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The Georgia Supreme Court has turned down an appeal from George David Edenfield, who faces charges related to the 2007 murder and sexual assault of a young boy. This decision, announced on Friday, marks another chapter in the distressing case that shook the community of Glynn County over a decade ago.
Back on March 8, 2007, Edenfield, then aged 32, was arrested and charged with the heinous crimes of sodomy and murder of six-year-old Christopher Barrios. The tragic events unfolded after Barrios went missing from his home in a trailer park near Brunswick, Georgia.
After a desperate week-long search, authorities made the grim discovery of Barrios’ body. It was found discarded in a trash bag, approximately three miles away from his residence, on the side of a road. The details of the crime shocked and saddened the local community and beyond.
In connection with these horrific acts, Edenfield’s parents, David and Peggy, were also charged with murder and child molestation. The indictment revealed that the young boy was sexually assaulted and subsequently strangled to death, as reported by the Associated Press.
Further investigations uncovered that Edenfield, who had a previous conviction for child molestation dating back to 1997, committed the crime alongside his father, while his mother was present during the assault. These appalling revelations have kept the case in the public eye, drawing widespread attention and condemnation.
In taped interviews of David with Glynn County Police officials shown in court, he said he put his hands on top of his son’s hands around the child’s throat but said he didn’t squeeze when Edenfield began choking the child to death.
Edenfield and his parents lived in a mobile home across the street from the six-year-old’s grandmother.
In 2007, then Glynn County District Attorney Stephen D. Kelley told media that he wanted to seek the death penalty against the Edenfields.
Edenfield was later found incompetent to stand trial and was committed to a state mental hospital.
Over the course of the past several years, the convicted child molester has repeatedly attempted to have the conditions of his commitment changed so as to allow him to leave the facility under supervision. Officials confirmed that each of these attempts has been denied.
In its unanimous ruling, the Georgia Supreme Court dismissed Edenfield’s most recent application for appeal on the grounds that Edenfield stated no basis for a discretionary appeal and that he “represents that he has also filed a notice of appeal” from the Glynn County Superior Court, calling his discretionary application “duplicative.”
Edenfield’s murder case remains open pending a finding of competence to stand trial.