David Edenfield was sentenced to death by the State of Georgia for the sexual assault and murder of a six year old boy. According to court documents David Edenfield would abduct Christopher Barrios Jr on March 8, 2007 his body would be found seven days later. He had been sexually assaulted and murdered. David Edenfield who was a convicted child molester was arrested the next day. He would be convicted and sentenced to death.
David Edenfield 2021 Information
YOB: 1948
RACE: WHITE
GENDER: MALE
HEIGHT: 5’06”
WEIGHT: 160
EYE COLOR: BROWN
HAIR COLOR: GRAY
MAJOR OFFENSE: MURDER
MOST RECENT INSTITUTION: GA DIAG CLASS PRISON
MAX POSSIBLE RELEASE DATE: DEATH
David Edenfield More News
It took a jury two hours Tuesday to decide to return a death penalty sentence against convicted murderer and child molester David Edenfield, 61, of Glynn County.
Edenfield was convicted Monday in Glynn County Superior Court for his role in multiple crimes that resulted in the death of Christopher Michael Barrios Jr., 6, March 8, 2007.
Edenfield was the first of three people charged in Christopher’s death to be tried. His wife, Peggy Edenfield, and adult son, George Edenfield, have also been charged. No trial date has been set for either.
Christopher’s family members were visibly relieved after the death sentence was handed down and held a press conference on the steps of the Glynn County Courthouse afterward.
Sue Rodriguez, Christopher’s grandmother, said Christopher finally received justice, but she won’t rest until all involved have been brought to trial. “We’ve got two more,” she said.
Rodriguez said she plans to attend Edenfield’s execution, which could be years away.
Showing those gathered a pendant engraved with an image of Christopher that she wears close to her heart, Rodriguez said the young boy is always with her.
Michael Barrios, Rodriguez’s son and Christopher’s father, said he was happy with the jury’s decision and said Christopher is “smiling down from heaven.”
“I’ve felt him with me today,” Barrios said.
Barrios said that he and his family plan to attend the two remaining trials. “We’re holding up our end of the bargain,” he said. “We’ve had (Christopher’s) back the entire time.”
Barrios also plans to attend Edenfield’s execution.
He admitted to being a little nervous about the outcome of the case, but said that Edenfield’s confession during a police interrogation March 16, 2007, “sealed his deal.”
“This sentence that we got is exactly what I wanted,” Barrios said.
Glynn County District Attorney Stephen Kelley, who prosecuted the case with Assistant District Attorney John B. Johnson, said he was satisfied with the outcome. “I wanted justice for Christopher,” Kelley said.
John Beall IV, one of Edenfield’s court-appointed defense attorneys, told the jury in statements Tuesday that no matter how they voted to sentence Edenfield, the result would be the same.
“David Homer Edenfield is going to die in prison, and that’s a fact,” Beall stated. “And Christopher is not going to come back.”
Beall pleaded with the jury to be merciful and to consider the burden of deciding to execute another human being.
“Sometimes it’s hard to consider mercy, even when it’s the law,” he said. “You will be living with this decision for the rest of your life.”
Kelley, presenting the state’s closing argument, reminded the jury it had three sentences to consider – death, life without parole and life with the possibility of parole.
“Justice demands the ultimate penalty when it fits the crime,” Kelley said.
Kelley told jurors that while Edenfield was “not the sharpest tack in the box,” he knew right from wrong at the time Christopher was killed. Becoming increasingly impassioned, he told jurors that Edenfield was the architect of this crime.
“Some things are just imcomprehensible,” Kelley said. “A slippery slope of sexual perversion gave way to a malignant heart – or maybe he’s just rotten from the inside out.”
Kelley called the crimes against Christopher outrageous, heinous, senseless and tragic, and urged the jury not to pity Edenfield.
Although sentenced to die, it will be some time before Edenfield faces lethal injection.
Russ Willard, director of communications for the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, said Tuesday the amount of time inmates spend on death row before their sentence is carried out varies widely from case to case. Willard said the specifics of the case, the time the conviction occurred and the judge overseeing the case all play a role in determining how long the condemned sit on death row before appealing for a lighter sentence or being executed.
Willard said there are many different appellate avenues convicts can take to postpone their sentence, and all of them take considerable time to move through the legal system.
“You’re probably looking at eight to 10 years as the earliest you’ll ever see any condemned actually being executed,” Willard said.
There are currently 107 inmates on death row in Georgia.
Punishment:
After the jury handed down the death sentence Tuesday on the murder conviction of David Edenfield, Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen G. Scarlett meted out the maximum penalties on the remaining charges. Scarlett ordered all charges to be served consecutively. In addition to the death sentence, Edenfield received two life sentences, and an additional combined total of 63 years:
* Two counts of aggravated child molestation – one life sentence for each.
* One count of child molestation – 20 years imprisonment.
* One count of cruelty to children in the first degree – 20 years.
* One count of false imprisonment – 10 years.
* One count of concealing the death of a person – 10 years.
* One count of tampering with evidence – 3 years.
