David Edenfield: Murder, Christopher Barrios Jr., TBD
As Slain Boy's Viewing Begins, 3 Charged With Murder Sex Offender, His Parents, Friend All Charged POSTED: 11:07 am EDT March 21, 2007 UPDATED: 5:50 pm EDT March 21, 2007 BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- On the day family, friends and a community were touched by his loss pays tribute to 6-year-old Christopher Barrios Jr., a grand jury returned charges of capital murder, kidnapping, aggravated child molestation against a sex offender and his parents. After a weeklong search, Christopher's body was found last Thursday in a trash bag near Brunswick's airport. A viewing for Christopher is set to begin Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Edo Miller Funeral Home in Brunswick. Christopher's funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday. Glynn County police said convicted sex offender George Edenfield admitted killing the boy, but until the grand jury met, he was only held on a violation of his probation. Edenfield, his parents and family friend Donald Dale were all arrested during the search for Christopher. George Edenfield was arrested four days into the search after admitting he had unsupervised contact with Christopher. Peggy and David Edenfield, along with Dale, were also arrested during the search and charged with giving false information to authorities and concealing a death. At Wednesday's meeting, the Glynn County returned a 13-count indictment. All three Edenfields are charged with murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, enticing a child for indecent purposes, false imprisonment and cruelty to children. George and David Edenfield is also charged with aggravated child molestation, with Peggy Edenfield is charged with child molestation. All three and Dale are also charged with concealing the death of a person and tampering with evidence. The prosecutor told Channel 4's Emily Pantelides that he would be seeking the death penalty against the Edenfields. Sue Rodriquez, Christopher's grandmother, remains in shock over his abduction and slaying. She is outraged that the man suspected of killing the boy -- a man that lived across the street from her -- never served any prison time for previous cases of molesting children. According to court documents obtained by Channel 4, in 1997 George Edenfield admitted he molested 7- and 9-year-old boys who lived near him. He was convicted and placed on probation. Christopher Barrios Jr. disappeared from a playground hear his home about 6 p.m. on March 8. His body was found a week later in a trash bag near the Burnswick airport. "I think that's awful sorry of a judge, knowing ... that he's already molested two children -- he's in violation of probation, to turn around and send him home," Rodriquez said. Just three days before Christopher disappeared from a playground about half-way between his grandmother's home and where the boy lived with his father, Edenfield was back in court. Court records show Edenfield pleaded guilty March 5 to violating his parole but was again released and allowed to return home. "If the judge would have kept in him jail, our baby would be here," Rodriquez said. "He wouldn't have been in heaven with God." http://www.news4jax.com/news/11317320/detail.html

Judge Who Gave Accused Killer Probation To Oversee Murder Trial Slain Boy's Family Upset About Judge Selection The family of Christopher Barrios, the 6-year-old kidnapped and killed in South Georgia, is displeased at the district attorney's office announcement that the same judge who let Christopher's accused killer out on probation is going to be the judge in Christopher's murder case. George Edenfield, a convicted sex offender and one of three suspects accused of killing Christopher, faced a judge on a probation violation charge just a few days before the boy disappeared. The same judge who decided not to lock up Edenfield is expected to handle his murder trial. "I tried sleeping last night. I can't sleep because I still wonder -- baby could've been home. You go to sleep and try to pray to God to watch over us to get through it and to see our little angel's face," said Christopher's grandmother, Sue Rodriguez. However, with Thursday's announcement, there's another thought to keep Christopher's grandmother awake even longer. "No way on God's green earth is he going to try it," Rodriguez said. "He already messed up once. I don't want him to have a second shot at it." "I don't know if he's going to be lenient to him again or if something is actually going to be done this time," said family friend Anette Smith. "Are we going to have to worry about another one of our babies going missing?" Christopher Barrios Jr. disappeared from a playground hear his home about 6 p.m. on March 8. His body was found a week later in a trash bag near the Burnswick airport. Neither the district attorney's office nor the judge who is supposed to preside over the trial were available for comment on Thursday. "That man Edenfield should have been locked up and kept off the streets, instead of being turned free. If he had of, our baby wouldn't be gone," Rodriguez said. "If predators like this weren't put back on the street, then there wouldn't be stuff like this going on," said Christopher's uncle, Carlos Barrios. The Barrios family members told Channel 4 they are trying to move. Rodriguez said every morning she awakes and looks across the street, she sees the Edenfields' trailer and feels that it is in the best interest of the family to move. Anyone wishing to make donations to Christopher's family can do so at any Bank of America to the Christopher Barrios Foundation Fund. http://www.news4jax.com/news/11405979/detail.html

Molester, parents plead not guilty in slaying of GA six-year-old April 19, 2007 05:18 PM EDT BRUNSWICK, GA (AP) - A convicted child molester and his parents pleaded not guilty Friday to charges they kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered a six-year-old boy whose body was found last month wrapped in a trash bag and dumped by a roadside. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for 32-year-old George David Edenfield and his parents, David and Peggy Edenfield for the March 8 slaying of young Christopher Michael Barrios. Investigators say Christopher was sexually assaulted and choked to death in the Edenfields' trailer across the street from his grandmother's home. He had been missing for a week when police discovered his body March 15. Attorneys for each of the three suspects entered their pleas in Glynn County Superior Court. Brought into the courtroom one at a time, none of the suspects spoke or showed much emotion. http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6368713

Prosecutor: Boy, 6, begged killers to 'let me go!' Posted: Sep 30, 2009 1:46 PM EDT Updated: Sep 30, 2009 3:08 PM EDT By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press Writer BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) - A 6-year-old boy pleaded with his captors - a man and his adult son - as they stripped and sexually assaulted the child inside a mobile home before strangling him, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday. The comments were made during opening arguments in the trial of David Edenfield, 61, who faces the death penalty if convicted of the March 2007 slaying of Christopher Michael Barrios. The boy was missing for a week before police found his naked body dumped off a road and wrapped in trash bags. Prosecutor John B. Johnson told jurors in his opening statement that they would learn the details of what happened to the boy "in the most horrible two hours of his life" from a taped confession Edenfield made to police. Johnson said Edenfield and his son, 34-year-old George Edenfield, lured the boy into their trailer across the street from the home of Christopher's grandmother, stripped the boy naked and took turns molesting him. "You will hear him say this from his own mouth," Johnson said of David Edenfield. "Christopher Barrios didn't want to be there. He said, 'Let me go! Please don't do this! I'm going to tell my parents!'" He said George Edenfield then wrapped his hands around the boy's throat while his father "began to - instinctively, you will hear him say - place his hands on top of George Edenfield's and help choke him." David Edenfield is the first suspect to stand trial in the slaying. His son and wife, Peggy Edenfield, have also been charged with molesting and killing the boy, then hiding his body. The jury was selected from residents some 90 miles away because of pretrial publicity, and the jurors are being sequestered in Brunswick. Defense attorney James Yancey told jurors that his client's son was a convicted child molester and told police he'd killed the boy hours after Christopher went missing. Yancey said the elder Edenfield's confession was influenced by the police officers who questioned him, but stopped short of telling jurors he was coerced. Barrios lived in a mobile home park in the port city of Brunswick, about 60 miles south of Savannah, where his father and grandmother both had separate homes. He would pass the Edenfields' trailer when walking between them. A shy boy with a big smile that showed off the silver caps on his front teeth, he loved superheroes such as Batman and Spider-Man. When police began searching for him, they found his toy Star Wars lightsaber abandoned by the road. The Edenfields moved into the mobile home park where the boy lived just a few months before his death. The family had been forced to move because George Edenfield was a convicted child molester. The family's previous home was close to a playground, a violation of Georgia's sex offender registry law. Police discovered George Edenfield was a sex offender and questioned him a few hours after Christopher was reported missing. Court records say he confessed to choking the boy and told police "the 'devil' told him to kill Christopher." Peggy Edenfield later told investigators she watched her grown son choke the boy and then try to wash fingerprints from his neck using soap and a pot of water, according to court affidavits. She said she and her husband, David Edenfield, helped dispose of the body. George Edenfield is still awaiting the outcome of court proceedings to determine if he's mentally competent to stand trial. Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering has described him as mentally slow but capable of understanding right from wrong. Peggy Edenfield agreed to testify against her husband and son in return for a promise that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty. http://www.khq.com/global/story.asp?s=11232497