The Misery Machine - The Case of Christian Choate

Starting point is 00:00:00 On May 4, 2011, police entered the Colfax Mobile Home Park located in the 5,900 block of West 36 Avenue in Gary, Indiana. The police were led by Riley Choate, a former resident who had moved away about two years prior with his wife and seven children. Riley led the police to a shed located not at his former home, but at the trailer of a family member. Needless to say, residents of the park were not prepared for what police were about to uncover. The police were there following a tip from Riley's former girl. girlfriend and mother of his two children, Amy Eric's Estrada. Amy had called the police to report that she had just been informed that her son, Christian, was dead.

Starting point is 00:00:40 Christian was the younger of two children that Riley and Amy had shared. Her daughter, Christina, who she had not heard from in many years, had called her to break the news to her. Amy had not seen her heard from her two children since they were placed in Riley's custody in 2005, six years earlier. Not only did Christina tell her mother that Christian and her mother that Christian was dead. He had been dead for two years. Christian Choate was born on December 27th, 1995 to parents Riley Choate and Amy Eric's Estrada. Before Christian was even born, his family was on the DCS radar.

Starting point is 00:01:17 Amy's sister Kristen was only 10 years old when baby Christian was born, and she remembered the day he came home from the hospital. She said he was so cute and tiny that she just wanted to hold him all of the time. As he grew older, Christian was a boy who love wrestling, Hot Wheels Toys, and the movie Toy Story. His aunt remembered the last time she saw him in 2005, playing with action figures. She described him as quiet and shy, always a good boy. Christian's first grade teacher, Sheila Bichinsky, taught him at Hosford Park Elementary School. She remembered him as a cute, blonde-haired little boy with lots of energy. Not much as known about the early years that Christian lived with his mother. We do know that Riley and Amy were never married

Starting point is 00:02:04 and they appeared to have broken up early in Christian's life. By 1999, Riley was married to an older woman named Kimberly Kubina. Kimberly had some children of her own and over the years they also gained custody of many of her sister's children. Kimberly's sister had lost custody of her nine children due to addiction in 2001. And from 2001 to 2009, most of the children lived with Kimberly and Riley. In 2004, DCS received a report that Christian had become the victim of abuse, and the accusations were made towards Riley. The DCS investigation was unable to substantiate the claims, but they did find evidence that Riley was using inappropriate discipline with some of Kimberly's nieces. The girls were placed in state custody for about three months before returning to Riley and Kimberly.

Starting point is 00:02:58 In 2005, another DCS call was made on Christian's behalf, but this time the allegations were made towards Amy and her then boyfriend. This time, it was for the alleged essay of three children in the household. This investigation uncovered evidence of neglect and lack of supervision on Amy's behalf. However, the essay claims could not be substantiated. The boyfriend was never charged and his name has never been made public. Following this discovery, DCS removed Christian and his sister Christina from their mother's home. Instead, Riley was given full custody. At the time, Christian was nine and his sister was around 12 years old.

Starting point is 00:03:41 Many sources have cited this placement as irresponsible. Riley had previous involvement with DCS, as well as a fairly long criminal history that made him a felon. In July of 1990, Riley was charged with resisting law enforcement and criminal conversion. When we looked up what was considered criminal conversion, in Indiana, it appears that this was likely a charge involving Riley trying to take ownership of something that was not his. For example, if he leased a trailer or motor vehicle and then claimed ownership of the item without an actual sale. In September of 1990, his criminal record shows two counts of converted data violation and one count

Starting point is 00:04:19 of a legal transportation of an alcoholic beverage on a public highway. This term, converted data violation, comes up a few times. Our research showed that this is likely a charge that was not converted accurately from a paper record to a digital record. Other people in Indiana note that they have old felony traffic violations and DUIs that show up under this category on the criminal record. In October of 1990, he was charged with auto theft. June of 1991, his criminal record again cites a charge of converted data violations.

Starting point is 00:04:49 In May in October of 1992, he was charged with battery. In September of 1992, he was charged with public indecency. In May of 1994, he was charged with driving with a suspended license. In January of 1998, he was charged with felony auto theft and spent two years in the Indiana Department of Corrections. So with a criminal history like that, as well as a half a dozen DCS reports by this point, how could he have gotten custody of Christian and Christina? In addition, DCS reports show that Kimberly was cited for educational neglect in 2004 in connection

Starting point is 00:05:24 with her own daughter. Somehow, both kids moved into his home and they were enrolled in the Marriville Community School on March 4, 2005. From here, things begin to get murky. Our research uncovered many conflicting accusations made against the minors in the home. We're going to deliver the information as it is represented in our sources. It is noted that Christian was average-sized when he moved in with his father and seemed to be healthy. We know that he was receiving special education services at school, and over the years he had been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and ADD.

Starting point is 00:06:02 Kimberly and Raleigh would later claim that they caught Christian touching his younger stepbrother inappropriately in 2006. Supposedly, they heard him tell his brother that they would be real brothers after they played The Hump and, game. Again, we are unclear if this is true or an excuse for later mistreatment of Christian. We would like to remind our listeners that child victims of abuse often exhibit these behaviors because that is how the adults treated them. Now, after this incident, Kimberly and Riley started locking Christian in the basement of their home in Merrillville, Indiana. In 2007, another DCS report was made. This report claimed the living conditions in Riley and Kimberly's husband. were filthy and that there were 10 children living there. It is unclear if there was any follow-up

Starting point is 00:06:51 from this report, but what we know is that none of the children were removed at that time. It is likely that if an investigative worker came to the home, Kimberly and Riley would not allow them to come inside. Without a warrant, the caseworker does not have grounds to force entry into a home to check on the kids. March of 2007, a letter was sent to Kimberly and Riley about Christian school attendance. He had missed 15 days of the current grading period. and 28 days total that year. Schools letter stated that they were concerned he was missing out on not only his regular education, but also on the required special education services he was supposed to receive.

Starting point is 00:07:27 A few days later, the school administration found a voicemail from either Kimberly or Riley stating that they would be pulling Christian to homeschool him. As you may know, everyone that works in a school is a mandated reporter. There are protocols they have to follow for truancy or suspected abuse or neglect. However, every educator knows the risk involved with these reports and protocols. There is always a chance that if they make that call, even if it is anonymous, the family will blame them and the child may never return to school. At times, I'm sure reporters have to wonder if it's better to not make the report and see

Starting point is 00:08:06 this child occasionally or make the report and risk never knowing what happened to them. A teacher friend of ours has seen this work both ways. Sometimes she has been blamed by families who removed their children from her care and never returned. Other times, she has seen this date intervene appropriately and saved children from homes where they were at risk of imminent death. Previously, Christian had been struggling with his academics. He failed the English language art standardized testing two years in a row, which made him eligible for summer school, but I'm sure you can guess he never showed. In April of 2008, the family uprooted and moved to the Colfax Mobile Home Park in Gary, Indiana. Many sources note that the children's grandmother also resided in the same mobile home park.

Starting point is 00:08:56 It is unclear if this was Kimberly or Riley's parent and therefore grandmother to the children, or if she was the grandmother to one of the adults. On April 27, 2007, Christian and Christina were both removed from school and registered to be homeschooled. We often see, homeschool was the excuse Kimberly and Riley gave the state to give them free reign to abuse their children without anyone knowing. Christian was the favorite target for both Riley and Kimberly. He'd be slapped, punched, kicked, and beaten with a metal pole. In this new trailer, there was no basement to confine Christian, so instead he was kept to a single

Starting point is 00:09:35 room inside of the home. Initially it was the bathroom, and later it was Riley's room. However, at this point, Christian still had some fight in him, and he broke out of the house and ran away. His goal was to get to his mother. However, he was found shortly afterwards at a nearby Walgreens and brought back. After this incident, things took a turn for the worst. Kimberly bought a dog crate from a neighbor across the street for $15. This dog crate was put in Riley's room right next to his computer.

Starting point is 00:10:02 This became Christian's new prison. Christian would spend the next 12 months in that dog crate. He was initially led out to do chores around the house, go to the bathroom, and eat food. However, it wasn't long before Christian was able to put his skinny, malnourished arms through the crate and unlatch it. He, of course, ran away again. The whole family went looking for him. Once again, he was found, and he was dragged back to the cage. After Christian's escape attempts from his cage, Riley added another layer to keep his son imprisoned.

Starting point is 00:10:34 He drove to a local hardware store and bought four locks. He attached them to the cage along with three others that he already had. The keys for these locks sat on his computer desk right next to the cage. At some point in his confinement, his sister Christina became his primary caretaker. She was instructed by Kimberly and Riley to feed him and let him out for bathroom breaks. According to both her reports, and those of others in the house, she was also one of the people abusing Christian. The difference in these reports is that Christina said she would strike her brother out of fear.

Starting point is 00:11:07 she felt that if she did not follow the orders from Kimberly and Riley, that she too would be beaten. Others in the house claimed to have seen her hitting Christian even when Kimberly and Riley were not present. Things continued to get worse for Christian. At some point, Kimberly noticed that Christian's feet were turning purple from lack of mobility. She then instructed Christina to allow him out to do exercises in an attempt to increase his circulation. In addition, she instructed Christina to start giving him ice-cold baths twice a week. Kimberly also claimed this was to increase his circulation. The other children in the house would later tell how Christians screamed during these baths. Imagine being completely emaciated.

Starting point is 00:11:52 Your extremities are starting to fail from staying in a cramped position all the time, and then your treatment is to have your aching body doused in ice water. At this point, Riley and Kimberly did not see Christian as a human. They told the other kids, and I quote, He needs to be locked up. He's a dog. Now, I should note that if you lock your dog up like that, you're a piece of shit, but I digress. While Christian sat curled up in the cage day in and day out,

Starting point is 00:12:25 he could hear the sounds of his family eating meals and children playing outside, but he was never able to join them. Christina was instructed to feed him two packets of ramen noodles a day, one for breakfast and one for lunch. Sometimes he would get leftovers from their family dinner. Later, Kimberly would claim that she tried to give him protein shakes as she noticed him losing weight and mobility.

Starting point is 00:12:51 Once again, we find it hard to believe she would care enough to give him extra food, but not enough to let him out. When Christian would ask Kimberly for something to do, she would give him paper and tell him to write. Police would later find many of these papers. Some were the random thoughts, ramblings, and imaginations of the 12-year-old. Some were prompts that Kimberly gave him as part of her homeschool curriculum. These topics included, why do you want to play with your Peter? Why can't you just let the past go?

Starting point is 00:13:26 What does it mean to be part of a family and why do you still want to see your mom? In 2008, there were two more opportunities for adults to intervene and save Christian. Another DCS call was made after the family moved to Gary. This report once again cited filthy living conditions in the trailer and claimed there were 10 children in the home. This report also stated that there was a child under house arrest for inappropriately touching another child. This report had been made by a neighbor named Lori Wingard and her husband. Her husband had gone to the trailer and seen Riley screaming at Christian while he cowered. A worker did come to the house to investigate, but Kimberly and Riley would not let them inside the home.

Starting point is 00:14:08 Lori remembered watching as Kimberly talked to the investigative worker outside and thinking, go inside, but Kimberly did not let her in. None of the claims can be substantiated, so once again the case was closed. It ended up being Lori that sold them to the dog cage, but she did not know how it was used until years later. At that point, she broke down, absolutely horrified. She said Christian would have had to stay in a fetal position all the time to fit in that cage. The second chance that Christian had to be saved was when he made his last trip to his pediatrician.

Starting point is 00:14:42 At this appointment, he told his doctor that he was being locked up at night. The doctor knew that he was soiling himself. These things were both noted in his medical records, but a report was not made to DCS. Grownups did not come, and Christian stayed locked up, continued to be underfed and beaten daily. The other children in the house would later say that Christian rarely made noises during his beatings.

Starting point is 00:15:07 He knew if he made noises or cried, he would be beaten even worse. He was rarely allowed to leave the cage, so he'd have to relieve himself inside of it. He knew if his parents found any evidence of this, he would be beaten. Christian would sometimes hide his feces in the drywall, or the dryer vent to avoid further punishment. Eventually, Christian's physical state declined so much that he lost control of his bladder

Starting point is 00:15:30 and bowels. The adults figured the best way to solve this was to put diapers on him. From that point forward, Christian was naked in the cage with nothing but a diaper on. The diapers were appropriate size for a six-year-old child, and at this point, Christian was near his 13th birthday. Christina recalled one particular night that she was instructed to tie Christian. to a bed frame that stood about six feet tall. Now, this bed frame had been placed upright against a wall.

Starting point is 00:15:59 According to one other child in the home, Christina first tried to duct tape him to the bed frame, but when that didn't work, she used shoelaces. She tied his hands and feet to the frame and used Kimberly's camera to video record while Christina beat him. She was forced to strike him and choke him until he turned blue. Now, after the beating, Christian was kept tired. to the bed frame and couldn't stop crying.

Starting point is 00:16:25 He was repeatedly told to shut up. When he didn't stop crying, Christina and Kim put a sock in his mouth and secured it with duct tape. Later, after Kimberly left, Christina laid the bed frame on the floor so that Christian could sleep. Another one of Christian's punishments

Starting point is 00:16:42 was having his hands tied to the top of the cage. Kimberly made him put his hands to the top bars of the cage and then tied them so he couldn't get them back inside. On one particular day, Kimberly tied Christian's hands up over the top of his head. After a while, Christian began to cry from the pain. Instead of untying his hands and then calling it a day from torturing her stepson,

Starting point is 00:17:07 she got a can of spray paint. She spray painted his hands black as an additional punishment. It's unclear how often his hands were tied like this during his captivity. Things finally reached the breaking point for Christian in April of 2000. At this point, he had been locked in the dog cage daily for about a year. At 13 years old, he weighed less than 50 pounds. It's important to point out that the 50th percentile for 13-year-old boys is about 100 pounds. He weighed only half of what he should have.

Starting point is 00:17:39 It seems reasonable to assume that the very limited meals of ramen noodles and the extreme physical restrictions of his cage led to not only loss of fatty tissue, but a serious decline in muscle mass. At this point, Christian could be able to be able to be able to be. barely stand or walk. His feet were purple and often numb. However, this did not stop the beatings. It's also important to remember what the living arrangement was like in this home. We first started researching this case. We found all the information about him living in a dog cage, but it took a while to put together the whole picture. If Christian were living in a larger home where perhaps the dog

Starting point is 00:18:12 cage was out of sight, you could possibly assume that not everyone in the household knew how bad his condition was, but these people were living in a single wide trailer. estimated that there were 10 or 12 people living in that trailer in April of 2009. Some sources note that Kimberly may have had one of her sisters living in the trailer as well, but Christian's cage was not hidden. His cage was directly next to his father's bed and computer desk. Riley sat next to his son every day playing video games. He slept in the same room every night while his son was prisoner.

Starting point is 00:18:48 Sometime in the first week of April, Riley went on a particularly violent, rage against Christian. Some witnesses say this rage was the result of Christian refusing to eat. The other children in the house say that he punched Christian in the head full force three or four times. He then threw him back in the cage and told Christina to check on him every five minutes. Born to Christina, she followed those directions. Christian was nearly unresponsive at that point, but he was still breathing. She remembers at one point trying to feed him some cocoa puffs, but he was unable to chew. She admitted to slapping him across the face to try to wake him up. There's also a claim that on that same day, Christina hit him in the head with a metal pipe,

Starting point is 00:19:27 but we're unsure if that is factual. It appeared that Christian had survived that night. The next day, Kimberly left the house to go to a meeting at the school for another child in the home. While Kimberly was gone, Christina went to check on her brother again. This time, Christian was not breathing. Christina put her finger under his nose to see if she could feel any breath, but she could not. She desperately grabbed the keys off the desk right next to the cage and began opening the seven locks that held the cage shut. When she got the cage open, she pulled Christian out and pressed her ear to his chest to check for a heartbeat.

Starting point is 00:20:05 She didn't hear anything. At some point, she called Kimberly, who made an excuse to leave the school, citing that their grandmother was sick. Meanwhile, Christina was attempting to give CPR. She was also trying to help Christian breathe. She used an air pump to try to get air into his lungs, but it was too late. Christian was dead. At this point, things become a little unclear. The stories later told the police, Christina, Kimberly, and Riley were all somehow involved

Starting point is 00:20:34 in disposing of Christian's body, but it's unclear who was helping at which part. Our best guess is that Kimberly came home and told Christina to wrap his body in a yellow blanket. They then put his body inside two trash bags into a beige rubber-made tote with a redstone. gray lid. They consistently said that the tote was then loaded into the back of their SUV along with several others, driven down the street to their grandmother's house. They loaded the totes and left them there. Christina later told officers that Riley came home and said to Christina, if you say anything, I swear to God, I will kill you and bury you with your brother. Christina stayed quiet. She stayed quiet when they gave her a mixture of bleach and water and told her to clean out Christian's

Starting point is 00:21:15 cage. She stayed quiet while they hauled her brother's prison from the house. She stayed quiet while they hauled her brother's prison from the house and set it on the lawn by the shed. She stayed quiet when two days later Kimberly and Riley returned home covered in mud, saying they had taken care of his body. She stayed quiet as they abruptly packed up the family and all of their belongings and moved across state lines to Kentucky. She stayed quiet as she heard people ask about her brother and listened to her father lie saying that he was with his mom or that he had run away. It's possible that Christina might have stayed quiet forever. If she had, Christian might have stayed missing and forgotten forever.

Starting point is 00:21:50 Luckily in 2011, Riley and Kimberly decided to leave Christina with one of Kimberly's sisters in Kentucky. Some distance from Riley and Kimberly, Christina finally felt safe enough to do something. On May 1st, Christina called her mother, who had not heard from her in six years. She had to be the one to break the terrible news to her that her son was dead. Her mother, Amy, then called the police to report her daughter's disclosure. The police were able to locate. Riley and Kimberly. They both had warrants out for their arrest on other charges, so the police were able to take them into custody while they began their investigation. The initial interviews

Starting point is 00:22:28 given by Kimberly Riley and Kimberly's daughter, Rochelle Kubina, were a mix of lies and the truth. In Kimberly's first interview with police, she said that she had last seen Christian four years earlier when he was about 14 years old. This was a lie. Four years prior, Christian would have been 11 years old. Also four years prior was when Kimberly initially pulled Christian out of school to homeschool him. She said they had been at a family barbecue when she saw Christian leave with his father Riley in his vehicle. She claimed that she did not ask where Christian was after that. He just assumed he'd gone to live with his biological mother. She then said she remembered Riley saying he was taking Christian to his mother's house.

Starting point is 00:23:08 Next, police also interviewed Kimberly's daughter, Rochelle. Rochelle told officers that Kimberly had shared with her that Christian was just gone. when she went to check on him one morning in 2009. Rochelle claimed that she helped Kimberly and Riley search for Christian for two or three days straight, but they could not find him. She wasn't sure if there was ever a missing person's report filed. She assumed that Christian went to his mother's house because that's always where he wanted to be. Riley was interviewed, he initially said that he had dropped Christian off at his mother's on an unknown date in 2009

Starting point is 00:23:39 and claimed that he had not seen him since. Later, he changed his story and told detectives that he received a phone call from Christina saying that Christian was not breathing. Returned home to find Christian on a baby mattress on the floor of the girl's bedroom. In panic, he decided to bury the body himself instead of calling the police. Said they put the body in a garbage bag and load it in the car with the help of his daughter. Then he and his daughter drove to the site where they buried him. He ascribed the shed that Riley was buried in.

Starting point is 00:24:06 He admitted that he had to tear up the original floorboards to do it. He burned those boards in a fire pit after disposing of the evidence. He explained how he set a Bible in a question. cross on top of his son, where he sprinkled him with lime and poured quick dry cement over him. On May 4th, Riley led Lake County investigators to the shed where he had buried Christian. Police had to remove a plywood floor to access the burial site. They found his body about two feet down under a hardened puddle of cement. He had been wrapped in a yellow blanket and two trash bags.

Starting point is 00:24:39 The police did find the Bible in the cross in the grave site. However, the lime did not do the job of speaking. up the decomposition. In fact, Christian's body was incredibly well preserved. The detective investigating his case described the soil in the area as very well-packed clay. Because of this, the only decomposition that happened was a loss of moisture in fat. When Christian's body was finally exhumed from the hole that was only about two feet deep, he was so well preserved that you could still see the bruises on his papery skin. When Christian's body was finally exhumed from the hole that When Christian's body was autopsied, it weighed only 26 pounds after spending two years underground.

Starting point is 00:25:21 The autopsy showed he had died of blunt force trauma to the head and that he had a skull fracture. After finding Christian, the Lake County investigators went looking for more evidence. The cage Christian lived in was found either in their garage or a storage unit. Sources differ on this. It was identified by one of the nieces or nephews as Christian's cage. They also pointed out a spot of black paint where Christian's hands have been bound and spray painted. Investigators found a slew of letters that Christian had written as part of his homeschooling. He wrote these letters while locked in the dog cage. These letters, he talked about how he often had to steal food or urinate or defecate on himself because of his confinement.

Starting point is 00:26:02 According to what Christian wrote, he was only let out to do chores, but would then be locked back in the cage afterwards. inside his cage he could hear the other children playing outside he was not allowed to join them if he asked for something to do Kimberly would give him another paper and pencil according to DCS Christian wondered in his letters when someone anyone was going to check on him he wanted to be liked by his family he was isolated hungry and wanted to die the DCS report said Christian's writings detail a very sad depressed child who often wondered when someone anyone was going to come check on him and give him food or liquid. To us, the fact that the letters in the cage were not destroyed or disposed of shows that Kimberly and Riley weren't just neglectful. These monsters wanted souvenirs from the torture that they had inflicted on this poor child. They wanted to remember the power they had when they took the life of this poor defenseless child. It would have been so easy to burn the papers or dispose of the cage, but they chose not to. The couple faced charges of murder, felony battery,

Starting point is 00:27:08 confinement, and removing a body from a death scene, or altering a death scene, as well as three felony counts of obstruction of justice and three felony counts of neglect of a dependent. Initially, both Riley and Kimberly were planning to fight the charges in court. However, as more and more evidence and testimonies emerged, their lawyers convinced them to take plea deals. On May 2, 2012, one year in a day from Christina's confession to her mother, Kimberly accepted a plea agreement. She agreed to plead guilty to a single count of neglect of a dependent, and all of her other charges would be dismissed. Now, this deal was in exchange for testimony against Riley. Both parties agreed to a sentencing range of 25 to 35 years. Her plea deal was

Starting point is 00:27:59 accepted by the trial court, and on February 19th of the following year, she was sentenced to 35 years. Riley initially turned down a plea deal. The offer was for him to plead guilty to murder and have a possible 86-year sentence. He refused saying that he was less than satisfied with a deal. He later accepted an offer to plead guilty to felony charges of neglect of a dependent causing death, moving a body after death, and depriving his daughter of an education. Plea deals come with a lot of pros and cons. On the pro list, we know that these two people will serve time for what they did.

Starting point is 00:28:37 No jury has to endure the horrific photos and details of this case. The witnesses, mostly children in the home, do not have to relive their experiences for the jury. It also saves the court system a lot of time, money, and manpower. In other hand, by taking a plea deal, both of these degenerates could possibly see freedom again in their lives. It means neither of them were truly convicted of Christians' murder. It also means the only testimony on record was given during the sentencing hearing. So many facts of this case will never be known. Now you may be thinking 80 years is a pretty long time to serve and Riley will never be free again.

Starting point is 00:29:14 However, in Indiana, there is something called credit time laws. These laws allow for each day served with good behavior to be rewarded with a day off of your sentence. So even for Class A crimes, you can get out in half the time if you behave yourself in prison. This means that Riley could serve just 40 years. He could be released in 2015. He is currently 51 years old. He is released after 40 years. He will be 78 years old.

Starting point is 00:29:41 The release sentence was much shorter. One source said she could be released as soon as 2026 after serving just 13 years in prison. As of 2019, Riley is being held in Pendleton, Correctional Facility in Pendleton, Indiana, while Kimberly is being held in Indiana's Women's Prison in Indianapolis. Kimberly filed an appeal saying that the court had abused its discretion in finding aggravating and mitigating circumstances to go along with her charges. We found this to be a little bit odd as Kimberly took a plea deal. Now, some sources say that you cannot appeal a plea deal while others say that you can,

Starting point is 00:30:15 but only if your lawyers made a major error. After review, her appeal was denied. During the review of her appeal is noted that in phone records, Kimberly referred to Christian as, That Boy, a Bastard, and a Predator. She also said that Christian and Christina were invisible to her, and she didn't care if, in her words, that kid crawled up and died as long as he was out of her life. It is important to note that no charges were ever filed against Christina. She admitted to many ways that she harmed Christian while he was in her care. She was just 13 years old at the start of his confinement, and there's mixed opinions in the community if she was a victim or not truly.

Starting point is 00:30:58 However, she was responsible for helping the world find Christian, and she is the reason why we're able to share his story today. A vigil for Christian was held on Friday, May 13th, 2011 in front of the Calumet High School. Hundreds of people attended. The vigil included prayer, candlelight, and the release of dozens of balloons, many bright red and heart-shaped. The vigil was organized by two women from Gary, Indiana. There was also a memorial service held for Christian that began with a song and a prayer. Over 150 set with heads bowed, grieving for a little boy who had been forgotten for two years. The pastor said, we are here to grieve, to grieve with the family and grieve with the community

Starting point is 00:31:46 because what was done here was done among us. How did I not know him? How did you not know him? How did this escape our attention? People gather to hug Christian's mother and browse through a photo album of Christian's early years, before the fateful custody placement with his father. The photo album included pictures of him in Halloween costumes such as Winnie the Pooh, a Kit-Cat bar, and a baseball player. There was also a card his mother saved celebrating his birth.

Starting point is 00:32:18 At his service, there was a large card that read, To Christian, You're Safe Now. Red carnations and chrysanthemum sat in a large arrangement next to his casket, greeting mourners as they walked by, saying goodbye with tears streaming down their faces. In 2013, there was a petition started to create Christian's law. This law pushed to make it a felony not to report the abuse of a child. Change.org, their petition only had 97 supporters before it was closed and abandoned. For two years, there was no headstone marking Christian's grave. 2013, a woman from Washington named Pat Breslin raised $2,000 to purchase a marker. A small granite headstone contains a picture of Christian in happier times, flanked by etchings of a kneeling angel in a race car,

Starting point is 00:33:06 inscribed with the words, forever in our hearts, my beloved son, our brother, and grandson. Pat did not know Christian, but she had read about his story, she said, I had to do something for him and let people know that these children count, children like Christian and not just turn a blind eye anymore.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Christian Choate

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