Christian Choate, 13, died in a dog cage after years of alleged abuse. His body was found in a Gary, Indiana trailer park last week. Christian’s parents, Riley Choate, 34, and his wife, Kimberly Choate, are charged with the murder of the 13-year-old.
Investigators were tipped off to Christian’s death by Christian’s birth mother, Aimee Estrada, who said her daughter came to her on May 1 with information about the location of Christian’s body.
As Reported By Daily Mail.com:
Christian Choate wrote: ‘I want to die’ on the paper given to him by his stepmother to scribble down how he felt.
In the handwritten notes, he said he simply wanted to be liked by his family in Gary, Indiana – even if they were ‘abusing’ him.
The disturbing letters emerged as child protection authorities admitted to a catalogue of errors in the years before Christian died.
His father was accused of attacking him the year before he took sole custody of the teenager. After that, the alleged abuse only got worse.
Christian’s body was recovered last month from a shallow grave in a trailer park near Gary, Indiana where he once lived with his family.
It is thought he could have been there for two years after his father Riley Choate moved the family away and warned them not to tell anyone what had happened.
The letters, released by the Indiana Department of Child Services, show the teenager spent most of his last year in a three-foot high dog cage.
Christian writes how he had to steal food when he was hungry because his family allegedly would not feed him.
He would only be let out to clean the house and was almost never allowed outside.
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Kimberley Kubina allegedly kept her son, Christian, in a tiny dog cage. She has been charged with murder.
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Riley Choate allegedly kept son, Christian, in a tiny dog cage. He has been charged with murder.
