Roseville father accused of killing his 9-year-old son must stand trial, Placer judge rules

A Roseville father believes he should not stand trial on charges of murder and torture in the death of his 9-year-old adopted son because, his attorney argued, the defendant’s wife sat on the boy and suffocated him to death.

Placer Superior Court Judge Angus Saint-Evens rejected that legal defense argument and upheld an earlier court ruling that ordered both of the boy’s adoptive parents to stand trial in the child’s death.

Cory Albert Blakley, 38, and Kimberly Rachel Blakley38, were the adoptive parents of the boy identified by his family as Cyrus Blakley. The Placer County District Attorney’s Office has filed murder, torture and child abuse charges against both in connection with his death in February.

After testimony and evidence were presented during a three-day preliminary hearing in April, Judge Jeffrey Penney ordered the Blakleys must stand trial for murder, torture and child abusealong with misdemeanor charges of deterring witnesses. Prosecutors allege the parents told the children not to speak honestly to investigators. The Blakleys are also charged with child endangerment.

But Cory Blakley filed a motion through his attorney asking Judge Angus Saint-Evens to overturn Penny’s ruling. The Father believes he should not be charged for his son’s death. His attorney, Barry Zimmerman, has argued that his client’s wife is solely responsible for the boy’s death.

The Blakleys returned to court Friday morning for a brief hearing in the murder case. The court has scheduled the defendants to return to court on January 17 for further proceedings in their case. Their trial has not yet been scheduled.

The Blakleys had seven children: two biological children, five of whom were adopted. They all lived together in a house on New England Drive, just east of Sunrise Boulevard.

On February 2 around 6 p.m., officers and firefighters responded to a call for medical assistance at the family’s home. Officers found the boy unconscious. Cyrus died three days later at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

The incident that led to Cyrus’ death began shortly after 5 p.m. on February 2 on the family living room couch, where the mother placed the child between her legs in a “vise-like grip,” pulled down his pants and hit him. nine times in the buttocks, prosecutors said. The boy lay face down and his upper body on a couch cushion while his mother lay on top of him.

In court documents, prosecutors have said that Ring brand cameras installed in the family’s Roseville home recorded sounds of the mother “hitting” the child and the boy’s “repeated apologies, gasps and cries that he couldn’t breathe, followed by silence’.

During the preliminary hearing in April, prosecutors argued that the mother “sought revenge” on Cyrus after he told his classmates or school officials that his dogs had died and he was forced to take the pets outside.

Deputy District Attorney Andrew Braden, one of two prosecutors in the murder case, told Judge Penny that the mother in the video could be heard repeatedly saying that Child Protective Services would come for the children because Cyrus did not care about the murder. family.

Prosecutors allege the mother sat on her adopted son and beat him continuously for about 40 minutes, while the boy’s father did nothing to stop it.

Cyrus Blakley, identified in court documents as “CyB” or “CB,” died of “mechanical asphyxiation”; he suffocated, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Ow argued in court filings opposing the father’s dismissal request.

“Dad saw and heard the entire incident and never intervened,” Ow argued, “except to close a nearby window at Mother’s request when the victim’s screams were too loud.”

Ow also said the father walked past the couch to close the window. The window, which was closed about 20 minutes after the beating began, was about 12 to 15 feet away from a neighbor’s home, according to the complaint.

The defense attorney argued that prosecutors suggesting the child’s death would not have occurred if Cory Blakley had intervened is “pure speculation.” In the motion to dismiss, Zimmerman said there is no evidence that Cory Blakley was aware that his son would likely die from his mother’s beating.

He also argued that the suffocation, while the mother was sitting on her child, may well have happened without the father’s knowledge before he had a chance to intervene.

“It is unclear whether Mr. Blakley even heard a statement from (Cyrus) that he could not breathe,” Zimmerman argued in court documents. “Cory Blakley is not the real killer. Furthermore, the prosecution cannot provide evidence that he intended to kill the child or that he aided or abetted Kimberly in committing the murder.

The accused parents remain in custody at the Placer County Jail. On June 21, about five months after the police arrested the Roseville coupleCory Blakley has filed a petition in court to divorce his wife. That family court case is scheduled for a hearing on December 27.