Ethan Stacy - killed by Mother & Stepfather

LAYTON, Utah -- The body a missing 4-year-old child has been found in a Utah canyon and his mother and stepfather are in custody, police said Tuesday.

Layton police said Ethan Stacy's stepfather, Nathan Sloop, 31, was being charged with aggravated homicide. Both he and the boy's mother, Stephanie Sloop, 27, also will be charged with felony child abuse, obstruction of justice and desecration of a corpse, police said.

The search for Ethan started Tuesday after police said the boy's mother reported that he had left his bed and wandered from their apartment complex. Officials said she told them that the boy had walked away five of the last 10 nights.

"That appears to have been a ruse by the mother, something to cover the tracks," said Layton police Lt. Garret Atkin.

Later Tuesday police said they had a credible lead and no longer needed volunteer searchers. The search at that point shifted to Wolf Canyon, about 40 miles northeast of Salt Lake City.

It's unclear when Ethan was killed or how, police said Tuesday. Atkin said either the mother, stepfather or both revealed the location of Ethan's body and that searchers dug up his remains. Five officers were seen carrying a blue bag out of the woods late Tuesday afternoon.

Atkin refused to describe the condition of the boy's body.

Ethan arrived in Utah 10 days ago to spend the summer with his mother, police said. His biological father is in Virginia. His name was not released.

Investigators spent the early morning hours combing through cupboards, closets, Dumpsters and the area near the apartment complex looking for the boy. Sex offenders in the area were also interviewed and had their homes searched, Atkin said.

The Sloops' story changed throughout the day, Atkin said.

The body was taken from Wolf Canyon, about 17 miles from the boy's apartment.

A Utah State Courts records check found that Nathan Sloop has a string of criminal convictions for misdemeanor and felony crimes including criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and drug possession dating back to 2000.

In 2003, Nathan Sloop was convicted of third-degree felony drug possession with the intent to manufacture and given a suspended sentence of up to five years in the Utah State Prison. He served 30 days in the Weber County Jail and probation. The charge was later amended to a misdemeanor.

No criminal record could be found for Stephanie Sloop.

A Layton phone listing for the Sloops could not be found. An after-hours message left for the Davis County attorney's office was not immediately returned Tuesday.

It wasn't clear when charges would be filed or when the Sloops would make a court appearance



AT least his body was found and he will get a dignified burial. Yet again a step parent is involved, i wonder if the mom felt the boy was threatening her relationship with the b/f and decided he had to go?
Was the step father jealous of the boy and came to the same conclusion?

At least we know in this case that justice will be served and they will get a long sentence possibly even death.

I bet the gruesomes are glad they didn't vacation in the states because right now they would be behind bars for a very very long time

Why do they do this. If they dont want their children then give them up to social services. I hate readiinng stories like this it breaks my heart.

Rest in peace little man. You are in a better place now

If he was only visiting for the summer and she decided she didn't want him there, why didn't she just call his dad and let him go home? I don't understand how a mother could do that to her own child. RIP Ethan

Sleep tight, little one x

Fox News

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah man held in the slaying of his 4-year-old
stepson beat him for days before the boy died, then used a hammer to
disfigure his face and teeth before burying his body in the mountains,
according to police records released late Wednesday.

The body of Ethan Stacy, wrapped in plastic, was unearthed by police
Tuesday.


Interview summaries filed by Layton police detectives documented
increasingly harsh treatment of the boy during his short time in Utah. A
Virginia judge had sent the boy to Layton for a summer visit with his
mother just 10 days before his death, police said.

Investigators said they obtained photographs and video images of
Ethan's worsening condition from his mother's cell phone, starting more
than a week ago.


The injuries resulted from the stepfather, Nathanael Sloop, "engaging
in a systematic and progressively more violent pattern of abuse toward
Ethan," detectives wrote in interview summaries. The documents say Sloop
was angry with the child and "tried everything" to discipline him;
however, they don't say why the boy was being disciplined.
Sloop, 31, acknowledged hitting the boy, which caused his face to
swell, and leaving him in a locked bedroom May 6 while the couple went
to get married in Farmington, about 10 miles away, according to the
probable cause statements used to support arrest warrants and detention
in jail.


Sloop and the boy's mother, Stephanie Sloop, 27, feared his injuries
would alert authorities if they took him along to the courthouse
wedding, the documents state.


"This pattern of behavior and abuse was done in a manner that was
recklessly indifferent to the child's welfare," police write.

Stephanie Sloop told police she did not seek medical help for Ethan
because she was afraid Nathanael Sloop "would harm her," Detective
Brooke Plotnick wrote.
The couple told police they found Ethan dead in his bed Sunday
morning, and that Nathanael Sloop buried him later that day.

Stephanie Sloop told investigators she bought two cans of lighter
fluid for Nathanael Sloop to burn the body before it was buried. The
reports didn't say whether that was actually done.
The stepfather disfigured the boy's face and teeth "in an effort to
defeat or delay identification," detectives concluded in their reports.

Prosecutors said they expect to file charges against the couple
Friday. Nathanael Sloop was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder.
He and the mother face additional charges of desecration of a corpse,
along with felony child abuse and obstruction of justice, police said.
Chief Deputy Davis County Attorney David Cole said prosecutors are
awaiting the results of an autopsy conducted Wednesday.


The Sloops are being held at the Davis County jail.


Attorney Richard Gallegos, who has represented Nathanael Sloop in
previous criminal cases, did not return a message Wednesday. It was
unknown if Stephanie Sloop had an attorney.
Nobody answered a phone at the Sloops' apartment Wednesday, and a
message wasn't returned.


Stephanie Sloop initially told officers that Ethan wandered away from
their apartment complex late Monday, but that was just a ruse aimed at
covering the couple's tracks, Lt. Garret Atkin said.


Police searched overnight and said that by midday Tuesday, the Sloops
had revealed the location of Ethan's body. The search then moved 20
miles away to a spot off a wooded trail in Wolf Canyon, which borders
the Powder Mountain ski resort, about 40 miles northeast of Salt Lake
City.


Ethan's biological father told The Associated Press police gave him
details on the slaying Wednesday.


"I can't talk right now. I just got the horrible news, talking to
prosecutors," said Joe G. Stacy of Tazewell, Va.


A relative says Ethan didn't want to spend the summer with his
mother.


"Ethan did not want to even talk to (his mother) on the phone. She'd
call and he'd say, 'I don't want to talk to her,"' Freida Stacy, Joe G.
Stacy's stepmother, told the Deseret News of Salt Lake City.


Stephanie Sloop told police Ethan was vomiting, lethargic and
refusing to eat for three days before his death. She also said that on
Friday, she found Ethan badly burned from his feet to his buttocks from
hot bath water, and that she suspected Nathanael Sloop was responsible.

At another point, the couple forced the child to drink two 16-ounce
bottles of water, a 16-ounce bottle of Kool-Aid and a glass of orange
juice over two hours, police said. They also gave him Motrin and
Benadryl to ease his facial swelling and pain.


Utah State Courts records show that between 2000 and 2003, Nathanael
Sloop had several convictions, including for criminal mischief,
disorderly conduct and drug possession. In 2003, he served 30 days in
jail for one drug possession charge and received a six-month suspended
sentence for another."


No criminal history was found for Stephanie Sloop.

The dirty filthy monster. That is being polite. what I do want to say here will probably get this forum shot down so ill hold my tongue.
I hope the bastard rots in prison

Antoinette wrote:The dirty filthy monster. That is being polite. what I do want to say here will probably get this forum shot down so ill hold my tongue.
I hope the bastard rots in prison

You and me both, Antoinette. When I read that the step-father had beaten this little laddie up and locked him in his bedroom while they went off to get married, I totally forgot that I am non-violent and that I don't swear very often! And to think that a judge sent the lad to his mother for the summer, knowing that he would not even speak to her on the phone. That judge has a lot to answer for.

I don't even have any words for this. Monster is a nice word for him and the mother! Why the hell did the judge in VA send him for a month to her? There's so much about this that I just don't get. Why didn't she just say no she didn't want him there or why didn't she just send him back with his daddy? Was she so hard up for a man that she just allowed this piece of sh!t to do that to her child and then lock him up in the bathroom and then go marry the SOB? She's worse than the boyfriend to me because that was her child and instead of protecting him she let her boyfriend beat him to death! Oh how generous that they gave him water and koolaid and motrin. That just makes me so mad I can't even stand it. There is no man and no person that should be more important than the welfare and safety of your child. She was obviously not the mother she should be because the little boy didn't want anything to do with her anyway. God rest his poor little innocent soul.

AnnaEsse wrote:

Antoinette wrote:The dirty filthy monster. That is being polite. what I do want to say here will probably get this forum shot down so ill hold my tongue.
I hope the bastard rots in prison

You and me both, Antoinette. When I read that the step-father had beaten this little laddie up and locked him in his bedroom while they went off to get married, I totally forgot that I am non-violent and that I don't swear very often! And to think that a judge sent the lad to his mother for the summer, knowing that he would not even speak to her on the phone. That judge has a lot to answer for.

Unfprtunatelly nobody can make Judges accountable for their decisions. Look at what happened in Portugal, when a Judge decided to give back Alexandra, the Russian girl born in Portugal, to the biological mother who was just a drunk, making her living in miderable conditions, while she was being raised by a couple who really loved her. Oh, if we could put Judges in Court...

OMFG! That's really upsetting to see. Poor little boy

Large crowd pay respects at Layton candlelight vigil

May 15, 2010

Hundreds of people from across northern Utah were in Layton to pay their respects and vent their sorrow and confusion about four-year-old Ethan Stacy's murder. "I'm pretty upset about the whole thing, so we just wanted to come to show our support. Let him know that we all care and we hope justice is served," Steve Thomas said.

Stephanie and Nathan Sloop remain behind bars in Davis County jail without bail pending charges that are expected to happen May 28.

A fund in Ethan Stacy's name has been set up to help pay for the funeral services at any Wells Fargo or Wachovia bank.

http://www.fox13now.com/news/kstu-layton-candle-light-vigil-for-ethan-stacy,0,6848420.story

 

Ethan Stacy Found Dead; Mother and Stepfather Charged in 4-Year-Old's Death

May 12, 2010


Missing 4-year-old Ethan Stacy

LAYTON, Utah

The body of missing 4-year-old Ethan Stacy was found in Ogden canyon in Utah on Tuesday evening. Ethan's parents had reported the child missing Monday, saying that he wandered out of the family's apartment in Layton; however, police arrested and charged both the mother and the stepfather with the death of Ethan Tuesday.

Ethan's mother Stephanie Sloop, 27, is facing charges of felony child abuse, obstruction of justice, and desecration of a corpse. The young boy's stepfather, 31-year-old Nathan Sloop, is facing charges of aggravated homicide, felony child abuse, and obstruction of justice.


Nathan and Stephanie Sloop (AP Photo/Davis County Sheriff's Office)

Layton Police began searching for Ethan around midnight on Tuesday after Stephanie called police and told them that her son had wandered away from the family's apartment. Stephanie told police that her preschooler had walked out of the house five out of the past ten nights.

Lt. Garret Atkin of the Layton Police began scouring the family's apartment complex for clues on the assumption that Ethan was a missing child. They knocked on neighbors doors at 4 a.m. asking them to search their apartments-cabinets, closets, beds- but Ethan was nowhere to be found, reports CBS affiliate KUTV.

The police team was using bloodhounds, searching trash bags, and identifying local sex offenders, but could not find one piece of evidence leading to them to the missing boy.

Around 11 a.m., police began questioning Ethan's parents. Police say that the Sloops' story changed, says KUTV.

With new information, officers began a new search 25 miles away in Ogden Canyon. Despite the bad weather, the search continued and at around 5 p.m. police were seen carrying a blue bag out of the woods. They confirmed that the body was in fact Ethan Stacy's and the Sloops were arrested, according to KUTV.

Cora Minneboo, neighbor of the Sloops who had been worried all morning about Ethan told KUTV, "I am so sick to my stomach. I don't see how anybody could do that to anyone-much less a little kid."

Another neighbor of the Sloops, Gary McPhie, said to KUTV he was sure he saw the boy just two days ago walking in the apartment complex. "If parents do this to a little boy, what's the world come to?" McPhie wondered.

The Layton police said that Stephanie and Nathan were married May 1, and Ethan had arrived in Utah from his biological father's home in Virginia only ten days ago. He was going to spend the summer with his mother.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20004781-504083.html

Shelby's Law and what it might mean for the Sloops

15/05/2010

If Nathan and Stephanie Sloop are convicted and get the death penalty, it may well be because of a Utah law passed just a few years ago.

That law is called Shelby's Law.

In many ways, this horrible week feels like 2006 all over again.

In August of that year, 10 year old Shelby Andrews was killed by her father and step-mother.

But her death gave life to the law that bears her name.

Shelby was beaten, tortured and sexually abused.

Bruises covered 80 percent of her body.

Even hardened lawmen were left shaken.

Shelby's father and step-mother both got 15 to life.

But they didn't get death sentences because of the way Utah’s law was written.

Representative Paul Ray was so outraged by Shelby Andrews' death, he got a bill passed the very next year.

Shelby's law now makes it easier for Utah child killers to get the death penalty.

Friday, Representative Ray told ABC 4,

"I don't want taxpayers paying $32,000 dollars a year to house this guy for the rest of his life and so it's come down simply to he's better off being removed from the gene pool."

Ray is saddened and stunned Shelby's law now has to be used just 3 years later.

While it does help punish killers, he knows it can't bring back their victims.

As Shelby's mom said a few painful years ago,

"I was waiting for the day I could help her pick out her wedding dress and be there when her first baby was born. I am never going to see that now."

Ray says he is now thinking about another bill for next year's legislature.

One that would limit the number of appeals condemned killers can file.

http://www.abc4.com/content/news/top%20stories/story/Shelbys-Law-and-what-it-might-mean-for-the-Sloops/83CF6xw0VECGOsaTyHQjBA.cspx

Ethan Stacy case could be first test for Shelby's Law

Fox 13 News - May 18, 2010

Davis County prosecutors began going over evidence today in the case against Nathanael and Stephanie Sloop, accused of killing 4-year-old Ethan Stacy. Sources close to the investigation tell Fox 13 the medical examiner is conducing tests on tissue samples taken from Ethan Stacy's body. The FBI is also involved, conducting forensic tests on cell phones and other electronics.

Prosecutors are considering leveling aggravated murder charges against the Sloops. They would bring them under "Shelby's Law," which made child abuse that leads to death, a potential death penalty crime. It was prompted by the murder of 10-year-old Shelby Andrews in 2006. Police said Shelby was abused so badly, she eventually died inside the Syracuse home of her father and stepmother. Shelby's biological mother, Kim Hale, said she was tortured.

"What could a 4-year-old, or even a 10-year-old, do to deserve anything like this?" Hale asked in an interview with Fox 13 on Monday.

Hale said the similarities between Shelby's case and Ethan's case are striking. Shelby's father, Ryan Andrews, and her stepmother, Angela, were both convicted of murder, but Davis County prosecutors were frustrated that they couldn't seek the death penalty. That led to "Shelby's Law."

"As to what it does for Ethan, is it allows for the dad and potentially the mother to be charged with a capital homicide," said Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield.

The case against the Sloop's is the first time Shelby's Law could be used.

"It's gratifying to have it in place so that when a monster performs these acts that happened here, you have the ability to go after them now," Ray told Fox 13.

As horrified as they are by Ethan's death, Shelby's mother, Kim, and stepfather, Guy, say they believe her death was not in vain.

"It's bittersweet," Guy Hale said.

"We knew that Shelby was put on this earth for a purpose," Kim Hale said. "We just didn't realize that her death was going to be the purpose for everything."

Funeral services for Ethan Stacy are scheduled for Wednesday in Grundy, Virginia.

http://www.fox13now.com/news/ethanstacy/kstu-ethan-stacy-shelbys-law,0,3679751.story

Ethan Stacy update: FBI investigates disturbing Facebook photo

May 19

A disturbing photo of Ethan Stacy, sitting with the man who allegedly killed him is being investigated by the FBI. The image, posted on Facebook by the boy’s mother, Stephanie Sloop, shows the 4-year-old with what appears to be a bruised and swollen face sitting with her new husband, Nathan Sloop, playing video games.


Stephanie Sloop Facebook photo showing Ethan with a bruised face sitting with Nathan Sloop.

According to probable cause affidavits, Ethan allegedly suffered torture and abuse for several days at the hands of his stepfather. His mother allegedly did nothing to prevent the horrific treatment her son received and failed to seek any sort of help for her son. Ethan reportedly died in the early morning hours on Mother’s Day.

Dr. Brent Horn, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Weber State University told KSL, “A picture says a thousand words. And if we can have a picture of something that someone did, a crime that someone committed, then it becomes a lot easier for us to understand the elements of that crime.”

Nonetheless, Horn said authorities should tread carefully regarding how much weight the photo is given. “To have just one very specific piece of evidence that you’re relying your whole case on is kind of very dangerous ground to be on,” said Horn.

Investigators believe, however, that the photo may be a very important piece of evidence that adds to the timeline regarding the abuse Ethan allegedly suffered and his untimely, tragic death.

KSL reports that the FBI was called to examine the photo because the agency maintains specialized and advanced laboratories to investigate such electronic data.

Services for Ethan are planned for 1 p.m. on Wednesday at the Grundy Funeral Home. He will be buried after the service at Clinch Valley Memorial Cemetery in Richlands, Virginia.

Nathan and Stephanie are both jailed on suspicion of aggravated murder.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crime-Examiner~y2010m5d19-Ethan-Stacy-update-FBI-investigates-disturbing-photo-of-slain-boy-with-swollen-bruised-face