know that the love of God is able to do many things and I'm trusting him with our children and I'm just very thankful this opportunity.

was not swayed. I've been an attorney for over 20 years. Much of that time I was a prosecutor. I've seen people do heinous things to each other. I've seen people with their head almost cut off. I've seen murders. I've seen child molestation. I've seen child pornography.

I've even prosecuted a child death where the child was tortured. But as I sat here yesterday, I thought to myself, I've never seen human beings do what you two did to another human being. I have a special aid son who's autistic. God, placed him with me as a blessing. Many people don't have the blessing to have children. There's probably some here in court today that don't have that blessing. And you threw it away.

When the ran away from your residence, Ms. Yenley, and you were stopped by the police. You never even asked, is okay? That would have been the first thing that I would have asked if one of my children were missing from my residence. And to sit here and listen to testimony where your adopted son, your son, was so hungry that when he was given food, the hospital and crumbs dropped into his napkin. He was so scared that that napkin full of crumbs was going to be taken away.

And while I appreciate you not putting your children through this process and making them testify, you sure should, you sure shown a hell of a time to show mercy on this. So in the end, Krista and Tyler Schindley were each sentenced to 40 years in prison plus 20 years probation. And in my own opinion, after hearing all this and seeing all this, that was the right decision, my opinion. For more coverage on this trial and others, check out Long Crimes YouTube page. And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Please check us out and subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber.

Speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.