RYON SMITH - 6 yo (2005) - Belleville IL

Poor sweet little boy. What a tragedy that his mother didn't protect them. When are these POS mothers going to care more about their children than violent abusing boyfriends. I wish the disgusting child killer gets the death penalty only that they would slowly beat him to death.

Thursday, Dec. 01, 2011
Defense rests in murder of 6-year-old Cahokia boy
News-Democrat

The defense has rested in the Lee Crutchfield murder trial.

The state called Dr. Michael Graham, the St. Louis city medical examiner, who said he saw no credible evidence that 6-year-old Ryon Smith suffered an epileptic seizure before he died.

Defense attorney Thomas Keefe III in opening statements claimed that the boy did not die from a beating, but from an epileptic seizure.

Ryon's mother, Starr Lohman, said she said Crutchfield hit the boy 20 or 30 times before he died prior to Christmas 2005 at their house in Cahokia.

Read more: http://www.bnd.com/2011/12/01/1962947/defense-rests-in-murder-of-6-year.html#ixzz1fJ28wZ4w

Thursday, Dec. 01, 2011

Crutchfield guilty in death of 6-year-old Cahokia boy
BY BETH HUNDSDORFER - News-Democrat

As the verdict was read by the court clerk, a gasp went out: "Guilty."

The jury deliberated about an hour and a half before finding that Lee Crutchfield murdered his girlfriend's 6-year-old son, Ryon Smith, by beating him to death on Christmas Eve 2005.

After the verdict, Crutchfield sat at the defense table, nodding as he stared at the jurors as they were polled.

Cahokia Police received a call Dec. 25, 2005, from the boy's mother, Starr Lohman, who said the boy wasn't breathing. Police found Ryon's lifeless body, which they said was beaten so badly his race could not immediately be determined.

Brenda Watts, Ryon's grandmother, Jennifer Watts, Ryon's aunt, and Jennifer Shinkle, Lohman's best friend, cried after the verdict.

"Thank God for the police, prosecutors and jury," Brenda Watts said. "We finally have justice for Ryon."

"We've waited six years for it," Shinkle added.

It was a difficult case, said St. Clair County State's Attorney Brendan Kelly, that caused veteran police officers to become emotional on the witness stand when they viewed crime scene photos of the battered and bruised face of the boy.

"The doctors, prosecutors, family and now the jury have shared a burden with this case," Kelly said. "The community should be proud they finally gave Ryon Smith a voice."

Belleville attorney Thomas Q. Keefe III, Crutchfield's lawyer, declined to comment after the verdict.

During closing arguments on Thursday, Assistant State's Attorney Steve Sallerson showed the jury a studio photograph of a smiling Ryon.

"What should have happened on Dec. 24, 2005?" Sallerson said.

"Ryon Smith should have been anxiously awaiting Christmas with a twinkle in his eye, wondering what presents he's going to get. Instead, he spent it locked in a closet, then beaten by that man there." Sallerson pointed Crutchfield.

Sallerson urged the jury to listen to what Ryon's autopsy pictures said -- that the boy died from a beating at Crutchfield's hand.

Keefe asked the jury to decide the case based on facts and evidence, instead of emotion and vengeance.

"Get pissed. Get pissed and want someone to pay for this," Keefe told the jury. "Get pissed, then get it the hell out of your system, then take another look at this."

Keefe argued that Ryon died after suffering an epileptic seizure, causing facial and upper body injuries. He was further injured by improperly administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

On Thursday afternoon, Dr. Harvey Cantor, a pediatric neurologist, testified there was "no way" Ryon died as a result of epilepsy.

"If you are in Texas and you hear hooves, you don't think zebras. You think horses," Cantor told the jurors, referring to the bruises, cuts and abrasions on Ryon's body.

Cantor told jurors that if Ryon succumbed to Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, it would have been a "one of a kind" case, because most people who die from SUDEP are adults who suffered from epilepsy for a long time. Children who die of SUDEP usually have some major underlying neurological condition, such as cerebral palsy, he said.

After Cantor completed his testimony in the state's rebuttal case, Keefe asked Cantor's testimony be stricken because Cantor did not submit all the articles he reviewed in rendering his medical opinion.

Associate Judge Brian Babka denied Keefe's motion. He also denied Keefe's motion for a directed verdict.

The state called Dr. Michael Graham, the St. Louis city medical examiner, who said he saw no credible evidence that Ryon suffered an epileptic seizure before he died.

Ryon weighed 35 pounds at the time of his death. He wasn't attending school. There were no presents, toys or Christmas decorations in the home Ryon shared with his mother and Crutchfield on Upper Cahokia Road in Cahokia.

Lohman testified on Wednesday that she saw Crutchfield hit the boy 20 or 30 times on the night of his death.

In exchange for her testimony, prosecutors will allow Lohman, who also is charged with first-degree murder, to plead guilty to aggravated battery of a child with a 15- to 30-year prison term.

Crutchfield is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 19. He could get 20 to 60 years in prison.

Read more: http://www.bnd.com/2011/12/01/1962947/defense-rests-in-murder-of-6-year.html#ixzz1fLkBAwDF

I hope that monster gets the max 60 years in prison and someone beats the life out of him.

Lee Crutchfield sentenced for killing Ryon Smith

9:35 PM, Jun 11, 2012
Written by Brandie Piper

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A southwestern Illinois man convicted of fatally beating his live-in girlfriend's 6-year-old son on Christmas Eve 2005 has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

Before the sentence was handed down Monday, 39-year-old Lee Crutchfield vowed to keep fighting to prove his innocence.

Crutchfield spent nearly six years in custody before being convicted in December of first-degree murder in the death of Ryon Smith.

Smith's body was found on the bedroom floor of the home Crutchfield shared with the boy's mother. Authorities say the child had been repeatedly beaten and that he died of blunt trauma to the head and torso.

Crutchfield argued the boy died after an epileptic seizure.

Prosecutors said Crutchfield tortured Ryon, locked him in a closet for days and beat him, leaving bruises.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=323552

Status Update

A southwestern Illinois woman was sentenced to 16 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to charges related to the death of her 6-year-old son. Starr Lohman pleaded guilty to aggravated battery of a child. Her boyfriend is serving a life sentence for murdering the boy, who died after he was beaten. – BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP)

http://fox2now.com/status/a-southwestern-illinois-woman/

16 years is all that POS woman got for watching that monster beat her son to death? What a crock. She should have gotten 30 years. And I hope the murderer got life.

babyjustice wrote:16 years is all that POS woman got for watching that monster beat her son to death? What a crock. She should have gotten 30 years. And I hope the murderer got life.

He did - from article above: "sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole"

mom_in_il wrote:

babyjustice wrote:16 years is all that POS woman got for watching that monster beat her son to death? What a crock. She should have gotten 30 years. And I hope the murderer got life.

He did - from article above: "sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole"

Thanks MIL. I must have missed that. Thank God he will live the rest of his life in jail. And I hope he suffers at the hands of other inmates daily.