Montana – A 40-year-old man, Christopher, was ordered to spend the next eighty years in a Montana state prison after being convicted earlier this year of deliberately kiIIing his spouse’s 4‑year‑old child, Jasyn, several years ago. Judge CoIIette handed down the sentence on Wednesday, following a jury’s finding of guilt on charges of deIiberate homicide, assauIt of a minor, and tampering with physicaI evidence. Additional concurrent 15‑year sentences were imposed for the assault and tampering convictions.
The case began when police were called to the family’s home in Eastern Montana after the boy’s mother, Lena, reported that her chiId had been found unconscious in the bathrooom. She initially told responding officers that the child, who had auti sm, had fallen in the bathtub, leaving him Iying next to the tub and completely dry, despite being very warm to the touch, according to court documents. Those early statements suggested an accident, but Montana authorities grew suspicious when the autopsy showed a body temperature of one hundred and two degrees and extensive bruising throughout his face and body, signs consistent with abuse.
Detectives re-interviewed the victim’s mom, who changed her account. She admitted that her spouse had been with her child in the bathroom before she discovered him unresponsive. She also revealed that the defendant routinely disciplined the children using a metaI spatuIa, often on the victim and his older brother. Those additional admissions prompted charges of assault on a minor and tampering with evidence, after authorities found the broken spatula in a dumpster.
During the investigation, Montana authorities built a portrait of ongoing physical abuse culminating in the child’s death, per reports. Testimony from the victim’s biological father, who reported severe bruising on his older son days earlier, strengthened the case. The autopsy confirmed not only hyperthermia consistent with immersion in scalding water but also blunt force trauma and brain swelling—indicators that the child had been beaten and drowned in scaIding water.
In court, prosecution witnesses described patterns of abuse. Detective Raschow called the incidents “evil” and said this was the worst case he had encountered.
The defendant took the witness stand in his own defense, denying he caused the death. He testified that he loved the child with all his heart and that he never physically harmed the child, apart from a hand spanking. His legal team argued that the victim’s death could have resulted from a high fever or virus, not intentional harm .
The jury, however, took under four hours to convict the defendant on all counts, including deliberate homicide, assault on a minor, and tampering with evidence. Judge Collette imposed a total of eighty years for the homicide and concurrent fifteen year terms, affirming the prosecution’s case and emphasizing the serious nature of the abuse and death.
In addition, the victim’s mom has been indicted on three counts of criminal child endangerment and three counts of tampering with evidence. She has not yet entered a plea. Legal experts have noted that her testimony, which prosecutors read into court after she invoked her Fifth Amendment rights, may complicate the defense and contribute to ongoing appeals.
With an eighty‑year sentence in place, along with concurrent sentences for additional charges, the defendant is likely to spend the remainder of his life behind bars. The legal proceedings continue for his wife as she faces her own indictments. The case remains a tragic reminder of the critical role law enforcement and child protective services play in uncovering and combating domestic abuse.