UPDATE: Christopher Payne Sentenced To Death
PAYNE GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING HIS KIDS
by Sheryl Kornman
Tucson Citizen
A Pima County jury Tuesday decided Christopher M. Payne should be sentenced to death for killing his children Ariana and Tyler Payne.
Payne showed no emotion as the two death penalty verdicts were read.
The children were starved to death, locked in a closet in Payne’s apartment in 2006 while he fed and cared for his third child, a son he had with his live-in girlfriend, Reina Gonzales, 24.
That child, now 4, is in the state’s foster care system.
Gonzales pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for her part in the Payne children’s deaths. She also agreed to testify against Payne to avoid the death penalty.
Payne was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder March 17 after the jury deliberated about three hours. He was also found guilty on child abuse and concealing a body charges.
Prosecutors had told jurors that the existence of at least one of three aggravating factors would warrant the death penalty:
• More than one victim.
• Minors were victims of an adult.
• The murders were committed in an especially cruel, heinous or depraved manner.
County prosecutor Susan Eazer told the jury Payne chose to be a drug addict and should be held responsible for his behavior.
She said the manner in which he killed the children was heinous and cruel.
“Every day he locked those battered and broken babies in that closet, he chose to become a killer,” Eazer told the jury.
“Every day he watched them wither away when he went out and got high; he chose to become a killer.”
Payne will remain in the Pima County Jail until sentencing April 30 on the other charges in the case. His death sentences will be automatically appealed under state law.
The jury deliberated about five hours over two days in the penalty phase of the case and could have chosen a sentence of life in prison without parole or life with parole possible after 35 years for each of the murders.
Ariana’s putrefied remains were found in a plastic bin in a storage locker Feb. 18, 2006.
An autopsy showed she had multiple broken ribs, her spine had been snapped and her right shoulder had been broken in the weeks leading up to her death.
The remains of Tyler, 4, have not been found. Police believe they were dumped in a landfill. Payne told police detectives he placed the bodies on top of each other in the same plastic bin.
Payne’s defense team acknowledged his role in the deaths but said several factors warranted a sentence of life in prison rather than death.
A defense expert said Payne had an antisocial personality disorder.
Payne’s public defender, John O’Brien, said Payne suffered from a disrupted childhood, a failure to form healthy attachments and a toxic, “synergistic” relationship with Gonzales, a fellow addict with a low IQ and low self-esteem.
“He did not choose to be an addict,” O’Brien said.
Payne was using heroin up to four times a day during the eight or so weeks he held his two children captive, according to testimony. Payne admitted using marijuana, LSD, mushrooms, cocaine and heroin over a period of years, beginning when he was about 15.
“It’s everybody’s fault except Christopher Payne,” Eazer said in the penalty phase of the trial Monday.
“It would have been wonderful if CPS had not directed police to leave the children with Mr. Payne but CPS did not kill Ariana and Tyler. Christopher Payne killed Ariana and Tyler.”
State Sen. Jonathan L. Paton sat in on the penalty phase of the trial.
He pushed for reforms to the state’s child welfare laws last year after details of the Payne case and another Tucson child welfare case that ended in death become public in late 2007.
Jamie Hallam, Payne’s ex-wife, claimed that state Child Protective Services told a police officer in March 2006 not to return her children to her, even though she had full custody.
The CPS worker, according to testimony, said the agency was investigating Hallam for possible drug use and that she was not being cooperative.
Payne told police he was seeking custody of the children.
However, CPS workers never checked the Hallam-Payne custody documents, which showed Payne had been denied any contact with his children and had a history of domestic violence. Nor did they check his criminal record.
Hallam won a $1 million settlement from CPS as a result of a civil lawsuit. Her claim against the Tucson Police Department is pending.
Payne complained in a recorded jail visit with his father and played for the jury that the Legislature’s scrutiny of CPS was to blame for his current situation.
But Paton said Monday Payne “and his girlfriend” alone are responsible for the murders.
“I don’t think he’d be any less guilty if the Legislature didn’t hold (those) hearings,” Paton said.
“Nowhere does that absolve a man of starving his kids to death.”
Patricia Payne, Christopher Payne’s stepmother, wept when the verdict of death was read to the court. She and Payne’s father quickly left the courtroom and declined to speak publicly.
Hallam and her mother left the courtroom after the verdict and declined to speak to news reporters.
Jurors also declined to speak to reporters.
43 Comments »
this guy makes me sick. how dare he take them away from the mother who loved and wanted them by accusing her of doing the same shit he was actually doing, just to lock them in the closet and starve them to death? i wish the laws in this country were an eye for an eye. he deserves exactly what’s coming to him and more that isn’t. i’m glad he was sentenced to death and may his ass burn in hell. i hope that one day the childrens’ mother may find comfort and peace for her suffering, and that tyler is found and properly laid to rest beside his sister.
YOU KNOW I GET TRIED OF PEOPLE BLAMING DRUGS FOR THERE ACTIONS I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT GET( HIGH) NONE OF THEM KILL KIDS RAPE KIDS OR ANYBODY ELSE FOR THAT MATTER. SO IF YOU ARE AT HEART A KILLER OR A RAPIST DON’T BLAME DRUGS. BLAME YOUR DEMON SPIRIT BECAUSE YOU DO HAVE ONE.
They’ll blame everyone and everything but themselves! The fact of the matter is, plain & simple, he did the crime and he must be held accountable for it.
~Malik7.
FUCK YOU ALLL!!!!!!!! he is my uncle he had a fucking depression when his mom died when he was jus an little kid. he had no direction. most kids with depression head to illeagel substences. his wife is equal to blame because she was the one who put the idea in his head. he did something for a girl while he wasnt there in the head this is my uncle you guys are talking about im 17 and i loved him very much he never showed any “ANY” sort of aggresion to me when he baby sat me when i was little infact he was the one who taught me to swim and cheered me on as i jumped of a diving board for the first time i know who he is he was messed up but the uncle chris i know isnt a disgusting person. he got what he deserves but for you to be glad someone is gonna die your the disgusting ones he’ll being seeing you in hell too. sixth commandment hypcrits. i love him till his last breath. you know jesus sacrficed for our sins and god forgives us everyday. maby you should be more like god and forgive someone that knows he fucked up. instead of cheering on his death. just because his life was maby a little to much to handle(especially his age when stuff happened) doesnt mean you digusting people can be asses about his lack of direction do to his mothers loss. I hope karma STRIKES YOU ALL FOR YOUR HATE AND SIN.
thanks for making his family feel more like shit,
Brandon F. Payne
ps. think about if it was your brother or kids in this situation you wouldnt wanna see this. only god has the power to judge.
Brandon,
It is really too bad that this was your uncle whom you loved etc. But people are cheering it on because of what happened to those poor children. There really are no valid excuses for what he did. My grandmother passed when my dad was 8. And of course that made him depressed. But it didn’t make him feel compelled to lock me and my sister up and let us starve to death. In fact he even married a woman to whom I refer to as the step-monster, and if she would have dropped an idea like that in his head I am pretty sure he would have punched her in the face, and kicked her to the curb without even a second thought!! If you don’t want to hear how the rest of the world reacts to the awful decisions he made then don’t google his name. Don’t come to this site and read it. I personally agree that he deserves the death penalty. He seemed to think it was ok to sentence those poor babies to the same outcome! Better he die then society being forced to feed him!! In fact a better judgement would be an eye for an eye. Let him starve to death. And its instances like this that confirm my atheism. Bad Religion said it best: Now I don’t know what stopped Jesus Christ from turning every hungry stone into bread, and I don’t remember hearing how Moses reacted when the innocent first born sons lay dead. Well I guess God was a lot more demonstrative when he flamboyantly parted the sea. Now everybody’s praying. Don’t pray on me.
While I understand that you love your uncle, you also have to understand the magnitude of evil that accompanied what he did. There is no excuse for it. There are so many people who have been through depression…and they didn’t kill their children. They picked themselves up by their bootstraps and they got help.
I’m sorry your family “feels like shit”. I have to ask though, if you all knew of his depressed state, why didn’t they make sure that he sought help for himself?
Sorry Brandon, but since you came here to motherfuck us, it’s time for your reality check. First off, you’re 17-years-old and you haven’t lived long enough to know anything about anything. Remember that the next time you want to lecture adults about adult things.
As for your uncle, I know lots of people who grew up depressed, and had no direction in their life. The rooms of AA are full of them. But I never met a person who systematically starved and tortured his two children to death because of their depression and their shitty fucking childhood.
We don’t care about how nice he was to you when you were growing up – in fact, it makes what he did to his own children even more profoundly sad. We do care about how much Ariana and Tyler suffered at this “Father’s” hands before they died.
You ask us, “what if he was your brother or son?” What if you were born in Arian’s or Tyler’s place? What if your parents had been forced to send you to live with your Uncle Chris? We’d be reading about three victims, not two, because Christopher Payne is incapable of feeling love or remorse.
You pseudo Christians and your lecture on forgiveness make me laugh. For one thing, many people on this website are not Christians, and aren’t bound by some phantom code to forgive all those who sin. Some don’t even believe in God, and their opinion is just as valid and just as important as the person who believes. At least it is on this website.
BTW, what Jesus said was that I should forgive all those who sin against ME. And while we’re discussing the ten commandments, did you forget about Thou Shall not KILL? Perhaps you need to brush up on your Sunday School Brandon?
Christopher Payne murdered his own children, and did it in a most heinous and cruel manner. For this, he was convicted and sentence to death. That’s what we call justice around here, and that’s why were pleased – Because justice was served. Perhaps the next asshole who is starving his kid panics when the child begins to crash and takes him/her to the hospital, instead of just letting them die. Or maybe not.
Get your head out of you ass little boy! Your dear uncle MURDERED his kids in a most horrible brutal way! He beat them so badly that his daughter, YOUR OWN COUSIN, had a broken spin! He beat and starved those precious angels and made them spend the last sad time they had on this planet in unimaginable agony locked in a closet. He didn’t even have enough respect to bury them! Yes, we are VERY happy that he’s gonna die. Too bad it won’t be with his spine broken, starving slowly while locked in closet!
You should just be lucky it wasn’t you!
If it were my relative, I would disown them, because anyone that selfish, heartless, and downright EVIL doesn’t qualify as a human being, but rather a waste of space stealing oxygen from the rest of the world!
By the way, depressed people rarely kill others. Paychos like your uncle however do, so quit enabling and making excuses for him.
How you can be more upset by the fact that some people you don’t even know are happy to see the bastard die rather than the fact that he brutally tortured and murdered your cousins is way beyond me. Could it be that you’re as fucked up as he is? They say stuff like that is potentially genetic…
Now, to end my rant:
RIP Ariana and Tyler Payne. heaven has two more precious angels taken way too soon by a worthless waste of space who lived for far too long.
AND Rot In Pieces Christopher Payne. You’re getting a far better death than you deserve, but at least you won’t be around to waste precious oxgen anymore!
The sheer selfishness of this man amazes me. It’s everyone else’s fault that he is on death row for killing his two children. It’s someone else’s fault that he became an addict and chose drugs over his children. Has he ever once mourned for these children? And although I believe that the social worker should also be in a cell for manslaughter, it was Payne who ultimately killed these children. He has no one to blame but himself. I hope the selfish bastard fries.
While there is NOTHING that excuses what this man did, i have seen first hand how drugs can change a person. My ex was a decent man and a good dad who adored our boys. And then he started using drugs. He turned into a selfish, mean, vindictive, abusive fuckhead. Which is exactly why he is my ex. He says that durgs ruined his life, but thats bullshit. HE ruined his life by choosing to take the drugs in the first place.
People in the throes of drug addiction always pass the buck and blame someone/anyone/anything else rather than admit that they fucked up. Im glad this piss ant is gonna die.
Every time I hear of this, it just reminds me of gross, lazy, disgustingness. Good thing these people were not obese, ewww (sorry, I just think of filth, like ‘Seven’ filth)! I mean this by saying, it really was a process of no one wanting to get around to feeding these children. They would literality take life’s challenges out on them. They hated these kids. How fucking sad. Horrible, horrible. Gross, I have utter disgust for these people. I can handle insane rage (you loose control of your emotions) more then neglectful laziness (you have time to be in control). But both? In cases like this, I do wonder what happened behind closed doors, because it’s just too hard to fathom. How could these two “humans” who are very much sane, look at their little faces everyday, and shut the fucking door. I can’t even look at my dog, when I know he’s thinking about food (and he‘s ugly! Kidding pug, terrier, bull dog mix, see I am emotional, I just spoke of something from real life, weird). Really, it’s just what you do, us humans. You see something starving, you save and rescue it, in this case them. Yeah, I would say Death is deserved. And per popular belief around here, too bad it has to be peaceful.
Okay, I’m not sure what kind of trip I am on…But wow, why this story (I’m weak, tonight)? There’s been reads. Hell, last time I was here I read of an angel brutally beaten, while wrapped in a sheet, she was only two (by dear Admin). But…..The point, this one affected me. You just think, couldn’t anyone just see them? Once? Hmmmm, a re-read is in order, awesome job Max. I am rather emotional this evening, but…you still get full credit. Good write up. :)
FYI, reading that back I must explain. I realized it is from the Tucson Citizen, the big AZ is cool. My best friend is from there. Anyway, just wanted to compliment your taste, I had read this orig story around and did not realize she was plea-bargaining. I like when the court case verdict comments are quoted. Sad, sad. :(
at least justice is served, though that’s little consolation.
Very little consolation indeed….
We can only hope that those two little angels can rest in peace.
Yeah, he got what he deserved… but unfortunately you can’t take it back, like you guys said.
Good Riddance.
That poor mother. She apparently pissed CPS off because she wasn’t cooperative enough? From what I have heard of CPS, I would bar my door and tell them to talk to my attorney before I would let them near my children. Uncooperative would not even begin to cover it, but I digress.
I can’t imagine what this poor woman is going through. She went through the proper legal channels all the way down the line, only to have her babies killed by this jerkoff and his vindictive little whore. I would have been frantic. I would have been off my fucking rocker when CPS told the cops to leave the babies there – but what the fuck could anyone do? If she went there with a gun, she would be arrested, and the babies taken away for good. OMG. The more I think of this, the more pissed I get.
Anyway, thankfully this dickhole got the right sentence, in spite of his poor, poor miserable upbringing. Oh, wait. My bad. A “disrupted childhood”. What the fuck is THAT? Who didn’t have a disrupted childhood? Unable to form healthy relationships? Well duuuuuh! He’s been a druggie since he was 15. No wonder. If you let every single person who had a background like that get away with murdering two people, we would eventually only have a couple of people left.
And, as I am ranting – how about one more innocent victim who needs to be considered here? The other child. He’s 4 – he’s in the foster system, his mother was a retard (per the defense attys), his daddy was a druggie, he witnessed the brutalization and murder of his two siblings, and Christ only knows what he actually suffered himself. How much chance does this little guy stand? About none. That makes me cry.
I think if I were Jamie Hallam, I would try to get custody of that boy. Maybe something good could actually come from this terrible tragedy, and the two of them could heal together.
It’s too bad that the jury just could not find a brick and administer the death sentence right there.
Look at the Manson “family” sentenced to death in / about 1969 they are all still alive. One is dying from cancer and wants to be released… well I’d be in favor of doing so IF actress Sharon Tate could be released from her coffin!
Justice is not fully served until he is actually dead, again, it’s just that simple.
Thank God. Yay for the death penalty. This piece of shit deserves it more than most. I can not imagine what those poor babies went through.
What a jerk off. And he still is blaming others, of course. Granted, CPS should be held responible for their part, but that scum bag chose his actions. Drug use since 15? Big deal. Unhealthy attachments? Who hasnt had one? That does not excuse his cruel actions and I am disgusted that he continues to not accept responibility for what he did. So, even if those factors caused him to starve and torture the two others, why did he feed and care for the other child? Logically, that would indicate that he was being selective with the abuse. What a bunch of crap.
Who could do something like that to children? A broken spine? My god, how disgusting. That had to have been so painful for that child. RIP, little angels, bless their hearts.
Although a cash settlement cannot replace the lives of those children, I am glad that the bio mom has fought back. Hit them where it hurts. And I agree with Mazzi, I dont trust CPS. Period. I would advise anyone who deals with them to get a lawyer because they have proven time again that they, as a whole, operate as an inept, biased, reckless, and irresponible agency. It sickens me to no end.
As far as that whore bitch girlfiend, she is in for the time of her life in prison. Have fun, bitch.
I would have to agree with you, Amy. I’m recovering myself, but in the middle of my use, the person I had become was so out there that I wanted to blame anyone/anything other than myself. Here’s the thing, though, there are still lines that I refused to cross; starving, abusing, etc. I made sure that my kids would be safe by giving up custody to thier dad. I’m no saint, by any stretch, and I’ll be paying for giving my kids up for a long time to come. At least they are alive, and have been well cared for, and they know they are loved, and why I did what I did at the time.
This vindictive, hateful POS got his just deserts. I thank God every day that I’m not one of the people we read about on here, because I could have been, and what I was was bad enough.
I’m glad Christopher is getting what he deserves. Thank God someone has some sense. Does anyone know word on those two idioitic CPS workers who let Christopher take the kid? I really hope they resigned or were relieved.
they need to be brought up on fraud charges and sent to jail too.
You know, this story was bad enough when I thought that he had just left them into the closet rotting and not knowing what was happening to them and why they weren’t given any food but not only did he starve them but he beat them as well. So, you have these poor little kids that wanted food so bad and were begging to come out and when the door finally opens and they feel hope all they get is a broken spine and ribs and thrown back into the closet. I just don’t even know what else to do except fefel bitter for this poor mother.
“He did not choose to be an addict,” O’Brien said.
i love it!! how did he CHOOSE NOT to be an addict? he chose to do drugs and starve his babies…
i mean, im sure a lot of junkies don’t want to be junkies, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t choose that for themselves..
what a sorry excuse for a man… can we skip the appeals and the needle and just shoot his ass?
Of course I don’t condone the whole junkie dad thing but…I agree with the no excuses. How weak this slime ball is. There are plenty of junkies out there panhandling and stealing formula (these people will die for their kids, stop doing drugs different story). Seriously, did you all see the Dr. Phil where the entire family (literally), except for their one year old, was on heroine. They treated their little guy well (except for the occasional nodding out :). The mom Phil featured was able to take her kid with her to rehab. If you love your children, nothing will drive you to this total lack of disrespect and torture. Obviously.
I really want him to die.
Save his scalp though.
It can be used to wipe dry my cock after orgasm.
Good riddance!
YAY FLORIDIANS!!!! You may have have a dumb bitch that locked herself INSIDE her car, but if someone acts stupid like this assclown, you’ll fry ‘em!! GREAT JOB!
Pigs like this give addicts a bad name.
addicts have a bad name anyways they made that name for themselves but this man gave human beings a bad name his actions had nothing to do with his stupid drugs he just didnt want to spend money on them that is why he kept them from their mother so that he woudnt have to pay child support
“She also agreed to testify against Payne to avoid the death penalty.” PUNK! Afraid of death are you? The same fate the two innocents got?
It would have been a great April’s Fools joke on her for them to spare her life and then after she spills her guts, they reverse judgment and kill her. I would love to see her reaction.
HAHAHAHAHA!!! I love that idea! Hmmm….maybe they could send in two people to beat them stupid and lock them in a closet together for awhile. No food and water of course. *Please, don’t feed the inmates* LMAO!! Brilliant!!
This is absoultley sick. How sad and cruel this world has become. I cannot wait for the coming of Jesus. I hope this piece of crap gets what he deserves. God bless.
I cannot understand why this fucker did not hand his children back to their mother. Why kill them? He is a disgusting piece of shit. I will celebrate the day he dies. I hope he is haunted by their faces everyday until he takes his last breath.
Yeah, this sick depraved demented SOB doesn’t deserve to live another second!! Not even one 1,000th of a second!!!!!
Why on earth do asholes do this shit?!! The ones who would LOVE to have children like myself, can’t, while the ones who can & do, they do this shit!!!
I’d love to see this fucker die a long slow aggonizing death!!!
~Malik7.
I hate Christopher Payne’s guts!!
that’s all I can say, he makes me sick.
You know what rubs me wrong? Is that in DAMN NEAR EVERY CASE of a child being abused and/or taken from us, CPS is involved. What. The. Fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. WHAT THE FUCK.
cps and all of them deserve to be starved and butt fucked in the joint every single day till the day they die.
This lousy Payne shitbag is the lowest form of human scum. He is a total stinking coward. Now we can see him sit on his ass for 30 years and watch his train of appeals go on and on. I would like to round up the meanest, cruelist and baddest ass kicker from the UFC and have him choke Payne until he shits himself and then drop his carcass in the nearest landfill. That would be REAL justice.
Turtle, please pee on him first!!!
Lewbell: “You know, this story was bad enough when I thought that he had just left them into the closet rotting and not knowing what was happening to them and why they weren’t given any food but not only did he starve them but he beat them as well. So, you have these poor little kids that wanted food so bad and were begging to come out and when the door finally opens and they feel hope all they get is a broken spine and ribs and thrown back into the closet. I just don’t even know what else to do except feel bitter for this poor mother.”
These, word for word, were the thoughts that flashed through my head after I read the original article. Death sentence is not enough IMO. I hope the shitty assed bio-dad and “step-mom” burn in hell and FWIW, the caseworkers as well. Lazy-assed POS!!!
I was a grade school classmate of chris payne’s at harelson elementary in the late eighties and I can honestly say that he stands out in my mind as one of the most cruel and maladjusted children I have ever known. He was a bully at age 10, constantly physically abusing not just myself but many others. Not the type of abuse that would lead you to believe that he would be a murderer someday, but he would bash people heads against the wall as they stood leaning against it, verbally abuse kids and generally use his larger stature to cause his classmates grief. I am 33 now and have a vague recollection of my interactions with my classmates of those days, with exception to chris. He was/is an archetype of a disturbed child growing up to be a disturbed adult. All this occured well before his mother died and substance abuse ruled his life. In my opinion, his family must accept a reasonable amount of responsibility for raising such a monster. The level of ignorance and indecency that must have been present in his life at an early age, while a significant factor, may not have been the single cause for his devolving into a worthless, sub-human POS, but its influence cannot be ignored. Not all bullies grow to be monsters, but this bully did. Societies tolerance of the presence of maladjusted school children and their interactions within an educational environment, is a large part of this problem. Chris’s behavior as a child should have marked him for special consideration regarding rehabilitation and child psychological screening before his life was allowed to continue careening towards this tragic and despicable crime. It feels very unsettling to celebrate the imminent death of anyone, but what he did in this life is worthy of death and more. Some would say that death is too lenient a sentence for this man…I would have to agree.