The Misery Machine - The Case of Christian Crossland

Starting point is 00:00:00 Christian Ray Crossland was born in Muncie, Indiana on July 12, 2016 to Chelsea Lynette Crossland. He was described as a sweet, wonderful, and outstanding young man. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a wide-toothy smile. His nicknames were Bubbett and Bubby. He liked the children's program Paw Patrol and anything related to John Deere tractors, monster trucks, and the family dog Fred. When he was just a toddler, Brittany Ballinger and her boyfriend Trevor Easton began caring for him, raising him as if he was their own son.

Starting point is 00:00:34 The couple lived with Brittany's mother and brother, and the whole family doted on him. Images they shared on social media showed a happy, well-loved, and adventurous little boy. He learned to ride a bike and was captured mid-pedal, smiling brightly. He liked to play outside and go fishing at the lake with Trevor. The family captured so many moments that were ordinary, but also very precious. The photo showed him sleeping peacefully, catching snowflakes on his tongue, helping drive a tractor, and pretending to shave with shaving cream in a spoon. They showed hugs from grandma, a pile of presents on Christmas morning, and standing on hay bales at a pumpkin patch.

Starting point is 00:01:15 Some were taken on ordinary days, sitting in his car seat or being held by Brittany or Trevor. During the years he spent with the family, he had the kind of childhood that every kid deserves. According to Chelsea's mother, Gladys Crossland, Chelsea's childhood in Texas was very different. She was a troubled child and her father, Randy Crossland, was in prison for most of her life. He also suffered from anxiety and schizophrenia that Gladys believed he passed down to Chelsea. Their family moved to Indiana in 2012, but Chelsea's life didn't get any easier. Gladys said Chelsea had a series of dangerous boyfriends who committed DV against her and at least one even tried to strangle her. Ladis said on several occasions Chelsea told her that she wanted to hurt herself, even to the point of wanting to end everything.

Starting point is 00:02:04 Chelsea was 21 years old when she had Christian. She already had two daughters by the time he was born. First girl was born in 2013 and her second in 2014. Some friends remembered her being a good mother to these girls. Based on their last names, which we won't mention to protect their identity, their father had ended his relationship with Chelsea by the time Christian was born. and Chelsea was in a new relationship with one Nick Riddle. News reports refer to Nick Riddle as Christian's father,

Starting point is 00:02:32 and Nick claimed him as his son, but there were rumors he wasn't Christian's biological father. After Christian was born, Chelsea tried to focus on putting her growing family first, or at least cultivating the impression that she was focusing on them. In November of 2017, she got the word family tattooed on her wrist. In August of 2018, she posted pictures of her three children walking hand in hand. She captured one with My Happiness. Above the other photo, she wrote, We're going to be good. Just believe that. Despite her assurances, her life seemed to be in constant chaos.

Starting point is 00:03:07 She was in several failed relationships and people seemed to come into her life briefly, then leave just as quickly. In September of 2018, she posted the comment, I just want to run away with my babies and never come back. Some of her troubles might be explained by a comment she made in November of 2018 during an argument with her mother online. Chelsea posted, and I quote, I hate stupid snitching ass bitches like for real. Friends commented on the post asking what happened. Chelsea explained her sister had caused some sort of trouble, though she didn't explain what exactly her sister did. She said, it's my so-called sister. All she does is run her fucking mouth, talk it, start shit. It's just sad, really, pathetic. Though her mother's side of the

Starting point is 00:03:53 conversation has been deleted. In Chelsea's response, she claimed her mother took her sister's side, like she always did, allegedly. She said, but of course you're going to defend her, as always, L.O.L. In another comment, she said, you're the one that comes at me with some dumb shit, because you side with her every single fucking time. You wasn't brought into this. Nobody made you comment on here, but of course you had to defend her, because she's always right, huh? She does no wrong, LMFAO, but if you want to say that it's the right thing to do to snitch, then okay. When Chelsea's friends were brought up, she told her mother that in her opinion, they were more loyal to her than her family actually was.

Starting point is 00:04:34 She assured her mother that she'll be fine without her sister in her life, saying, they are actually, to be honest, the only ones that have been having my back and wanting better for me. That instead of driving me to do my fucking dope, actually are here for me, gave me a fucking place to go and want better for me. I lost myself. Damnear gave up completely. Only reason I didn't was because of my kids and the very few friends that I do actually got. I never needed her. Never will either. I mean, come on now. And trust me, I'll be perfectly fine without the BS and drama in my life. You always side with her and her bitch. I don't know,

Starting point is 00:05:10 though. I see shit for how it really is. In addition to revealing the deep riffs in her family life, Chelsea's comments about her dope and giving up also pointed to two of her serious struggles, substance use and her continuing struggle with mental illness and depression. Chelsea never named the friends that she considered loyal, but that could have included Brittany and her family. They were the type of family that had offered a helping hand. As early as 2017, pictures of Chelsea showed up on Brittany's social media account, and in May of 2019, Chelsea posted a picture of Brittany on her social. media. Their friendship might explain, in part, why Christian ended up living with the Ballinger family.

Starting point is 00:05:54 In late 2017, Brittany posted that a wonderful Christmas present that year would be finding two pink lines on a pregnancy test because she wanted a baby. Meanwhile, Chelsea had posted that her mother bought a pack of condoms and encouraged her to use them. Next to the picture of the condoms, Chelsea said, my mom comes in and throws us at me and says, use this next time. She really thinks she funny y'all shaking my head l-o-l it might have been as simple as chelsea wasn't able to take care of christian and wanted him to be cared for by someone who really wanted him or it may have been even more complicated than that later when brittany was asked if trevor had been in a relationship with chelsea she said she had heard rumors but had never personally seen any evidence of a relationship

Starting point is 00:06:37 between the two some people thought trevor was christian's biological father he often called Christian his son, but there were no public records of paternity test results to settle the matter. We are left a guess because Chelsea never explained her reasons, but in early 2018, she left Christian in the care of Brittany and Trevor. The couple was living with Brittany's mother, Rhonda Ballinger, and Brittany's brother Dustin Ballinger still lived in the family home as well. Trevor's sister, Christina Easton, often visited and loved being an aunt Christian. In 2019, Chelsea moved back to Texas for almost a year, likely leaving the girls behind with family members. Her online post during that year focused mostly on romantic relationships. What kind of love that she thought she deserved,

Starting point is 00:07:19 finding a new boyfriend, and then feeling underappreciated after. In July, she posted a meme that read, am I single? Am I in a relationship? Am I? Find out on the next episode of Mind Your Frikin Business. After at least one possibly more failed relationships in Texas, she returned to Indiana in 2020. Later that year, she was involved in a motor vehicle accident and left the scene before police talked to her. She was charged with DUI, fleeing an officer, and leaving the scene of an accident. She was found guilty in a jury trial and given a two and a half year suspended sentence. She was only required to serve 12 days in jail and was able to complete her time over several weekends, presumably so she could work during the week. At some point, she and Nick rekindled

Starting point is 00:08:03 their relationship, but it was rocky. He got a protection order against Chelsea, but the judge dismissed it when the court found out that he was violating the order by staying with her. He ended up in Jill for two days, and she pled to a misdemeanor invasion of privacy. As part of her plea deal, she was given a six-month suspended sentence and probation. While Chelsea was running around and getting into trouble, Trevor and Brittany were raising Christian. Brittany said he was a happy and outgoing boy who never seemed sick and always had a healthy appetite. In 2020, the couple married and continued to raise Christian as their own throughout 2021.

Starting point is 00:08:38 Their social media accounts are full of simple moments that reflect their love for each other and for Christian. In one, Brittany snapped a picture of two homemade cookies she'd found in her packaged lunch. On the corner of the plastic bag, Trevor wrote, Have a good night, Trevor and Christian. Her caption for the photo said, Open my bag and found this. It's the little things in life that mean the most. I love you both.

Starting point is 00:09:02 Christian stayed with them for over three years. By then, he was five years old, fully part of. trained and old enough to start kindergarten, though with a birthday in July, he must have missed the cutoff. In 2021, Chelsea got pregnant for the fourth time. She had another baby boy in November that year. After the baby was born, she decided she needed to have her family back together. She got the girls back and asked Brittany and Trevor to return Christian. Because there was never a formal arrangement. They hadn't adopted him and didn't have any established legal right to keep him, they had to give him back to his mother. They were allowed to keep him for one more Christmas,

Starting point is 00:09:41 but on January 8th, 2022, he moved back in with Chelsea at her home on Southwestern Avenue in Portland, Indiana. Since he wasn't in school yet, he would be spending all day, every day, at home with Chelsea and the baby. The next 74 days, she would make every one of those days a nightmare for him. She would later claim she was suffering from postpartum depression and other mental illnesses, but it doesn't explain why she insisted on having him there when she wasn't well enough to care for him. Around this time, Nick claimed Chelsea told him she wished the boy were dead. There's no evidence he acted on that information or told anyone else what he had heard. At some point, Trevor's sister Christina visited Chelsea.

Starting point is 00:10:24 While she was there, she heard Chelsea yell at Christian for getting food out of the fridge, stressing he needed to ask for permission first. After Christian accidentally wet his pants, she said Chelsea forced him into a cold shower to clean him up. She heard him crying and heard Chelsea tell him, you gotta learn. On February 8th, Chelsea's mother Gladys said she visited Chelsea and the kids. She remembered the date because it was her birthday and she wanted to celebrate with her daughter. She claimed she saw Christian and he seemed fine to her. She noticed anything that concerned her.

Starting point is 00:10:54 Nick claimed he visited an early March and said Christian looked happy and smiley. He didn't think anything was wrong. A week or so later, Brittany and Christina went to Chelsea's house for a birthday party. party, but they didn't see Christian while they were there. When they asked why he wasn't celebrating with everyone else, Chelsea told them he was being bad and had to stay in his room as punishment. Though the adults didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, his older sisters, who were eight years old and nine years old at the time, knew that there was something very, very wrong happening, but we're likely too scared to say anything. Behind closed doors, Chelsea punished Christian

Starting point is 00:11:30 by choking him, hitting him, and not feeding him for days at a time. younger sister said she would try to sneak food to Christian while her mom was asleep. And her sister both said he was so hungry, sometimes ate his own solid waste out of desperation. Eventually, it was too much. His weakened body couldn't withstand another beating and Christian stopped breathing. According to his 10-year-old sister, Chelsea talked out loud to herself, asking what she should do with Christian's body. She said she saw her mother go to the cupboard and get out a trash bag to put him in before changing her mind and calling for an ambulance. At around 11.30 p.m. on March 24th, Chelsea called 911 to report that Christian had gotten out of the bathtub, fallen downstairs, and knocked himself unconscious. In a voice that wavered several times, either with emotion or because she was trying to sound upset, she told the dispatcher,

Starting point is 00:12:27 I tried everything I could. She said her son wasn't breathing and hadn't taken a breath for about an hour and a half before she placed the call. EMS director Kyle Gerlach responded to the call and found Christian on the floor in the upstairs bathroom wearing only a diaper. He saw multiple bruises all over Christians exposed skin and blood around his face. The extended lack of oxygen made his face look blue. Director Gerlach described him as a very emaciated child with very, buried little meat on his bones. He said the boy was so skinny, he could actually see the outline of Christian's bones through his skin. The director talked to Chelsea, and she told him she tried to do

Starting point is 00:13:08 CPR for about half an hour before calling 911. He asked her to sign a required EMS form, was taken aback by her signature. He said she signed it with her first name and a smiley face. The officers who arrived with the EMS said the home was unkempt and filthy. There was plenty of food in the house. The fridge, freezer, and pantry were all full of food. They noted that Chelsea appeared calm and didn't cry when they talked to her. When one of Christian's sisters cried in the background, she told them that Christian's death was out of nowhere. She didn't understand how it could happen. They taped off the door of the home as the initial step of their investigation. Chelsea said to them, so I'm guessing this is going to take a while. Officers found the circumstances suspicious,

Starting point is 00:13:52 understandably, and requested assistance from the Indiana State Police. were even more suspicious once they talked to the girls and realized Chelsea had waited for so long before she called for help. The state police asked J. County prosecutor West Sheminar to come to the scene where he saw Christian laying on the bathroom floor. The sight of him being so small, so beaten and so skeletal, was burned into his mind. Later, he would say, the image of him has never left my mind. It's probably never going to leave my mind. Probably never going to leave yours. While the investigation continued, Chelsea remained free, but her surviving children were removed from her custody. In response, she posted online, my heart is broken into a million pieces. I just want my babies.

Starting point is 00:14:38 The next day, she posted a longer request for spiritual help saying, prayers please, they took my kids, even though they've seen for themselves, they're great. They fought to go with police and DCS. They are traumatized, and so am I. Mom loves you kids with everything in me. Y'all are my whole world, my reason for life. I never would have imagined our world's getting turned upside like this, but I'm praying everything turns out okay, and we can all be back home together soon. Or at least even if not that, y'all will be all together with family.

Starting point is 00:15:09 God, please help me to stay strong myself, but also for my babies to be together and stay strong too. I'm putting it in the Lord's hands too. I'm nothing without y'all, so I'm praying we are all home together again soon. Members of the community saw her posts online and were disturbed by her lack of care for the son she lost. Locals Shelley Pfeiffer and Vivian Pryor were so upset by the situation they felt compelled to organize a vigil for Christian a few days after his death. Shelly said, the mother was publicly putting stuff on Facebook and didn't seem to care about the child. There was no remorse.

Starting point is 00:15:43 She had nothing to say about him. And it was very strange. As a mom, I think she would be absolutely heartbroken. Vivian agreed that more attention needed to be given to Christian. She said, I wanted to put on a vigil because I felt like as a community we needed to mourn this child. He should be missed. Chelsea also allegedly called Brittany asking her for prayers as well. According to Trevor's sister Christina, she heard a phone call Chelsea Place in which she said to Brittany,

Starting point is 00:16:11 please pray for me. I did something bad. Don't tell the police. A few days later on March 30th, Chelsea was officially arrested in charge with murder, felony neglect resulting in death and a separate charge of child SA. She was held without bond in the J. County Jail. Once news of the SA charge was released, Chelsea's dad and some of his associates try to blame Trevor for being inappropriate with Christian, but it doesn't seem like they had the full story

Starting point is 00:16:39 and their accusation fell flat. Once more information was released, it turned out that one of Chelsea's daughters had accused her mother of being inappropriate with her for two years. That charge wasn't related to Christian's death. Prosecutors eventually dismissed the essay charges without prejudice, which means they could still refile them in the future. Chelsea's murder trial was initially scheduled for September 2022, but it was postponed several times,

Starting point is 00:17:06 finally scheduled for July of 2023. Began on July 17th with Judge Brian Hutchinson presiding. During the trial, prosecutors argued that Chelsea had deliberately, systematically starved and tortured Christian over a period of 74 days. Chelsea's attorney's public defender Jacob Dunnick and chief public defender Brandon Murphy argued that she merely neglected the boy and didn't mean to murder him. The public defender said that Chelsea was, now these are his words, a non-vaccination mother that didn't believe in doctors. He said, the evidence in this case will show Christian had a short and tragic life. In the final days of his

Starting point is 00:17:44 life, he desperately needed medical care because medical treatment could have saved him, her attorney argued that his death was the result of neglect and not CA. Chief Public Defender Murphy blamed everyone else in Christian's life except Chelsea because no one did anything to save him. He said not one of them picked up the phone to call CPS. His death was preventable. It took one phone call from somebody else who cared. Prosecutors argued Chelsea did more than just fail to take care of her son.

Starting point is 00:18:13 He said that she had made a conscious decision to kill her son and continued to follow through on that decision. They pointed out that the two girls were healthy and well-fed, and only Christian was starving. They brought Brittany in to testify. She explained he had never had any problem eating and maintaining a healthy weight while she was taking care of him. When asked if he was a picky eater, she said he liked food. Police investigators testified about the evidence they found during a search of Chelsea's home. They found a checkered blanket that smelled of urine that they suspected the boy used.

Starting point is 00:18:45 They also found a black and blue notebook that had I hate treasurer. written on it, which might explain what motivated Chelsea to mistreat Christians so badly. They found the trash bag that Chelsea's oldest daughter had mentioned in her initial statement, as well as texts on Chelsea's phone confirming that Christian had eaten his own waist, which matched with the girls had independently told investigators. Coroner Michael Brewster said he believed Christian had been tortured in what he called a prolonged 74-day horror show. He described the boy as emaciated in so severely malnobstant. nourished and dehydrated, that he failed to thrive. During the autopsy, the coroner observed

Starting point is 00:19:24 injuries consistent with being beaten, spanked, and choked, including numerous bruises and contusions on his body, and abrasions and injuries to his face. He also noted two serious injuries, one on Christian's neck and another on his ear. According to coroner Brewster, the cause of death was complications from blunt force trauma to his head in oral cavity, and his manner of death was homicide. Prosecutor Sheminar showed the jury pictures from the crime scene so they could all see his pale white face, dark marks around his eyes, skeletal nose, and emaciated body. He also showed Grandma Gladys the same picture after she testified about how the boy seemed healthy and fine on several occasions when she saw him. When she looked at the photo, she began to cry and said,

Starting point is 00:20:11 That's not what I saw. He didn't look like that. Prosecutor's final witness was pediatric CA expert Dr. Tara Holleran. According to the doctor, Christian's average caloric intake for the final two months of his life was nearly zero calories a day. In his closing argument, Prosecutor Sheminar reminded the jury that Chelsea made the decision to starve her son day after day after day. He said, what do you say about a case like this? Seventy-four days is what keeps coming back to me. 74 days is how long it takes to starve a 5-year-old boy. Every second of every minute, of every hour for 74 days, she made a conscious decision to not feed her son.

Starting point is 00:20:56 How could anybody, let alone his own mother, inflict horror on a little child? This was a horrific way to kill somebody. It took 74 days of methodically sticking to the program of not feeding Christian and beating him. We treat animals better than she treated Christian. In just a little more than an hour, the jury found Chelsea guilty of one count of murder and one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death. After the verdict was read, the jury was asked to start the second phase of the trial during which they would determine an appropriate sentence for Chelsea. Her attorneys argued for a sentence of 55 years because of mitigating factors. They argued she had no previous felonies as a factor in her favor.

Starting point is 00:21:37 They also asked the jury to consider her previous struggles with mental health, her difficult family history, and her limited resources. The prosecution, however, was in favor of life without parole. They asked the expert on pediatric CA to explain the difference between CA and torture. She said in order to meet the definition of torture, the physical CA must have occurred on at least two separate occasions or one prolonged occasion. CA must also be paired with at least two psychological elements, such as deprivation and isolation, as such occurred in this case. She pointed out the injuries to Christian's neck and ear because she said those types of injuries couldn't occur accidentally.

Starting point is 00:22:16 After hearing the arguments, the jury recommended life without parole. In Indiana, the jury makes a recommendation and as long as they agree, the judge is expected to follow their recommendation. Judge Hutchinson was happy to follow their recommendation, saying, I understand I'm bound by the jury. Even if I'm not, I think life without parole is a very appropriate sentence. And that was the sentence he officially handed down on August 24th. During her sentencing hearing, the judge told Chelsea, there are people out there who hope you get the same treatment as Christian. I would rather the scales fall from your eyes,

Starting point is 00:22:51 and you live the remainder of your years in horror. Chelsea is currently serving her time in the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. A private service was held for Christian at the Williamson Spencer and Penrod funeral home in Portland. After the service, he was cremated and his ashes were given to the people who loved him. Recently, Trevor got a tattoo in Christian's memory. The images inked on his chest and over his heart.

Starting point is 00:23:17 And in it, he and Christian walked down a fishing dock hand in hand underneath the words, you'll never walk alone. The prayer vigil, organized by local mothers, Shelley and Vivian, was held at the Hudson Family Park on April 1st, which is also CA Awareness Day. Both women spoke briefly to the crowd of about 50 people. Vivian said, I did not know Christian personally. However, I am a mother of a seven-year-old and a five-week-old. Both of them are boys. They are my whole entire world. I could not even begin to imagine living life without either one of them. When I heard the news about Christian, my heart was completely broken. I had so many questions. I went into my children's room and kissed both of them on their forehead with tears running down my face. Shelley said, first starts CA Awareness Month, and I felt like this was very fitting because this is abuse. He should have never had this tragic life. He didn't deserve that, and we need to bring light to that.

Starting point is 00:24:19 In April of 2022, Trevor, his sister Christina, Brittany, and the rest of the family held another memorial service for Christian, this time focused on getting justice for him. Above a photo of the event, Christina said, just a glimpse of the lives Christian Ray has touched in his beautiful life. We got together today to send a message of love to him. Our fight for you has just begun. Christina wanted people to know about the good life and loving family Christian had before he went back to his mother.

Starting point is 00:24:50 She said, Many think this awful world he lived in for three months was his whole life. It wasn't. Christian was loved by many and spoiled rotten at times. His smile could be seen from a mile away. way, as well as his strength. I'll never forget those memories we all have with him, and will forever keep his name and memory alive with us all. Long before Christian entered her life, Brittany understood what it meant to miss someone you love because she lost her dad in 2014.

Starting point is 00:25:19 She often reposted messages that reminded people to take the time to make memories, like this one she posted in November of 2021. It read, I just want to remind you now, so you'll take care of this before Thanksgiving. By the last. little tripod for your phone or camera. Take the family photo. Take it in the living room on the couch or go outside. It doesn't have to be perfect. Even if you weigh more than you like, your outfits aren't coordinated, or your kids got food on their clothes, take the photos because death is a thief. It snatched people away without warning, and none of the silly stuff matters. Just take the photos. This is excellent advice, one that I personally need to listen to. And it seems

Starting point is 00:26:01 like it was something she took to heart because she has dozens and dozens of photos of Christian, though I'm sure she still wishes she had dozens more. She posted some of those photos along with a message a year after his death. She said, sweet baby boy, it's hard to believe you have been gone a year. Life is so different without you. I hope you're having the time of your life up there in heaven. I love you and miss your sweet face and your smile. I can still hear your sweet laugh in the back of my head until we meet again. She and Trevor still celebrate his birthday every year. This year, he would have been eight years old.

Starting point is 00:26:37 Trevor posted, I will always love you, baby boy. Fly high. Catch them fish, Bubba. You were a blessing. Love daddy. Happy eighth birthday, baby boy. Now, death really is a thief.

Starting point is 00:26:50 Take a moment today to steal something back from it, whether it is a photo or a voice recording on your cell phone, a quick video of a pet, or any of your loved ones. Or just close your eyes and, try to capture a simple moment worth remembering. If there is any way that we can honor Christian or any of the victims that we cover on this channel, it's doing just that.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Christian Crossland

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