Charges Filed in Gary Boy's Death

By Chuck Sudo in News on May 10, 2011 7:00PM

Christian Choate (left) and Riley Choate

Lake County (IN) authorities have filed multiple charges against Riley Choate in the 2009 death of his son Christian and we get a chill in our spine with every new detail that emerges from this case.

Riley Choate had already pleaded not guilty to charges of altering the scene of a death, failing to notify authorities of discovering a dead body and failing to report a dead body. Prosecutors have added charges of murder, battery, two counts of neglect of a dependent and criminal confinement. Christian Choate's body was discovered last week, wrapped in plastic and a blanket under the concrete slab in Gary where his father and ex-stepmother allegedly buried him two years ago. Since then, Christian Choate's sister told the Northwest Indiana Times that her father used to lock him in a cage.

It was also discovered that Christian Choate was pulled out of the Merrilville, IN school system in 2007 so that he could be home-schooled. Under Indiana law, once a student is removed from the system by a parent or legal guardian for home schooling, the school system stops tracking the child. This explains why Christian Choate fell through the cracks. A preliminary autopsy indicated that he died of blunt force trauma, internal bleeding and a skull fracture.