Birth parents of emaciated boy out of picture

Jon Phillips and Sarah Berry were charged Thursday with murder and child abuse in the death of Chandler Grafner, who died Sunday after authorities found the emaciated 7-year-old boy at the couple's apartment.

The charges allege that Phillips, 26, and Berry, 21, who were supposed to be caring for Chandler, "engaged in a pattern of conduct that resulted in the malnourishment and mistreatment of the child," according to a statement from the office of Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.

Also Thursday, Wheat Ridge police released a March 2006 report indicating that Chandler and his younger half brother suffered from occasional bouts of malnourishment, and one had a medical condition, long before they went to

Chandler's maternal grandmother, Sandra K. Younger, has said that both of her grandsons were born prematurely because her daughter had a clotting disorder. Younger said Chandler weighed 3 pounds at birth. Phillips and Berry were each charged Thursday with first-degree murder of a child under 12, first-degree murder after deliberation and child abuse resulting in death.

Phillips, an ex-boyfriend of the boys' mother, Christina Grafner, had been given custody of Chandler and his half brother in a January court hearing. Phillips is described in court records as the younger boy's biological father, and, having no blood relationship to Chandler, he terms himself in court records as the older boy's "psychological father."

Half brother in care - After Sunday's arrest of Phillips and Berry, Chandler's half brother was placed in foster care. Phillips and Berry remain in custody in the Denver County Jail, where they are being held without bail. They are scheduled to appear in Denver County Court Monday to be formally advised of the charges.

A Denver Public Schools employee, who asked not to be identified for fear of being fired, said Holm Elementary School employees filed at least four written complaints with Denver Human Services about neglect, Chandler's frequent absences and suspected physical abuse during the course of the 2006-07 school year.

Following district policy, school officials called the Denver agency's child-abuse hotline as well, she said.

"I know in my heart of hearts this should not have happened," she said. Chandler stopped coming to school in the beginning of March, days after one of the warnings from school officials, the DPS employee said.

Officials from Denver Human Services have refused to comment on whether they received complaints or what action they may have taken.

A telling traffic stop: In the Wheat Ridge police officer's report, the officer tells of stopping Christina Grafner, who was in a truck with her two sons, on March 26, 2006. The officer noticed that the arms of one of the boys were very thin and that his front teeth were decayed, and he asked the boys when was the last time they ate. The kids told the officer they had not eaten for three days, the report says.

The boys' names are blacked out in a copy of the report obtained by The Denver Post, and it is not clear which of the boys looked thin to the officer.
Condition and custody: The report also notes that Christina Grafner said one of the children had a medical condition. That child's name and his condition were redacted by police.

According to the report, police contacted a caseworker from Jefferson County social services, who contacted a man believed to be the boys' father and their maternal grandmother, Younger.

The man who came to the station to claim the boys told police that he was not the boys' father but that he was in the process of adopting them, the report said.

Younger says she was given temporary custody of the boys after her daughter was arrested. Ten months later, Phillips was granted custody.

Christina Grafner did not appear at the hearing where custody was awarded, records show. She became pregnant with Chandler while she was married to Greg Grafner.
In an interview Thursday, Greg Grafner said his ex-wife told him before they divorced that he was not Chandler's biological father.

He said he would have taken Chandler if he had known the child was in trouble.

"I take good care of my boys, and they have a good life," Greg Grafner said. "This could have been prevented if this was my kid." Chandler's grandmother said another man, Joshua Norris, 26, is the boy's biological father.

Norris said he did not know that the boy had died until a reporter contacted him Thursday.

"I don't know if he is actually my son, and there's never been a paternity test because I could never find him," Norris said. "I have never seen him myself. (But) I think about him every day and I wonder how he is doing.

"I would at least like to go to the funeral and see my son just once," he added. "If I had known anything, I would have taken him."

Staff writer Kirk Mitchell contributed to this report.