DENVER—A man who had agreed to care for his ex-girlfriend’s son was convicted Tuesday of starving the 7-year-old to death while forcing him to spend his last few days in a tiny closet.
Jurors took just 3 1/2 hours to convict Jon Phillips, 27, of first-degree murder, fatal child abuse and evidence tampering in the May 2007 death of Chandler Grafner.
A judge immediately sentenced him to mandatory life in prison on the murder charge and a maximum 48 years in prison on the child abuse charge after a prosecutor tearfully pleaded for the toughest possible penalty.
“It’s horrible, it’s beyond belief that Chandler is dead,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Verna Carpenter told the judge, at times halting when she was overcome with emotion.
“When I talk to my 7-year-old … seeing him standing next to his first-grade teacher,” she said before her voice became inaudible through her tears.
“There’s not a sentence in this world long enough for Jon Phillips,” she said.
Some jurors moved to the public gallery to hear the sentence. They sat with clenched jaws, craning their necks to look at Phillips as Carpenter spoke. Others in the gallery wiped away tears, including Phillips’ parents
There was no immediate word on an appeal.
Phillips showed no emotion as Carpenter spoke and declined to make a statement before sentencing. He also received a one-year sentence for evidence tampering.
Phillips’ girlfriend, Sarah Berry, 23, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Chandler’s death on Monday, just as jurors began deliberating the case against Phillips. She faces 48 years in prison and five years of parole.
A coroner said Chandler had numerous cuts and bruises when he died of starvation and dehydration after suffering cardiac arrest. He weighed 34 pounds.
Prosecutors said Chandler had a miserable life, denied food and water and kept in a closet where he had to urinate and defecate.
After the sentencing, defense attorneys Darren Cantor and David Jones repeated their contention that Chandler died of complications from acute diabetes that went undetected.
“This is an incredibly tragic, really sad case. Obviously we’re very disappointed,” Cantor said.
“We don’t believe it’s true” that Chandler was deprived of food and water, Jones said. “It’s a case of medical neglect or failure to provide medical care, but not murder.”
Authorities said Phillips had agreed to take custody of Chandler after a court removed the boy from the care of his mother, Phillips’ former girlfriend.
The state Department of Human Services concluded in August 2007 that county agencies had made numerous missteps in Chandler’s case but said those problems were not responsible for the his death.
“Everything that happened to Chandler is squarely on the shoulders of Jon Phillips and Sarah Berry,” Carpenter said.
Added Deputy District Attorney David Lamb: “It doesn’t make sense to reasonable people. I don’t know why it happened.
“They really disliked this child and they ended up murdering him,” he said.
