Georgia — The attempted murder trial of two homeschooling parents accused of starving their 10-year-old son began with opening statements in Spalding County, Georgia, on Wednesday morning.
But only briefly.
The trial ended almost as quickly as it began, with the defendants agreeing to plead guilty early Thursday morning.
Krista Schindley, 49, and Tyler Schindley, 48, were charged with numerous offenses in the tragic and shocking case. The parents of seven children – two by birth and five by adoption – are said to have planned for one of them to be hidden away while he slowly starved to death, so that no one would ever know he existed.
“I’d like to apologize to all of our children,” Krista Schindley said at the sentencing hearing on Thursday.
That apology was largely ignored.
“Never have I seen a case that showed the depths of human depravity like this one,” the prosecutor said on Thursday. “The depth of torture.”
The judge overseeing the case delivered a lengthy soliloquy about the “blessing” of having children, which the defendants had forfeited.
“I’ve never seen human beings do what you two did to another human being,” the judge said, implying that the Schindleys committed far more crimes than the defendants who appeared before them.
The judge also explained how, as an attorney, he took an oath to uphold Georgia laws as well as the United States Constitution.
“Under the Eighth Amendment, I’m not allowed to impose a sentence that is cruel and unusual,” the juror said. “I am bound by the Constitution. You’d better be glad I am. Because otherwise I would impose a sentence similar to the one you imposed.”
Each defendant pleaded guilty to all charges brought against them.
The Schindleys were initially charged with attempted homicide in the second degree and attempted malice murder, as well as multiple counts of first-degree cruelty to children, second-degree cruelty to children, third-degree cruelty to children, battery, simple battery, and false imprisonment.
Following an indictment, their charges were formalized to include one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony murder, four counts of first-degree cruelty to children, two counts of false imprisonment, and one count of aggravated battery and battery with family violence. Krista Schindley was indicted on three counts of aggravated assault.
In real terms, both defendants were sentenced to 40 years in prison, followed by 20 years on probation.
Formally, each Schindley was sentenced to 20 years in prison on the first two counts, and 20 years on the third, while being sentenced to varying amounts of time behind bars on the remaining counts – but those sentences were assessed to run concurrently, or at the same time.
The state began its presentation by describing a mismatch between the image and reality of the house where the 10-year-old was allegedly hidden for at least three years during the starvation period. To support this juxtaposition, the prosecution used a visual aid and metaphor: a photograph of the Schindley residence’s facade.
“On the outside it is a picture of the American dream: lovely, everything is where it should be, in pristine condition, perfectly well-cared for, everything inside should be just so,” said the lawyer for the prosecution. “But if you ever stepped inside 1705 Westminster Circle, things are not as they appear.”
The prosecutor expanded on her metaphor of a darkly tinged American family by describing the end of a hypothetical process of purchasing a “beautiful” and “wonderful” and seemingly “perfect” home, only to have hopes dashed during the final inspection.
“As the inspector goes in, he find that the joints are crumbling, that the foundation is cracked, that black mold has spread throughout the house and infecting everything and it’s not safe to breathe inside,” according to her. “The house is toxic. Everything shifts. “That house is no longer safe for you or your family.”
The state argued on Wednesday that the toxicity came from a very different bedroom – the boy’s bedroom.
“Though the picture on the outside was perfect, the interior of this house was built on a foundation of crumbling control,” the defense attorney said. “The black mold of shame and humiliation were what held the roof in place.”
The Schindleys’ 10-year-old child was discovered emaciated in May 2023, wandering the street in search of food, which he planned to obtain at a local Kroger grocery store, and begging never to return to their grasp or residence, according to Georgia authorities.
When neighbors found the boy and called police, he weighed 36 or 37 pounds. According to the CDC, the average healthy weight for a 10-year-old in the United States would be significantly higher.
According to warrants obtained by Atlanta-based NBC affiliate WXIA, the couple “intentionally withheld food from [him] for an extended period of time,” causing “cruel and excessive physical and mental pain” to their son.
The couple also allegedly caused their son “dental injury and disfiguration,” withheld medical attention, and locked him in his bedroom “for extended periods and on multiple occasions, with no access to lights, food, clothing, or adult interaction and/or assistance.”
The boy’s stepbrother, Ethan Washburn, 21, was arrested for allegedly choking the child’s neck with both hands.
Jury selection for the case began on Monday. Jurors were brought in on Wednesday, after the state was granted permission to use the visual aid.
During her presentation, the lead prosecutor promised the jury that the state would be open about the 10-year-old’s food and hunger issues, which he had faced since before he was formally adopted by the Schindleys.
The child’s teachers and parents were aware of his “constantly upset,” “constantly hungry,” “constantly trying to get food,” and “constantly asking for food” issues, according to the prosecutor.
The boy was eventually removed from school; then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and the child “completely falls off the radar.”
The Schindleys relocated to the house on Westminster Circle in October 2020, according to the prosecutor, who again displayed a poster board image of the family’s final residence to the jury.
“You’re going hear all about what that singular room in 1705 Westminster Circle held,” according to the attorney. “You will hear how the defendants violated law after law, both moral law and the rules established by the State of Georgia. And they did it purposefully.”
The Schindleys, the prosecutor claimed, never wanted the boy. According to the prosecution, the starved child served as the “sacrificial lamb” and “the cost” of adopting his twin siblings.
“You’re going to hear about the cruel and malicious things that were done to him,” according to the attorney. “Because they didn’t want him.”
In addition to food, prosecutors claim that the boy was denied proper clothing, electricity, and toilet paper.
During the defense’s opening statement, Krista Schindley’s attorney stated that she was “not a monster” and that she had no intention of adopting or fostering any children and then committing the alleged crimes.
“All Krista ever wanted was a big family,” the defense attorney explained. “One that had a lot of children. Even if it meant having to adopt and foster.
