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EVIL: Crystal Valdez beats 4-year-old son dead on his birthday
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An Illinois mother was found guilty of beating her four-year-old son to death on his birthday.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Crystal Valdez, 34, was convicted of first-degree murder in the beating death of her son, Christopher, who had just turned four when he was found dead in his mother’s home the day after Thanksgiving.

Valdez’s sister Katrine was a key witness at the murder trial, and gave tearful testimony about finding the boy wrapped in a blanket at her sister’s home.

Katrine told the jury that she and her husband visited the home after a neighbor had called with concerns about the boy’s well-being.

“I pulled it, the cover flipped over and Christopher was lying there on his side, his eyes open,” Katrine said on the stand.

“I laid him on his back. … And I said, ‘What did you do? What did you do?'”

Crystal’s live-in boyfriend, Cesar Ruiz, was previously convicted of murdering Christopher and sentenced to 75 years in prison. The jurors reportedly did not hear about Ruiz’s 2013 conviction, but the defense lawyers argued that he alone was responsible for Christopher’s death, and the Crystal did not understand the severity of his injuries.
“Crystal did not recognize that these were life-threatening injuries,” Assistant Public Defender Brett Balmer reportedly said in closing arguments.
 “Crystal relied on others for help and for guidance. No one told her what to do.”
 But prosecutors argued that Crystal functioned perfectly well in other areas of her life.

“No one told her that she should call 911?” Assistant State’s Attorney Jeff Allen told the jurors.

“A woman that could cook a turkey, keep a clean house? … You don’t have to be a Rhodes scholar.”

 

Feature photo: Facebook