Two 52-year-old parents in Ohio will be spending multiple decades behind bars for abusing and killing their adopted 8-year-old son seven years ago.
John Snyder and Katherine Snyder were ordered to serve sentences of 29 years to life and 31 years to life in a state correctional facility for the horrific slaying of young Adam Snyder, authorities announced.
A jury in Hamilton County earlier this month convicted the couple on felony charges in the little boy’s tragic Oct. 5, 2016 death and abusing several of their other children.
John Snyder was found guilty of one count each of murder, endangering children, and felonious assault. His wife was found guilty of the same crimes, plus two additional charges of endangering children.
Katherine Snyder, John Snyder, and Adam Snyder (Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office)
Judge Cross sentenced each to 15 years on the murder counts, with the other counts carrying various sentences to be served consecutively — one after the other. They will also be required to pay a $15,000 fine, register with the state’s violent offender database, and spend the rest of their lives on probation.
Prosecutors said they killed Adam “by causing blunt force trauma to his head.”
“Additionally, Katherine and her husband abused her other adopted and biological children, intentionally malnourishing them and punishing them with cold baths or showers,” a news release stated. The parents were also accused of physically abusing the kids.
They declined an opportunity to address the court, Newport, Kentucky Fox affiliate WXIX reported.
An advocate for the couple’s surviving adopted and biological children castigated the parents for tragically disastrous parenting.
“I heard the defense counsel mention earlier the innocence of their clients,” the advocate reportedly told the court. “Well, I’m asking you to consider the innocence of my clients, who are the surviving victims of their brother being murdered.”
Cross also addressed the couple.
“It was you that failed to meet these six children’s basic physical and emotional needs,” he reportedly told them. “As parents, you were their most important role models.”
As previously reported by Law&Crime, the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office determined that Adam’s manner of death was a homicide and the cause of death was an “acute subdural hemorrhage” and a “blunt impact injury of [the] head.” A “significant condition” that also contributed to his death was [w]idespread acute bronchopneumonia.”
The couple unsuccessfully sued to have the coroner’s report change the cause of death, claiming it was not a homicide.
Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Stacy Lefton told jurors that Adam suffered his fatal injuries after his mother got angry that he soiled himself and “slammed” his head into the floor. The boy’s father was aware of his son’s life-threatening injuries and refused to seek medical assistance.
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