Guilty Mother Of Beating To Death 4-year-old Son

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

A Chicago Cook County jury found Crystal Valdez guilty Thursday of the beating of her 4-year-old son the day after Thanksgiving 2011.

After 4 hours of jury deliberation and 3 days of shocking testimony, the juries concluded that the 34-year-old woman was guilty of first-degree murder.

"She suffered a beating so wild, so big that her little body couldn't take it anymore," said District Attorney Mary McMahon, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Although no physical evidence was presented that directly implicated the woman in the fatal beating, witnesses claimed that she had confessed before the death that she beat the boy.

Likewise, tapes of the call made by family members to 911 after the discovery of the unconscious boy in which Valdéz was heard shouting: “I killed him! My Christopher !”

It was the minor's aunt, Katrine Valdez, who, worried about her nephew, forcibly entered her sister's home with her husband to discover the lifeless child. In her chilling testimony the woman revealed that she had found the little boy wrapped in a blanket.

"I pulled him, he took off the cover and Christopher was lying on his side with his eyes open," said the woman crying. “I laid him on his back… and I said [to my sister]: 'What did you do? What did you do?'!".

The case sparked controversy after the defendant's defense attorneys asked for her acquittal because she had "limited mental capacity," after studies found she had below-average IQ.

César Ruiz, the woman's partner and with whom he shared a home, was sentenced in 2013 to 75 years in prison for having delivered the blows that killed the boy. During the trial, his lawyers identified the mother as the person responsible for the murder and alleged that she had covered the wounds with makeup so that her client did not realize what was happening.

Now it was Crystal's lawyers who transferred all responsibility to Ruiz and alleged that his client understood the gravity of the events. "I didn't know they were fatal injuries," said attorney Brett Balmer.

In response, the prosecution noted that Christopher's injuries were of such magnitude that it was impossible to ignore them.

"Didn't anyone tell you to call 911?" Alleged prosecutor Jeff Allen. "A woman who could cook a turkey, who could keep a house clean?"

Christopher's case also cast doubt on the ability of Illinois state family services to prevent such tragedies. Despite Crystal having been convicted of a minor charge of domestic assault after admitting to hitting the boy, authorities finally concluded that the boy was not abused and allowed him to continue living with his mother. A month later she died.