Boys Body Found Under Shed

**Tundratot** · October 15th, 2011, 10:51 PM

The sister of slain Gary teen Christian Choate might testify at Monday's bail hearing for the siblings' father and stepmother.

Riley Choate, 39, and his estranged wife, Kimberly Kubina, 46 . . . are seeking to be freed on bond as they await trial, scheduled for May 14.

Testimony by Christina Choate, 17, has been vigorously pursued by Riley Choate's Hammond attorney, Randy Godshalk. In the past, possible testimony by the teenager has been strenuously rebuffed by her Merrillville attorney, Scott King. . . .

And Friday evening, court records showed prosecutors filed a motion that immunity be granted to an unidentified person widely expected to be Christina Choate. If granted, the immunity would not allow her testimony to be held against her.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...#ixzz1auRFRypw

No way those two POS should get bail and be out in public.

**Tundratot** · October 18th, 2011, 04:19 PM

WARNING: This will tear your heart out.

Christina Choate, who took the witness stand Monday at a bail hearing for her father, Riley Choate, and his estranged wife, Kimberly Kubina, testified under a grant of immunity.

She said in the last two weeks of Christian Choate’s life, he had trouble speaking and maintaining his balance when she walked him to the kitchen to eat or to use the bathroom.

Typically, Christian was given two packs of ramen noodles for breakfast and lunch, and leftovers or whatever the family was having for dinner. Around the time of his death, Christian had begun hallucinating and was in bad shape, so Kubina told her to feed him CoCo Wheats, but he became unable to chew or swallow them.

The night before the boy died in the spring of 2009, he couldn’t eat his cereal or walk to the kitchen or bathroom, so Kubina directed the girl to put a diaper on her brother that was there for a 4-year-old living in the home, Christina Choate said. The diaper fit him.

Christina Choate testified her father became angry that Christian wouldn’t eat and punched him in the side of the face, forehead and back of the head the night before the boy died. “He told me I better keep an eye on my brother or I’d be with him,” Christina Choate recalled. . . .

Christina Choate said her father and stepmother had made her responsible for Christian’s care, including his feeding and discipline, but she had a bad relationship with her brother after her father and Kubina told her Christian had molested a boy.

“I didn’t like that, and they said he wanted to mess with the little girls,” she said, referring to younger relatives living with them. “I told him I didn’t like him.”

Christina Choate admitted she choked her brother three times, including one incident in which he started turning blue after she pushed him up against the wall with one hand around his neck because he was getting smart and yelling and there were people outside. . . .

Kubina also had her videotape the abuse, but the videos were taped over. At one time, the boy was chained to a bed frame and hit.

“Did you have any enjoyment in that,” Riley Choate’s defense attorney, Randy Godshalk, asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

Christina Choate said she would slap her brother with an open hand when Christian didn’t do as he was told, but she denied hitting him in the head with a metal pole. She said her father beat her — slapped, punched and kicked her — and her stepmother slapped her a couple times. She said Kubina called Christian a troll and animal and told her to give Christina [Christian?]“ice baths” so that the bruises would go away.

After learning Christian was dead, Christina said her father beat her. “He said it was my fault that my brother was dead,” she said.

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/la...inal-days.html

Christina said her stepmother ordered her to wrap Christian’s body in a blanket and trash bags.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local...#ixzz1bAOLVikY

I think I'm having a heart attack.

**LeaveMeBe** · October 18th, 2011, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by Tundratot

WARNING: This will tear your heart out.

.

In the 2 plus years I've been on this site, this is one of the most horrific stories I've ever read.

I'm going to be sick.

**Tundratot** · October 20th, 2011, 04:11 PM

The night before Christian died, Riley Choate became angry that Christian wouldn’t eat and punched him in the side of his face, forehead and back of his head.

“He told me I better keep an eye on my brother or I’d be with him,” Christina Choate recalled. Her brother didn’t speak as she put him back in the dog cage. The next morning, she found her brother slumped over inside the cage, which was big enough for him to sit with his legs outstretched and his back against one side. She tried unsuccessfully to feed him twice. “I got mad and I hit him,” she said.

A few hours later, she noticed her brother was not breathing, called a relative who was with her stepmother, and tried to resuscitate him with an air mattress pump. Afterward, Christina said Kubina told her wrap up the boy’s body in a blanket, put him in two construction-type garbage bags, which were duct-taped, then place him in a storage tote that was loaded in a van and taken to Kubina’s grandmother’s mobile home. A few days later, Christina Choate said her father and Kubina went to Kubina’s grandmother’s mobile home and returned “all muddy.”

Christina Choate said her father and Kubina told her and other family members to keep quiet about what happened to Christian.

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/8308271...ons-death.html

The request for bail was dismissed.

**badfish76** · October 20th, 2011, 04:33 PM

If they requested to be set on fire that motion might be granted. At least if I had my way.

**Apostle of Chaos** · October 20th, 2011, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by Tundratot

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/8308271...ons-death.html

The request for bail was dismissed.

Damn, does that mean I'll have to put away my dog kennels? I was so looking forward to putting them to good use...

**AngelFire** · October 20th, 2011, 04:42 PM

These two should be skinned alive and alcohol poured in their wounds. I have never hated so much until DD. These animals that do this sort of shit to kids, elderly and animals have no soul and shouldn't be looked at as humans. The life Christian lead was no life. That child died thinking he was nothing because that is how these shit stains made him feel and believe. I hate them, and I wouldn't look away if I were to witness them being tortured, I wouldn't turn away. That is how much I loathe them.

**Tundratot** · October 24th, 2011, 04:15 AM

It seems that there is also a great deal of hypocrisy going on in the heart of Riley Choate. Not a big surprise.

A former Black Oak man charged with murder in his son’s death faces a high-level felony sex charge involving a girl in Kentucky.

Information that Riley Choate and the boy’s stepmother, Kimberly Kubina, had open cases in Kentucky this week prompted Lake Superior Court Magistrate Kathleen Sullivan to abruptly dismiss the petition to allow bail for the estranged couple . . .

Prosecutors seeking to avoid from having to disclose the victim’s address indicated in a court filing that Choate is charged with the equivalent in Indiana of criminal deviate conduct, a Class A felony punishable by a sentence range of 20 to 50 years. The filing argued that revealing the vicitm’s [sic] address would endanger her and potentially subject her to intimidation.

Choate, 39, of Hammond, and Kubina, 46, of Gary’s Black Oak section, have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which are punishable by a sentence range of 45 to 65 years in prison. . . .

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/la...-kentucky.html

**Abroad** · October 24th, 2011, 03:31 PM

After learning Christian was dead, Christina said her father beat her. “He said it was my fault that my brother was dead,” she said.

She is never going to recover from this. Her brother is past harming, and may he rest in peace; but please someone look to this poor child and help her. She is going to need it so badly.

**Tundratot** · November 30th, 2011, 11:50 PM

Riley Choate and his estranged wife, Kimberly Kubina, were back in court Tuesday for a routine status hearing. . . .

On Tuesday, the court reaffirmed the couple's next court hearing for April 17 and trial date for May 14.

The court also approved the release of certain documents related to past court actions involving Christina and Christian Choate to the prosecution and the defense.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...#ixzz1fFeS0bGY

I expect this means we'll be hearing about more evil deeds soon.

**Tundratot** · December 21st, 2011, 07:06 PM

The estranged couple did not appear Tuesday before Lake Circuit Magistrate Robert Vann, when the divorce had been set for final proceedings.

Choate, 39, filed for divorce from Kubina, 46, in August without an attorney.

Earlier this month, Choate wrote the court seeking approval for transport from the Lake County Jail to the courthouse to finalize the divorce.

With the couple's failure to appear Tuesday, sources close to the case said questions had been raised whether Kubina had been properly served with the divorce action.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...be75c3aa1.html

**Tundratot** · December 23rd, 2011, 04:19 AM

Lake Circuit Court Judge George Paras dissolved the 12-year marriage of Riley Choate and Kimberly Kubina within minutes Wednesday. . . .

While awaiting Paras on Wednesday, the couple casually bantered among themselves and the two correctional officers who escorted them from the Lake County Jail.

With no assets and children in foster care, Kubina asked only that her maiden name of Hamby be restored. . . .

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...#ixzz1hLNIA0te

Not particularly interesting, but at least now we know that they can testify against each other.

**Tundratot** · May 2nd, 2012, 05:13 PM

The Choate case came back up for air, but nothing good. Mainly a trial delay and a pissed off judge.

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/la...ial-delay.html

**CbabyRKO** · May 2nd, 2012, 09:55 PM

I could have lived without the knowledge that the sister too abused Christian. I mean what the holy mother of God? And the fact that from her own freakin mouth came the fact that she ENJOYED it. I srsly need a brain bleach and an eye scrub
stat. As soon as I thought this story cldnt b tragic enough I had to go and ready this shit. I am so beyond like screw this shit. She needs some serious mental help after years of this kind of behavior and actions levied against her.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · May 3rd, 2012, 07:11 AM

Kubina pleads guilty

The stepmother of a 13-year-old boy whose body was found buried in a mobile home park where the family lived has agreed to testify against the boy’s father in exchange for a more lenient sentence.

Kimberly Leona Kubina, 46, of the Black Oak section of Gary, pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent in exchange for a sentence of 25 to 35 years in the death of Christian Choate.

Kubina has agreed to testify against her ex-husband, Riley Lowell Choate, who is Christian’s father.

Choate, who turns 40 on Thursday, has pleaded not guilty to murder, neglect of a dependent, battery and confinement charges filed in Christian’s death and several other felony charges related to the disposal of the boy’s body.

In a 10-minute hearing Wednesday before Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell, Kubina stood next to defense attorney Linda Kollintzas as the judge went over Kubina’s constitutional rights and the terms of the plea agreement.

A 28-paragraph stipulated factual basis for the guilty plea to the neglect charge indicates that Rlley Choate first began abusing Christian Choate regularly in March 2007 after Riley Choate saw Christian and another boy in the bedroom. Neither boy was wearing pants. Riley Choate and Kubina learned that the boy was told he had to play the “hump game” with Christian.

The beatings by Riley Choate, which occurred between January 2007 and April 2009, started with him striking Christian with an open hand hard enough to knock the boy to the floor and by lifting him by his shirt and slamming him into the wall. The beatings were so severe Kubina would intervene. At the time, the family was living in the 7200 block of Polk Street in Merrillville, but Choate and Kubina withdrew Christian from Iddings Elementary because Kubina was concerned the school would notice bruises on him and that the other children could be removed by the Department of Child Services.

Between January 2007 and April 2009, Christian was confined to his basement room at the Merrillville home. Eventually he was allowed to eat and use the bathroom. Choate and Kubina became aware that Christian was urinating and defecating in the room but continued to confine him.

From April 2008 to April 2009, the family lived in a mobile home in the 4900 block of West 36th Avenue in Black Oak. Christian initially was confined to a bathroom, then the front bedroom which he shared with his father until late 2009 when Christian escaped and was found by Kubina and another relative at a nearby Walgreens.

After Christian ran away, Kubina helped Choate confine Christian in a dog cage. He was allowed to leave the cage only to eat, use the bathroom and exercise.

Kubina, acting on Choate’s orders, had Christian’s sister oversee Christian’s care. The girl was between the ages of 13 and 15 when the crimes occurred. The boy was fed ramen noodles for breakfast and lunch and the family meal for dinner. Christian lost significant amounts of weight — he wore a size 8 in boy’s clothing — so Kubina told Christian’s sister to feed him two ramen noodle packs for breakfast and lunch and to supplement his food with protein shakes. Weekly “cold-water” baths were intended to decrease swelling and bruising on Christian’s body.

On April 2, 2009, Kubina was at Longfellow Elementary School for a conference when she received a call that something was wrong at home with “grandma.” Before Kubina left for the school, Christian Choate was lying on a baby mattress and appeared pale, lethargic and glassy-eyed. When she returned home, Christian was dead.

Kubina called Riley Choate, who told her to “take care of it” until he got home. Kubina made Christian’s sister wrap Christian’s body in a blanket, place it in two plastic garbage bags and inside a plastic tote before Kubina and the girl carried it across the street to a relative’s trailer. After purchasing two bags of concrete and two bags of lime, Kubina helped Choate bury the boy’s body under the floor of the shed.

Kubina put a cross and Bible on top of the body and watched Choate cover the body with dirt.

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/la...oate-case.html

**Tundratot** · May 3rd, 2012, 02:17 PM

So Riley Choate got angry that his son was exhibiting "gay" tendencies? Or simply that he appeared to be taking advantage of a younger (was he) cousin? And he could never administer enough punishment to make it a paid debt? I could go on and on about children's normal sexual development and parental responsibility, but it would be moot. Riley Choate is a moron and a sadist. Once he got started, well . . .

I don't excuse Kubina and I'm not sure I have much forgiveness for Christian's sister, either. Why the hell didn't they let him escape that time he got to Walgreen's? If Kubina actually tried at any time to intervene, she should have made the effort to stop the torture, get him to his mother or a safe place. But she not only captured him, she abetted his torture and the cover up. And now they're giving her a deal.

**Morgana** · May 3rd, 2012, 04:03 PM

I knew the story was familiar! I remember reading worse...the father had the other children participate in beating, kicking and starving him or they would catch it too....He was in a diaper and caged and would occasionally be fed cereal. When one of his sibling tried to feed him, she found he was dead. This child had a horrible short stay on this earth....RIP Christian.

**Tundratot** · December 14th, 2012, 08:48 PM

On Friday, Riley Choate, 40, pleaded guilty in Lake Criminal Court to felony neglect of a dependent relating to his treatment of Christian, neglect of a dependent for depriving his daughter of an education and removal of a body from a death scene or altering a death scene for burying Christian after his death. Riley Choate also admitted being a habitual offender because of two previous felony auto theft convictions. . . .

Riley Choate's fiancee, Penny Murray, was not so calm. . . . "I'm proud of him," she said softly after the hearing. "I'm very proud of him."

Riley Choate faces an agreed term of 80 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 11.

Riley Choate admitted in court documents he started beating and punishing Christian after discovering the boy told a sibling they had to play the "hump game" in order to be brothers, court records state.

Riley Choate also admitted he and then-wife Kimberly Kubina kept Christian in a dog cage in their bedroom. And he admitted to watching his son become visibly malnourished but doing nothing to seek medical attention, according to the plea agreement.

Christian was fed one packet of Ramen Noodles for breakfast, one packet for lunch and leftovers from the family dinner, court records state. He wore size 6 clothing as a 13-year-old — a size usually reserved for someone weighing between 42 and 46 pounds.

Christian also wore diapers that originally had been purchased for the youngest child in the home. Riley Choate beat Christian — causing bruises, swelling and an altered mental state, court records state.

On April 2, 2009, Christian died from a combination of physical trauma, poor health and malnourishment by Riley Choate and Kubina, according to the plea agreement. Kubina placed Christian's body in a plastic tote and stored it in her grandmother's house across the street.

When Riley Choate got home from work, he and Kubina buried Christian's body under the floor of the grandmother's shed, court records state.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...18dc91f58.html

I can't believe that boar hog has a fiancée still, and I have to ask, if he's going to prison for 80 years, is she still going to marry him?

**HeatherHabilatory** · December 15th, 2012, 12:55 AM

Dis. gus. ting.

**DamagedGoods** · December 15th, 2012, 02:57 AM

Riley Choate's fiancee, Penny Murray, was not so calm. . . . "I'm proud of him," she said softly after the hearing. "I'm very proud of him."

Proud of him for what exactly? Being a car thief and child abuser? How could you look at this waste of oxygen, let alone be engaged to and proud of him??

**Tundratot** · December 23rd, 2012, 09:21 PM

Oh, the drama! Continuing story about the family squabbles over custody:

CROWN POINT | The brother of Kimberly Kubina, a convicted felon for her role in the death of stepson Christian Choate, is questioning the state's placement of the slain teen's half-brother.

Robert Hamby, 36, a longtime resident of Kentucky, is seeking custody of the boy, who is his nephew and the biological son of Kubina and Riley Choate. . . .

Hamby said he held temporary custody of Christian's older sister, Christina, after Kubina abandoned the girl in Kentucky to follow Choate to Indiana.

Hamby described sister Kimberly Kubina's relationship with Choate, 40, as off and on for many years, with Choate being "very abusive."

Hamby said he [presumably Riley Choate] first met Christina in 2009 when he traveled to Indiana for a family funeral.

Like other relatives, Hamby said he had been told his sister's stepson had run away to be with his mother.

"When Christina told me what happened to her brother, I didn't believe it," Hamby said.

Hamby said he waited a day to question the girl again.

"Her story never changed," he said.

Hamby said his reaction was beyond shock.

"My sister was always there for me," he said. "I was close to Kim and on good terms until I found out what happened to Christian."

Hamby says he believes for every action, there's a reaction.

"Whatever they get, they deserve every bit of it," Hamby said of sentencing hearings for Kubina and Riley Choate. . . .

Hamby said he only surrendered Christina to Indiana authorities when the courts determined Indiana to be the girl's home state.

"I had no choice but to surrender her," he said.

Hamby said in Christina's case, it all turned out for the best and he has no quarrel with either state in her case. Neither Christina nor Christian were related to his family by blood, he said.

However, Hamby said he has since learned through mutual friends that the Indiana Department of Child Services has given custody of his nephew to Richard Kubina, his sister's ex-husband.

"My thing about that is, he refuses to let us see (my nephew)," Hamby said. "He has taken (the boy) out of our lives completely."

When reached Friday, Richard Kubina declined to comment.

"Kim and Rich were high school sweethearts at Calumet High School," said Hamby, who was born in East Chicago and reared in Gary before moving to Kentucky more than 20 years ago.

The couple married, had a daughter and divorced before Kimberly married Choate, he said.

Hamby said Kimberly and Richard Kubina maintained a relationship over the years, but his sister does not want her ex-husband to adopt her son by Choate.

Hamby said his nephew lived and was schooled in Hopkinsville, Ky., for about two years.

He questions why Indiana is permitting his nephew to live with a nonrelative, in this case, Richard Kubina.

Hamby admits to a stint in prison at 18 when he was "young and stupid," he said.

However, Hamby said he now is the father of three, lives a stable life and has held the same job for 13 years.

Without the means to hire an attorney, Hamby said he has sought information on his nephew's status from authorities but has been turned away.

Lake County Juvenile Court Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura said to her knowledge Hamby has not attended court hearings on the matter.

"The court has never denied him any access," she said Friday.

DCS spokewoman Stephanie McFarland declined to comment on the case, saying federal and state laws prohibit child abuse/neglect records from being public record except in the case of a fatality.

As far as the general process regarding placement with a relative, McFarland said the child's safety and well-being is the first and paramount factor that must be considered.

In addition, McFarland said the caregiver would need to live in Indiana, taking into account the trauma children experience when they are removed from a school and community.

McFarland said DCS also conducts background checks and home inspections for safety and appropriate living conditions.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...bad0ded17.html

**Tundratot** · January 12th, 2013, 05:47 AM

A Gary, Ind. man charged with keeping his 13-year-old son in a dog cage, then beating the boy to death and burying the body in a shallow grave near the family’s home in a trailer park was sentenced this morning to 80 years in prison.

Riley Choate, 40, entered a plea deal with Lake County, Ind., prosecutors this month with an agreed sentence that spares him some 40 years off the 120-year sentence he faced on charges tied to years of brutal abuse of his son, Christian, that led to the boy’s death in 2009. . . .

“I can’t conceive of any set of facts charging neglect that could be any worse,” prosecutor Michael Woods said in court in Crown Point this morning.

Lake County Superior Court Judge Diane Boswell said there was plenty of blame to go around and several people had failed Christian.

“The pain and the suffering, the degradation this baby went through for two years of his life is incomprehensible,” Boswell said. “I can’t imagine any circumstance when a parent would allow this.”

Choate addressed the judge briefly before the sentencing. “All my actions will haunt me forever. I loved my son,” he said. . . .

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,3311002.story

Yeah, right, he loved his boy. That's why he abused him for years on end and then killed him. Sounds so French.

**badfish76** · January 12th, 2013, 07:20 AM

If that's how this POS loves people I would hate to see what he does to his enemies!

I hope someone makes him their bitch for the next 80 years!

**Mommyof2** · February 19th, 2013, 03:51 PM

Kimberly Kubina, stepmother to Christian Choate, whose abused body was recovered from a shallow grave in a Gary mobile home park in May 2011, two years and one month after his death, was sentenced Tuesday to 35 years in prison in Lake Criminal Court.

Kubina, 47, pleaded guilty to felony neglect in May for her role in the abuse.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...aeb05ee37.html

**Tundratot** · February 21st, 2013, 06:45 PM

Kubina denied knowing about how Christian had died, saying she believed he had gone to visit his biological mother.

She also told Lake Superior Court she was "remorseful" for not stopping the continued abuse, alleging that it was initiated by her former lover who was "intimidating and violent."

She feared he would cause welfare authorities to take away the other children, including nephews and nieces, that she was looking after, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

Kubina admitted that Christian was kept in a dog cage and that she ordered his sister to only feed him Asian noodles.

Up to 13 people knew how Christian was being treated, the court heard, but nobody did anything to stop it.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crim...#ixzz2LZkSFljb