Sad Life of Christian Choate

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Imagine a world where a child’s desperate cries for help go unnoticed. What if the system designed to protect him, failed him completely? This episode of Human Wreckage True Crime Podcast takes you through the harrowing life of Christian Choate, a 13-year-old boy whose existence was marred by unimaginable abuse and neglect at the hands of his father, Riley Choate, and stepmother, Kimberly Cubina. From the shocking discovery of his body buried under concrete to the heartbreaking revelations from his sister, we expose the staggering failures that allowed this tragedy to unfold.

We'll guide you through the appalling conditions Christian endured, confined in a dog cage, beaten, starved, and emotionally tortured. Learn how, despite multiple interventions, systemic lapses left Christian in a hellish environment until his untimely death. Through his writings, we get a gut-wrenching glimpse into his world of pain and isolation. This episode is not just a recounting of a tragic story but a call to action for systemic change to prevent such atrocities from happening again. Join us as we honor Christian’s memory by shedding light on his suffering and advocating for the protection of vulnerable children everywhere.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Christian Schott was well known to child protection
services, yet the systemdesigned to protect children
failed him completely.
He died alone in a dog cage atthe hands of his abusive father
and stepmother.
Welcome to another episode ofHuman Wreckage True Crime
Podcast.
This episode, we will betalking about the tragic and
short life of Christian Schott.
This case is beyond messed up.

(00:21):
This is definitely aheart-wrenching case.
The monsters who tortured andended his life, let's get into
it.

(00:51):
In May of 2011, police in Gary,indiana, received a tip from a
woman who told them where theycould find the body of a child
who had been killed two yearsprior.
They were directed to a mobilehome park in the 5E900 block of
West 36th Avenue, where theymade a distressing discovery
Buried underneath a layer ofconcrete in a shed was the body
of 13-year-old Christian Choate.

(01:12):
He had been murdered by hisfather, riley Choate, and his
stepmother, kimberly Cubina, in2009.
Christian's sister, christinaChoate, had mustered up the
courage to confess what she knewabout Christian's death to her
mother, who then called police.
The discovery of Christian'sbody revealed an ugly history of
child abuse and neglect.
In 2004, christian's mother,amy Eriks Estrada, lost custody

(01:35):
of him and Christina after herlive-in boyfriend was accused of
molesting them.
Christian told authorities thathis mother had also touched him
inappropriately.
Christian and Christina thenmoved in with their father,
riley Choate, his wife KimberlyCubina, and several cousins and
step-siblings.
Despite the fact that in Augustof that year, choate had also
been accused of abusing his son,investigators could not

(01:57):
substantiate the abuseallegations, but DCS officials
did determine that Choate hadphysically abused Cubina's
nieces who were living with themat the time.
The report cited inappropriatediscipline and bruising on the
two girls.
As a result of the abuse, thenieces were removed from the
home and placed in foster carefor several months.
However, they were thenreturned to the custody of Chote

(02:18):
and Cubina just in time forthem to also be granted custody
of Christian and Christina.
In total, 12 people lived in thecramped mobile home, and things
soon took a turn for the worsefor young Christian.
Christian was the brunt of theabuse by both Chote and Cubina.
Christian would be slapped,punched, kicked, and that's just
the tip of the proverbialiceberg.
One punishment inflicted uponChristian was chaining his hands

(02:41):
and feet to an upright bedframe.
While chained to the bed frame,he would be punched, kicked and
beaten with a metal pole.
In addition to the severebeatings he received, christian
was being systematically starved.
Typically, he would be givenramen for breakfast and lunch
and leftovers of what the familyhad for dinner.
In a desperate bid to survive,christian tried to steal food

(03:02):
when he wasn't being beaten.
Christian was forced to live ina dog cage that Kubina purchased
from their neighbor for $15.
At times his hands would betied to the top of the cage and
on one such occasion Kubina'sspray painted his chained hands
black as additional punishment.
The only time Christian wasallowed out of the cage was to
clean the house.
Christian wasn't even allowedto use the bathroom and lived

(03:24):
among his own excrement in thecage, which was placed beside
Chote's computer.
Day in and day out, choteplayed video games as his son
slowly deteriorated in a tinycage beside him.
Christian would often ask whyhe couldn't go outside and play
with the other kids.
The only thing he had access toas a form of preoccupation was
paper and a pen.
On these pieces of paper,christian questioned why he was

(03:46):
so hated and wrote that hedesperately just wanted to be
liked by his family.
He wrote of his desire to diebecause nobody liked him, and
wrote about how hungry orthirsty he was.
His writings detail a very sadand depressed child who wondered
when somebody was going to comeand check on him and give him
some food or water.
The other children in the homesaid that they risked abuse
themselves if they tried to helpChristian.

(04:08):
When they questioned whyChristian was forced to live in
a cage, cubina respondedChristian needs to be locked up.
He's a dog.
As if the abuse from the twopeople supposed to care for
Christian wasn't horrific enough, christina later admitted that
she too would sometimes hit herbrother.
On one occasion she even chokedhim until he turned blue.
She also admitted that shewould slap her brother with an

(04:31):
open hand when he didn't do asshe told him.
She later told police that sherisked being beaten herself if
she did not get Christian to doas she told him.
In an attempt to combat thebruising and swelling on
Christian's body from thebeatings, cubina instructed
Christina to give Christianice-cold water baths, which
prompted his screams.
As the beatings escalated andfood was denied more frequently,

(04:52):
christian was forced to wear adiaper that was suitable for
children of just four years old.
Christian was so emaciated thatthe tiny diaper fit him In his
cage.
Christian lost his mind, hisstrength and, ultimately his
humanity.
Shortly before his death inearly 2009, christian started to
hallucinate and could barelywalk due to being so weak.
Christina recalled that shetried to feed him cereal, but he

(05:15):
was unable to chew or swallow.
The same night, chote becameinfuriated that Christian
couldn't eat and struck him fullforce several times in the
front side and back of his headbefore throwing him back in the
cage.
That night Christian died alonein a dog cage.
After Christian's murder, he wasplaced inside a plastic bag and
taken to a shed adjacent to thefamily's mobile home.

(05:37):
Here he was dumped into a graveand buried in concrete with a
Bible resting on his chest.
Christian's autopsy showed thathe suffered blunt force trauma
to his body, internal bleedingand a skull fracture.
Christina later toldauthorities that Choate and
Cubina had told her thatChristian had molested another
child living in the trailer andthat was why he was kept in the

(05:57):
cage.
However, records show that noreports of molestation were ever
reported by either Choate orCubina.
Nobody's going to miss himanyhow.
We'll just bury him, said Chotewhen deciding how to dispose of
his son, and he was right.
Two years would pass beforeauthorities even knew that
Christian was missing.
Choate and Cabina had toldneighbors and family that

(06:17):
Christian had run away, but theynever filed a missing person
report.
An investigation into the brutalmurder revealed that Christian
had a long history ofinvolvement with child welfare
authorities, but sadly, nobodyintervened in time to save his
life.
In 27, dcs were called to theChoates' home after receiving
complaints that there were 10children living in squalid
conditions.

(06:37):
Investigators cited one adult,a relative of Kirbina, for
medical neglect, but they didnot substantiate any of the
other allegations.
The following year, dcs werecalled to the home once again
for the same reason.
However, this time the reportadded that one child was living
under house arrest for molestinganother child.
Again, these allegations wereunsubstantiated.

(06:59):
The following year, christiantold his pediatrician that he
was being locked up at night.
However, the pediatrician neverthought to report this
information to DCS.
Records also showed thatMerrillville school officials
had contacted Choate in regardsto the number of days Christian
had missed from school.
Chris Foltz, the principal atIdings Elementary School, where
Christian was a fourth grader,had written to Choate and

(07:21):
informed him that his son wasmissing too many days of school.
While most of these days aredue to illness, the amount of
days absent is excessive and itis difficult for him to keep up
with his class work.
He is also unable to receivehis special education service
when he is not here.
Read part of the letter.
Foltz urged Choate to call himto discuss Christian's
attendance and any healthproblems he may have been

(07:43):
suffering from.
However, a few days later,choate withdrew Christian from
the school, claiming they weregoing to homeschool him instead.
Since state and local officialsdon't monitor attendance or
instruction for homeschooledstudents unless there is a
complaint in the state ofIndiana, christian was quickly
forgotten about by schoolofficials.
Somehow Christian slippedthrough the cracks.

(08:04):
It's like this little boy felloff the face of the earth, said
Lake County Sheriff's DetectiveMichelle Weaver.
Ultimately, the system designedto protect children failed
Christian Choate.
Ultimately, the system designedto protect children failed
Christian Choate.
On 14 December 2012, rileyChoate pleaded guilty to a class
of felony neglect of adependent causing death and two
Class D felonies of moving abody from a death scene and

(08:24):
depriving Christina an educationin exchange for an 80-year
prison sentence.
In pleading guilty to thosecharges, choate avoided a jury
trial.
�you trusted you to be theparent and you failed him, said
Lake County Criminal Court JudgeDiane Boswell.
Throughout the sentencinghearing, chote showed no sign of
emotion or remorse.
By the time of the sentencingphase, chote and Cubina had

(08:46):
divorced.
The divorce paved the way forCubina to enter into a plea
agreement to a lesser charge ofchild neglect.
Kimberly Cubina was sentencedto 25 to 35 years in prison.
Thanks for joining me.
Tragic Cases like thisdefinitely leave a mark.
I can only hope karma catchesup to all those who failed.
Poor Christian.
If you like what we do, pleaselike and subscribe.

(09:08):
Till next time.
Take care of yourselves you.