Yes, she does need to be investigated. I am in no position, I do not know these people and did not have the pleasure of knowing this child, but someone who does needs to stand up and start asking questions. What happened at the trial? Why did no one speak up?

I don't know if she is being investigated or not.
Even in the case where the people fell asleep and their toddler got into the car and died they were both charged...why wouldn't they charge Heather in this case?

I talked to one of Mullins sisters the other day about this and they said all of this was due to a Medical Examiners report.

The medical examiner who did the autopsy created a mess by mixing a few things up, not doing certain tests that he should of and then telling everyone that things could only have happened the way he said they did. He said the child sustained its injuries in the last two hours of life and that pointed everything straight at Mullins.

However due to the dr that Mullins' attornies hired it seems the medical examiner decided on his own to have a collegue back up his work and thats when everything fell apart for the prosecutor.

Its seems the person the medical examiner submitted his work to disagreed with him and opened the time line for the injuries to have occured to include the time when Mullins was at work and only Heather was alone with the child. It didn't stop there though it seems the timeline was stretched back to include a few days prior to the baby dying. This is what led to the prosecutors OFFERING a plea deal to Mullins.


Things get more and more interesting in this case. Now if what I was told was true....why have they not arrested Heather?

she probably told all she knew to save herself from jail time.

is that the case?

she could've helped prosecute her bf so that she wouldn't be charged. that's the only reason i can think of that she wouldn't be charged too.

So is she actually still being investigated or not?

Here is her current myspace even though it is private.

http://www.myspace.com/fleabug08

Just so everyone knows....not only does she have a 3 yr old daughter but she is either pregnant again or has already delivered her newest one. She is also married and now living in Virginia....gee wonder why.

I have no sympathy for her after my family got dragged into this by lies told my her and some of her "friends".

It doesn't matter about the valid account, pictures have done been copied and saved so if there is any need for them they will be handy.

You are correct, wonder who tipped her off? Coward. If there was nothing wrong with the lifestyle and partying she is showing on her page she would have left it for all to see. I hope she rots in the deepest pits of hell.

That is no longer a valid account.

Sorry for another post, but I invite everyone to look her up on MySpace. She has ONE pic of the little boy on there and it has brought me to tears to look at his sweet and innocent face and hear what he has been through. He was so happy, and to know that these monsters ended his life in such a horrible way is devastating. I am sorry for the family, I am sorry for the comment I made about exchanging emails. Please do not give up on your fight to get justice for this precious angel.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=151995012&albumID=1076079&imageID=1251819

Speaking of MySpace, that sparked my curiosity to look up Heather Collins. WTH? There are pictures of people on there smoking pot, and she doesn't seem at all like the grieving mother. It says her last login was in 2007, and she wrote that she had a 4-year-old son named Christopher. Is something wrong with her?

But if I did that, I wouldn't get to meet such colorful people!

No need to exchange email addresses. If KPTN did actual investigative work then this comments section would not be needed now would it. There is more here than meets the eye but only the Prosecutors STORY was told and it was not even the truth of what was going on.

Ashley Smith posted on someone's myspace that she would SAY ANYTHING on the stand to get Mullins convicted. Interesting.....I sent that to his attorney's when I saw it. Things are bad enough without people standing up and saying whatever the heck they want just because they can. And in many cases they are saying it just because they do not want anyone looking in their direction and seeing they share some of the blame as well.

If you have issues Samantha with reading the comments section then go buy a hard copy of the news paper where you wont be tempted to read all this. I am still waiting for the truth on HEATHER COLLINS' to come out since the timeline changed.

uggh...I have a headache. Please exchange e-mail addresses already.

I have read every comment here and I only have a few things to say so please bear with me.

Let this poor child rest his soul, you all can wage war between yourselfs till the end of time and acomplish nothing. To truly avenge this child go to you congressman, write your senator, do anything you have to, to help make tougher laws. Get involved so maybe this tragedy will never happen to another child again. Make DCS, DHS, and other agencys get stricker on reports of abuse they are supposed to be "safe havens" so make them live up to that. Wage war on the system to change it not each other. Dont let this child have died in vain. Let us help someone else who might be out there in the same situation. Let us come together in the name of Christopher and help others. Stop all the bickering and change the system or this could happen to another child.

Did anyone that came into contact with this child know that this was happening to him? Or even suspect?

If so, then YOU ARE GUILTY!!!! You should have done something!!!

Children are to be taken care of under any circumstances by any and all that are around them and by any means available.

Rest in Peace, Christopher.

For the abuser, the mother who stood aside and allowed it, and anyone who knew this was going on and did nothing... there is a special place in H*ll. The only good thing about that murderer going to jail is that h*ll on earth hopefully awaits there in the form of inmates who hate baby killers.

This is horrible.

I remember reading about this story when this monster was first arrested.

I feel he should have gotten a longer sentence, but at least he got more than five years - which is a norm for child abusers! That's pathetic, stricter child abuse laws should be enforced.

I also feel the child's mother should be sentenced as well. There is no way that woman didn't know what was going on, and it's pathetic that she sat by and let her child be murdered by the hands of that monster! Throwing up some BS excuse like "I'm scared to leave" or whatever.. that's the biggest crock of junk I have ever heard. A loving, caring parent would NEVER let someone harm their child.. and they would fight to protect their child from such horrendous acts.. this woman didn't give a -you know what- about her son.. if she did, this would not have happened. She would have gotten some sort of help, some sort of protection if she really loved that kid.. I think it is absolutely awful that children are born to parents who don't care if they live or die.. and regardless of anyone who knows this little angel's mom says different, I could care less.. you DO NOT let someone hurt your kids.. and if you're a good parent, you know every scratch that's on your child's body.. I don't see why she isn't being sent to jail.. but it's my firm belief that God is the final Judgement and this woman and the monster who killed that little boy will answer and pay for what they have done!!!

I am so sickened by this, so sickened.. there is no reason that ANY child should be abused in any form or fashion.. or neglected.. or not given love.. you have kids, you show them you love them.. you don't beat them.. you don't neglect them.. you LOVE them and you don't ever let anyone hurt them.. there isn't one excuse in this world that's good enough for mistreating a child in such a way.. someone -- more than one person I am sure -- knew what was going on, someone should have done something..

This is absolutely disgusting.

You know all this will just keep going around and around cause everyone is going to have there opinions! But what i have to say is if you do not know the facts and don't have a clue of what was really going on at the time which i say that most of what i have read alot of you don't you only comment on what you have read just to get involved, instigators are what you are so just shut your mouth! and let the poor lil boy rest don't any of you think he has been through enough!!

You can not sit there and say that after you told the law about him being abused they didn't go back and check. You was at your sister's apt. how would you know what was going on. I am sure the law would know if they didn't go back and check and something happened that night they would have been held responable. and it is in the police report they seen NO evidence of abuse at that time..... So do us a favor and get your stories straight before posting.....

It is lie after lie on here.... this is so funny...

g kjskgj, what lie to point out there is not one, i know what happened that night i have nothing to lie about i'm not hiding nothing i had nothing in this computer crap until someone wants to state my name in something that was not true. No the cops did not go back and check on him when they left there, if you really wanna know all they told me was that if i thought that he was being abused then i needed to call the dcs but ppl had already done that and what did they do nothing but to let ppl know this was only like 3 weeks before he died

Thanks G they can't keep there stories straight i think they need to sit back down and reherse it again.

The Smith's was the ones that told about the bucket put over his head and beat with a stick.

The Smith's was the ones that told that miller village apts. did not know what was going on at the apt until after Christopher's death.

I am sure if it had been reported to the law about the abuse that night and he had bruises i am sure the law would have took him that night.

This is in no way taking up for Heather nor Shawn. But if you everyone knows as much as they act like they do they should be held accountable to. And it is hard to say what else you all claim to know.....

WHOAAAAAA HOLD ON A SEC
Let me get this straight and put this lie out their for everyone to see. First off you say you never seen little Christopher THEN you say he was beat and bruised up If he was how did YOU KNOW. Then the cops were called and I assume they went to the apartment to check on Christopher and knowing the city cops they would have done something if their was anything wrong, so obviously their was nothing wrong and it was a FALSE REPORT.

truth hurts, where yo there? NO. I was and not one time that night did Heather bring that baby outside so we could see him and thats all we wanted. We did not ask or even want to leave with him, just see him that is it but they wanted to be childish and tell us no and slame doors in our face thats when i went to my sister apt and got my brother n law to go and knock on the door then the argueing started, then the neighboors called the law. we went back to my sister apt and about thirty mins later the law came and asked for me. I told him want we went there for and that he was abused and that was it. For your info i was never banned from miller village my husband and brother n law were, but they are not longer after they found out what was going on in there. To let you know I never took part in doing drugs with heather and shawn, I never hung out there did not care for either one of them

jessica smith the fact is the night you all are talking about heather brought christopher out in her arms so you all could see him yes shawn had a ball bat. the law was called. and you all was banned from miller village apts.


and everything that Terra told was the truth about the fireworks. Cristopher was born in january this happened july 4th. seems like you all can't keep your story's straight. the fact is christopher was loved and was let down by many people it was not only the state the county law enforcment it was even by his own family that said they loved him, because when heather and shawn would sell plasma some people posting took part in the drugs alchol and good time that is what the money bought. if you truely loved christopher like you say you all do u would feel some remorese of parting and knowing this was going on and didn't try harder to save his life. family friends and neighbors let christopher down when now some hearts are broken beyond repair and you feel guilt and shame because all those involved took something precious away. i long to see his face to hear him laugh and see him healthy. but you helped take him away. shame on anyone that knew any
thing about this. he was a special gift from god. like myself you should be asking god to forgive you for letting christopher down. and you shouldn't be pointing the finger at just shawn and heather. may God help you.

How would you like to be the lawyer in this case? Can you imagine trying to find a credible witness among this bunch?

I'd hate to be a juror for this case. Trying to translate the language to English would be quite a feat. Could this possibly be why they offered the guy a plea bargain? They have no credible witnesses to testify?

This is to Terra Downing, I have no clue where you got ur info from about me, but you need to make sure that it is the truth before you post it about me. Let me ask you this how in the h*ll would I have kidnapping charges from miller village the pu*sys would not let me see him and, no one told the cops that shawn had a gun or a ball bat, even though he did have the bat and if the pussy would have put it down he knew he would have got his a** beat and yes maybe if they would have let me see him that night, i would have kidnapped christopher. They did ot let me and my husband see Christopher because they couldn't he was already beat and bruised up and yes when the law was called, I did tell them the poor baby was being abused and what did they do nothing. Another thing no one is asking ppl to feel sorry for the smith family, but the thing about false reports that is BS, cause no one filed anything false and there was no harassment charges filed from the smith to my knowledge. So get your story straight Joe liked 2 months of being 16 and Heather had just turned 16. SOOO GETS THE FACTS STRAIGHT BEFORE YOU START POSTIN S*IT ABOUT THINGS YOU HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT

OMG! Do I understand correctly? The mother of this sweet child has ANOTHER baby, a girl? Why is she still in her mother's custody?

Quite frankley I don't see how anyone could feel sorry for the Smith family considering telephone harrassment reports were filed against them, false CPS reports were made by them, attempted kidnapping of Christopher by Jessica from the Miller Village apartment and then calling the police to report that Shawn had a gun when all he had was a baseball bat and constant harrassment of Shawn and Heather by the Smith family.

Its no wonder some people think Heather killed Christopher and left Shawn to take the blame. The busted timeline leaves a lot of questions and NO reliable ANSWERS.

nowhere in my article did i say she was innocent. my questions are when ashley and crystal lived with them in the trailer park off of rock springs road. and they was there to protect christopher why didn't they call the law then while it was first going on, because noone cared about him it was party time 24/7. but nowhere in your articles do you talk about when you lived there with them someone had to bring that up. see you just want everyone to feel sorry for that side of the family. but you know i think alot of that side of the family needs to be charged to. they couldn't even use crystal as a damn witness because she was sit at the evidence hearings with her head laying in her hands. ashley would change her story everytime she would talk to someone. i see why he only got 30 years because the witness's didn't have a clue. and was afraid to tell the truth bacause they was scared. joe might not have hit the child but knowing about it and not doing somthing more than he did is just as guilty. and yes i think heather should get child neglect at the least but will she probably not. like the DA said sitting at one of the hearings alot of people deserve to be charged but we need witness's. but everyone will get on here and say what they want to about heather but not about joe those articles get deleted. what a bunch of kids..... you all are making joe out to be the father of the year or something and like he tried to do everything. well he failed to so grow up and accept life and the things about your family. It happens to everyone but hiding it from the world is not going to work someone out there knows the truth. and are willing to tell it.

Ashley...Quit defending Joe and Heather. You know darn well Christopher was NOT standing behind Joe because he was less than 6 months old when it happened and was strapped in his car seat. But thats what happens when a 14 year old fathers a child with a 16 year old girl.

And you also lived with Shawn and Heather for awhile too didn't you. Seems to me you should be facing charges for what took place in the trailer as well. Not only you but the people who lived in the house with Shawn and Heather where Christopher died at.

Any mother who refuses for 7 days to take her kid to the doctor when they have a broken leg deserves to charged with child abuse. The fact that Heather still HAS NOT been charged shows how screwed up this case is.....but then thats what you get when your star witness is a PATHOLOGICAL LIAR and keeps changing her story to keep her own butt out of jail. She is NOT a domestic victim she is a pathetic excuse of a female human. PEOPLE are watching you HEATHER and they have seen you jerking that new baby girl up by her ARM already....wont be long before you break that babys arm too now will it?????

oh and one more thing i gotta make clear!

TRUTH HURTS:
i dont know how you got your information.
in your post you said that you remember when joe lit some firecrackers & they flew back in the window on christopher?
uh, i was there that day. it didnt happen that way. joes friend at the time was playing with firecrackers. christopher was standing beside him.


and since everyone on here THiNKS heather is a good "mommy"
what about when she would drop christopher off at my house wanting my mother to watch him saying that "her grandfather was in the hosiptal, and she wanted to go see him" when in fact her and shawn went to donate plasma to get their drugs & went out to clubs?
stop pointing fingers at joe. heather wasnt a good "mommy"
if she tried to protect this angel i wouldnt accuse her of knowing. but she didnt.


ive said all i wanted to say. its in Gods hands. he knows what happened.

wow! people are seriously funny! it dont matter how many times you try to explain things, it seems to not go thru their heads or something.

im done trying to explain!
the point is - heather did not do what she should have done as a mother. she knew she had places she could go to get away from that man. we told her a hundred times she could stay with us. not so much for her, but for this precious child.
i feel sorry for teresa and david collins. not only did they loose their grandchild, but their gunna loose their daughter as well. i personally know them very well, and i know they didnt raise her to be this way.
joe misses chrisopher, so does the rest of the family. we want him to know that we love him and we WiLL see him again very soon. he'll get justice. noone on here knows what happened that night. noone will ever find out the truth. but God knows! he'll make sure baby christopher gets justice.

also, i forgot something in my last post. why wouldn't joe testify this is the last thing he could do for his child. because it tears him up to much. What does everyone think about the grandmother having to take the stand. the one that tried to get him help but was always told she was a overprotective grandparent. You know all these post are about how hurt joe is i am sure everyone knows that. how guilty heather is i am sure everyone knows that by now. he had more family other than his daddy and mommy and loved him just as much or more. Everytime is grandparents see a little blonde haired boy they tear up. they ask themselves everyday is there something more we could have done. They still have his favorite toys his easter basket his great grandmother bought for him that was never opened and his picture sat up on a table at there house. noone touchs it everytime i see it my eyes filled up with tears. I am still close to the family but i am not so close to heather anymore since it happened. but i think everyone needs to lay off of blaming this or that one and pray it never happens to you.....

i have got a question!!! Why does the people delete all the articles about joe if its not the truth why not everyone leave it up there. They have left all the talk about heather up there. Also i heard something about taking the mommy of 2 up for slander what about heather taking becky and ashley up for slander. You know i haven't friends with heather for years. can't say she is innocent or guilty i wasn't there and neither was you. Everyone is sitting here making joe out to be a saint. i remember in school when heathers mom and dad had to come to school because joe had beat the hell out of heather. i also remember the day that joe lite a pack of firecrackers and threw them out the window and they came back in the car on christopher. Sounds childless to me. I can't beleive there was nothing joe couldn't do to get his child. i can understand the grandparents maybe having to go throgh the system because grandparents have no rights in TN. but the own father has equal rights as the mother. and all this he said she said BS why didn't someone call the law if they witnessed all this crap happening. this i had to go out of town to work because heather was taking me for child support. let me ask everyone this ? if you knew in your heart that your child was being abused and reported would you have went out of town to work or would you stayed here tried to find a job here and fought like hell to have got your child.? i think i would have stayed and tried to find my child to get him away from the whole situation. anyways all this BS need to stop this post needs to be shut down. we need to be talking about christopher and his short life he lived. He was a very sweet kid. Very loving. and now he has to live through this. this bickering and arguing is not worth all of this. i just wanted to ask the ?'s i have been wondering. also if mine gets deleted i got it copy and pasted so i will post it right back.

duh...i don't know how i missed that

JK, it is Anthony. It is in the story.

question: what was shawn mullin's middle name?

what high school did he attend?

i know of two shawn mullins' and i wonder if he is one of the two i know of.

were mommy of 2 boys comments removed?

i am assuming so.

i am wondering why this comment was made:

"As I recall "Little Girl who thinks she is Mommy of 2 Boys" you are the one that started bad mouthing Joe and the Smith's so you better just go and tuck in little "J" and "K" say prayers and thank God you have them to tuck in."

was that directed at me? i'm confused because the dialogue has turned into a monologue.

It my understanding that the family agreed to allow the charges to be reduced due to the new evidence. So I don't see how the "father" could appeal anything.

The "father" may not be guilty of anything more than just being 2 years youhger than the "mother" of this child and immature. I have heard stories from my children about all the players involved including grandparents....the only victim in this entire situation was Christopher.

There can be NO justice for Christopher without charges being leveled against his own mother for her part in this tragedy.

Was the egg donor (Heather) charged ? Is there anything that shows she gets punishment in this crime as well ? Its obvious she knew about it all along.

She has another child ?? Soo Im guessing DSS is just gonna allow her to keep that child until they get the horrid 911 call of death on her too ? Remove that baby and court order the donor to get neutered!!

I use the term egg donor because that is NOT a mother.

How in the world could our courts let these two avoid the death sentence is beyond me. That baby has no life in 30 years. Can someone in the family the dad perhaps appeal this decision and get it into another court ? I'd be looking into that for sure. Someone reading PLEASE inform the father of appeals and such so he can find some information on it.

As I recall "Little Girl who thinks she is Mommy of 2 Boys" you are the one that started bad mouthing Joe and the Smith's so you better just go and tuck in little "J" and "K" say prayers and thank God you have them to tuck in. Keep your mouth shut about things you know nothing about like what his mother does and his family which is nothing bad or illegal, hence I never see their name in the paper. Christopher is an innocent angel that was beaten an killed by Shawn Mullins and there may have been an accessory we all know who that would be. But I praise the Lord everyday for my blessings. And you can bet money that a BOY would never beat on my child once and get away with it, or for that matter as long as Heather had let him beat him. Yes this post is about Christopher, how the courts failed him but also how his mother failed him by leaving him with a monster!

Mommy of 2 boys, I want to tell you something GROW UP! I have been in an abusive relationship where I have had concusions but I would be DAMNED if I ever let ANY man do to my child what Heather so obviously let Shawn do to Christopher. I would have done ANYTHING to protect my child, after he has walked around with healing broken bones, inhaltion and ingestion of illegal drugs and alcohol. BRAVO, if you, just because you were scared of a man, sit there and would let some man beat on your child then you are no better than her. It does not matter if the father was in a detention center or working, either way he was UNABLE to protect this child, he was either trying to support him or detand by the courts. So at no time would this or could this be his fault, Heather's parents tried to help this baby and she states on her public myspace "my mom and dad for always being there for me no matter what and no matter when I need them....I know if I fall they will be there to catch me if I need them too " she KNOWS that she was guilty, she knew what was going on and she let it happen. And yes I do have a dog in this race MY FAMILY, you are talking about the Smith's well they are my family and so is Becky and her daughter, you wanna point fingers and say it is so and so fault because they were doing drugs with her, NOBODY broke her arm or leg to make her do those drugs. Maybe the reason the father did not testify is because it tears him apart inside knowing that he done all that he and his family could through the system and still lokk what happened. You wanna get personal we can get personal though!

Mommy of two you wouldn't know the truth if it smacked you square in the face!!!!

You might want to copy and paste all your comments on your myspace or create a new account on here. I know it must have took you a few hours to type all that because, they will ban you soon.

O.k mommy of two have at it with your lies.... The family is tired of bartering back and forth..The truth is in black and white about who killed Christopher and whose custody he was in..The facts she gave the police...
We have decided that the truth will be on the news and in the paper for the world to see and funny things is..The daddy nor his family will be printed in black and white evidence as being accused of abusing Christopher or watching him being abused..
The reason Shawn didn't get first degree murder is because the the things that killed Christopher could be pin pointed to happening while Heather was gone.. which by the way put Heather there at the time!!!!!! So have fun with spreading lies about the Smith family...but if i were you i would be concerned with being hauled into court for slander and made to prove your lies!! and for the record the daddy doesn't have a law suit filed by him or his family....and you really have a very small mind if you think any amount of money could compensate for the loss of that baby's life..
I defend my son-in-law because i knew
him when he was with Heather before my daughter and him married and he was a damn good father then...

Only small minds would think the fight for Christopher's justice can be made in dollar amounts..

Get your facts straight..I defend the daddy because he would never have sit on his hands and let someone kill his son...

So lets see what the courts and a jury of peers say to Heather and what she condoned....

My point exactly.

and we al know this she was at the fathers home after his death as well as her parents

First of all...This is like an episode of Jerry Springer. You can barely read any of the more recent comments. I can't believe KTN would let this nonsense continue. It sounds like a bunch of inbreads in West VA. trying to argue.

first off you must be getting your info from heather hahahaha...he didnt cheat on heather with his wife now they were already split up and had been for several months before they go together..him and his wife got together in october of 04 and second he baught diapers for him all the time so she is lieing about that ...Joe did not his daddy as stated in your comment and he had to work somewhere heather was taking him for child support so just dont even go there she can lie all she wants with the rest of the world god knows the truth soo ill let you all talk to yourselves now.. comment yourselves

Mommy of two be careful where u cast your stones...I don't care who you are and what judgment you choose to pass on me..it's all irrelevant as i said this board is to discuss Christopher and his abuse..not make allegations towards people that don't deserve the wrath...

You are entitled to your opinion as long as it's honest...so rethink what you say.
What we are saying about Heather is true ..it's words from her own mouth about the things Shawn did to Christopher so therefore to have enough knowledge to point the finger and say he did it can only mean you witnessed it..other wise it is false reporting,slander and false incrimination..

We have not done any of these as to what we are saying happened to Christopher..We don't have to answer to you for the truth...
We have the records to show the daddy worked..his employer had to verify where he was at the time of Christopher's death..and had worked out of town since being released from
juvenile detention..he worked at McDonald's before he got sent to juvenile..

As i said please if you need to make accusations..make them legitimate and truthful..No one said Mr and Mrs Collins shouldn't have had Christopher..we are telling the truth when we said Mrs. Collins took her grandson to the hospital because of the abuse..in her efforts to save him...so to point an accusing finger at the daddy and call him sorry would be no better than you saying The Collins family is sorry because they couldn't force the state to take Christopher and give them custody..Is that what your implying here since in all their efforts they could do no more to save him than the daddy?

Once more this is a board to discuss Christopher and his abuse not to say this person got evicted or this person did that...When we point out what was going on in the home with Christopher..where he resided with his mother and was killed we state the true facts...we didn't say she got kicked out or her mom and dad are trash because they raised a daughter that didn't care that a man beat her child to death..

Far from it..I said Heather had loving, caring parents that would never have allowed someone to hurt her...They gave her a good home,a wonderful family and safety..why should she have done any less for Christopher...
And yeah Christopher would have been better off with his daddy..his daddy did deserve that baby because his daddy would never have let anyone raise their hand to hit his child,cover it's mouth,blow marijuana smoke in his face,force him to drink alcohol and then be able to give a statement saying it happened because it wouldn't have.. If Christopher was with his daddy or his grand parents he would be alive and happy today..

There is no need to come on here and trash the daddy's family..every child that the daddy's mother had is still alive,every child her children have is alive because they have their kids with them and love them...Christopher is the only grand child that Mrs Smith lost and he wasn't in her care or the daddy's..

So keep on posting the things that have nothing to do with the fact Christopher was with Heather not anyone else..she should have taken care and protected him...Stop blaming the people that did not have him in their care...You had no right to say the things about the daddy's family that you have..The daddy's family reported the abuse as did Mr. and Mrs Collins..No one would have been upset if Mr and Mrs Collins had gotten Christopher because they would not have kept him from his daddy...We have all agreed they have suffered as much as the Smith family..The only people we are saying anything about is Heather and Shawn..The abuser and the parent who had Christopher with them and allowed it to happen and continue till he was killed..
We don't bad mouth the Collins family period or say any of it was there fault so please try to refrain from bad mouthing the fathers family as they did noting less for Christopher in the fight to save him than did Heathers parents..
You should be ashamed of your self...trashing the daddy's family when they had nothing period to do with Christopher dieing..They did not abuse him in any way..

First off the father doesn't do drugs and never has and second he has always worked his ass off and heather nor anyone else can say he hasnt...he has worked for the power compant and everything sooo hmmmmmmm sounds like he has had good jobs to me...and like I said the father has never done drugs nor does he do them now cant say that for the childs mommy wanna get personal about it lets talk about mommy and shawns morphine addiction...dont bash the daddy cause ill lay any amount of money he could then and still pass a drug test over the mother

And by the way, you stated that the "mommy and sis and other family members all lived SHACKED up together with THEIR boyfriends girlfriends so forth what ever they did was fine
then heck they couldn't keep a place to live they would live place to place for a month get threw out then move some where else they cant even keep a damn home in mobile home park they get threw out for no payment of rent and pot plants growing in the house." My cousin at that time was about 11 years old and LIVED in that house so if they were "GROWING POT" then why were the police not involved and my cousin not removed from the home? HHHHHHHHHMMMMMMM probably because you have no idea what you are talking about so what you need to do "Mommy of 2 boys" grow up and stop stating things that are not the facts. Or if you didn't understand that GROW UP! This site is about Christopher the welfare of his life that should have been taken care of by the judical system and the DCS, and the fact that his MOTHER of whom he was in sole custody of should have taken this child out of this abusive enviroment and that the fathers family attempted ALL AVAILABLE resources to remove him and were denied.

Mommy of 2, I am not sure where you get your information from but, I have known the father since he was a little boy and the father's NOW wife is my cousin, so I don't think that I would go throwing our false accusations of living place to place and being in a detention center for not going to school any grounds for not being a fit enough father to have you child. The other information that you so kindly graced us with and without any legitimate sources, if you are able to find some the you may grace us with your presence, but until then the baby should have been in the father or the maternal grandparents care, not his mothers care that so obviously let a man abuse a kill her son....facts stated plain and simple!

Whose voice will cry out for me now?
Now that mine has been silenced by death.
Who will tell them of all the abuse and neglect?
Who will carry the burden of my death?
Who will cry the tears i no longer cry to
tell the world how my little body hurt so?
Who will promise me undying love even
though i can't love in return because i'm in heaven above?
Who will cry the tears of anguish for my daddy that gave
me love unconditional and lost me to this horrible death
because mommy didn't care about the abuse and neglect?
Who will stand at daddy's side and help him cry
in a voice loud enough so that justice will be served?
Who will cry for Daddy and Me?
Who will see justice is paid for the horrible
death i had to suffer through...
My name is Christopher David Smith..aka..little diddle
the little boy that mommy and the system didn't protect!!!!!!

Sounds like the whole family is screwed up.

I agree..stop making fun of people and the way the write their post...stick to the subject being discussed or go troll another board...

We were not,have not stated anything pertaining to Christopher's death and those involved that cannot be substantiated by times news or police reports..We have made no false allegations about the ones that were charged or that charges are being brought against party's involved

so keep your train of thought where it is suppose to be on this board..Christopher and his abusers..
If you want to discuss my being illiterate then why don't you go and as i said before ..create a board to discuss me and my bad grammar,my ability to write to your satisfaction and my un-profound ability to use punctuation and maybe i will grace you there with my so called ignorance Virgil..but leave this board on what the discussion is for..People don't truly care about your opinion of me and my ability or lack of intelligence according to the world of his majesty Virgil the judge of stupidity..

I am at least intelligent enough to keep my post or have tried to until your smartness distracted my shallow thinking abilities on the subject intended..Christopher and his abuse and the guilty party's..

So Virgil please in consideration for the people that truly come here to talk about the topic it's intended for, i ask you kindly to please go somewhere and create yourself and others like you a board of discussions about me..My is Becky Branham..please spell it correctly so i may find it in the glory of my ignorance and leave this discussion for it's intended purpose.. and just in case you haven't noticed it's not about me..
It's about a two year old child that was beaten to death.. So in all your infinate glory of intelligence..Please take it somewhere else and have the common decency and respect forwhat people come to this board for...They didn't come here to discuss Becky and her stupidity as you called it..or was it ignorance..anyways let them do what they came here to do..Please go to another place to crucify me...I am woman enough and strong enough to handle the idle chatter of you and your buddies that have nothing better to do than make fun of people on every discussion board here..

This is a discussion board about Christopher Smith and the abuse he suffered at the hands of Shawn Mullins and his mother not caring enough to remove him from the abusers reach....

Talk about ignorance..why don't you all exchange phone numbers instead of disturbing everyone else with your judgment on people that you feel are inferior to your intelligence...

that should be "to sophisticated"....oh yeah I forgot for a second about literacy or was that just a typo.

LoL....I love it when peolpe like "VIRGIL CAINE" try yo sound sofisticated, but then they look back and remember they didn't complete 7th grade....stay on the subject there "VIRGIL" we are talking about and abused child who was murdered not about being litterate or not get on the subject or go troll another post!

Oh please forgive us up their on your holier than thou throne of intelligence Virgil....

Sometimes it's better to remain silent and let the world question whether you are a illiterate ignoramus, or in your case, open your mouth at every opportunity and remove all doubt.

Becky and I may not have the best grammer in the world, but atleast we know where there comes a time to defend a helpless child and stop being critics with grammer and idiotic things. Christopher is the one this discussion is about, not what age you transcribe our literacy to be. Christopher is an angel in heaven sitting on his thron, but that still does not change one fact that his MOTHER did nothing to prevent or stop his abuse, where his father (my cousin) and various family members did! So, yes this may be a comment board about opinions, but when you speak about opinions I think you should look at a little bit of the facts first. This child had broken bones in the stages of healing, as a mother a GREAT one at that, I think I would know if my child had a broken bone, as a matter of fact my daughter was steeping off the trampoline and tripped, fell on a stump. She wass taken to the ER where they performed an X-Ray, the doctor comes in and says there is no break. A few days later she still is unable to bend it and screams when touched I take her back in and as a matter of fact it was broken. So a mother knows, if she would have picked this poor child up with a broken leg, I assure you he would have screamed. If he would have been walking and she was holding his hand, he would be screaming. I know this from experience and as a mother she should have been asking questions and taking him to a safe haven or giving him to his father where he would have been safe. So make fun and talk about my grammer and punctuation all you want, but it all boils down to Christopher being murdered and his mother obviously standing by and watching it happen!

I am doing as i please...trying to make valid points in the fact that the daddy was in a juvenile detention center..so for arrogant,finger pointing ,narrow minded people..

Here once more the daddy was put in a JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER...

DID YOU GET THAT YET?????

Now i am trying to keep a civil mind and tongue which is very hard to do when narrow minded people want to accuse and point a Damn finger at the people that were doing everything they could to save Christopher!!!!

His daddy could not grab him and run like HELL...
He was in JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER..do you understand that means he couldn't get to his son???

If you can't understand the facts that the police have reported and your so simple minded that you can't comprehend reality which is this..
I'm going to try to make it simple as possible for you..
Facts....

# 1...Christopher was in Heathers sole custody..

#2 Daddy was in a Juvenile Detention Center for not going to school at 17..

#3 Heather lived with Shawn Mullins..a man that abused and tortured her baby..

#4 .Heather had several places ..options,alternatives ..whatever to take her son away from where Shawn was and didn't..

#5..Several times he left Heather and yet she continued to run back to that beast and let him torment,torture and kill Christopher....

#6...The daddy was in Juvenile Detention and could not get to his child....and yeah there for the few smart genius's on here..I know i am repeating a point..
Just want to make sure you could read it and didn't skip over it because i ain't smart like you!!!

#7..The daddy's family and Heathers family reported not once..not twice but repeatedly and was told it was being investigated...

#8..Heather Collins willingly and deliberately chose too and did let Shawn Mullins hit,try to smother,dope her child,beat him till that Angel died..

#9..It is in no way,the daddy's fault,the daddy's family's fault or Mr and Mrs.Collins fault..
It is the fault of the man that killed that baby and the woman that put her own wants and desires before the life of her child!!!!

#10..I hope the genius's that likes to make fun of people because of the way they post..and not just here but on other threads as well..I sure do hope ya'll can read my post and understand it....

STOP BLAMING THE ONES THAT ARE INNOCENT AND COULD DO NO MORE THAN WHAT WAS BEING DONE TO TRY AND GET HELP FOR Christopher..

Why don't you try blaspheming the people that put their hands on that innocent baby... and get to the point..Read the articles,the statements given that were reported in Kingsport Times News..Try walking for 5 seconds in Christopher's family's place and think about how you would feel..

I mean if your GENIUS MINDS WILL LET YOU!!!!

Becky: You have your right to your opinion, and you owe common courtesy to make it legible to those you want to read it.

Otherwise- your opinion very may well go unread. So... why waste your time typing an epic novel if no one wants to scroll 3/4 of a page for a rambling stream-of-consciousness post?

I can assure you that JK and I are not the only ones who judge the commentators by their spelling/grammar/punctuation/etc. You may have valid points, but if you come across as a vapid 5th grader with your writing... well...

Do what you please.

you are seriously psychotic if you think i feel sorry for the mother. i have said repeatedly that she's scum.

"I guess that means Heather doesn't have a mothers love or instinct to protect her child..She didn't grab her baby and run like hell!!!!!.."


neither did he...that's the point.

also, i don't remember making fun of your grammar. i definitely thought about how ridiculous it was, and i could have easily made fun of you and forgotten...but i don't see that i did.

This is a discussion board..not school....if i fail to or don't want to...
then i don't have to use punctuation,proper grammar,indention or paragraph breaks..
I'm not in school anymore and none of these things has anything to do with the facts i am posting or my opinion..You always have the right to skip my comments and move to the next if their writing skills suit your preference.
I never claimed to be an a student,have good grammar or superb writing skills but if it makes the reading easier for some and makes it easier to understand then i promise to be a good learner and try to follow in the footsteps of CK Bigoldi and J K Long......
You know if you and J K Long want to critique every ones writing skills why don't you get together and create a board of discussions for that one...

I'm not perfect but hey i don't think you are either..but that's just my very own opinion!!!!


This is a discussion board about the death of baby Christopher and the place for the true facts about the person that took his life,, and the person that sit and allowed it to happen..

I have seen no where in the heading of the discussion where it says anything about discussion board for bad writing skills...

Excuse us.. we get lost on our train of thought while writing to defend right from wrong..Please excuse my passion in the fight for justice and Christopher... wait .no i won't apologize for my passion..however I do apologize for not being a good writer and forgetting to indent,use better writing skills and possibly better wording..If i have offended anyone in any way please accept my most sincere apology for not making it easier to read...I never said i had writing skills ..just passion for that child and any child suffering at the hands of monsters...

It seems as if the fairer sex (with the exception of JK) has lost the concept of line breaks and paragraphs.

Oh by the way Mrs long...Kudos to you for being such a wonderful mother you would have grabbed your child and ran like hell!!!Well my son-in-law didn't have that option because the state ..D.C.S was more concerned about chasing a 17 yr old for not going to school than it was about checking on a 2 yr old child being abused by monsters....My son-in-law would have killed Shawn to get his son away from him if the state hadn't tied the hands of a 17 yr old daddy..and he took care of his son thank you...He worked before he was locked up in detention...Any one with half a mind or conscience would not insinuate this was in any way the daddy's fault because his hands were tied..We didn't post on here that he was in juvenile detention because we knew somewhere out of the wood work would come someone so narrow minded that they would find a way to make what she and Shawn did o.k since daddy wasn't there..Well my mind isn't narrow..when it comes to child abuse it's a crime against a child..an innocent angel of God and cannot in any way be justified..whether your a single mom or single dad raising your kids..If you can't handle it or don't want them there are thousands of people that would love to have a child to love and cherish it..For the love of God you don't have to take it's little life..What Heather allowed to be done to that baby was wrong whether the daddy was involved in their lives or not!! he was even while locked up as long as Heather chose to allow it...You want to talk about rights..what about Christopher's right to live,his grand parents on both sides being allowed to be with him and share his life instead of having to go visit their grand child's grave??? Heather even kept him from her own mother and father so don't make this o.k..and don't blame the daddy or either family because the system tied their hands..it's sick to try and punish the victims left behind to live daily with what Heather and Shawn have done...to have to live with the horrible legacy they left behind with out people like you trying to make them feel like they didn't care about that child...Glad your so wonderful that you would take your child and run..glad you have a mothers instinct and love..Guess what lady..I guess that means Heather doesn't have a mothers love or instinct to protect her child..She didn't grab her baby and run like hell!!!!!..There's your facts.

Mrs..Long...for your information papers was not filed in those two years because the mother and father was together!!!!!Gets some damn facts before you bad mouth someone..things we are stating on here are known and public facts about Shawn and Heather.. We are not pointing fingers at those that are not guilty of hurting that baby..we are not blaspheming the innocent party's or the people that tried to help Christopher...Shawn Mullins did kill Christopher..Heather had him in her soul care and watched that trash kill her baby!!! A JUVENILE GROUP HOME IS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO JAIL...READ INFO ON THE INTERNET ABOUT GROUP HOMES AND GET YOUR STORY RIGHT BEFORE YOU POST COMMENTS..and most certainly ask questions about if the daddy was involved in any way in the child's life before making simple minded accusations... The daddy saw his son up until he and Heather separated when Christopher was about a year and half old..Heather was a good mommy till they split up and she used that baby as a weapon against his daddy..She decided if and when the family got to see him...and the father saw him while he was locked up..for your information Heather let him see Christopher and tried to use him to make the daddy come back..when she figured out that because the daddy loved his son didn't mean he had to stay with her then Christopher ceased to be of any use to Heather and was in her way with her new so called man..Point your finger at the people that tried to help Christopher if you need to..For people that can read the facts that the police have stated and statement's Heather herself made to the police..then common sense will prevail and you will admit who is guilty of letting their child be tortured to death...It was not the Daddy,his family or her family!!!!For some, their minds are so narrow that because the daddy was younger than the mommy is accepting it as an excuse for what she allowed to happen to that baby and to point a finger and say oh because daddy was in a juvenile home for not going to school at 17 makes him guilty like her..Your no better than Heather and Shawn for trying to lay that bullshit at his feet!!!You may as well go ahead and say oh because he was in a home..a detention center he helped them kill him...People with narrow minds are sickening..Call it as it is...the daddy had nothing to do with hurting his baby or sitting there letting someone else hurt him..Heather let the daddy's family keep Christopher alot when he was in juvenile detention...funny thing is when mommy come to get him he would wrap those tiny arms around the neck of a young friend of the daddy's sisters and cling to her as if for his life and would scream and cry not wanting to go with Heather...says alot when a child would prefer staying with another girl instead of going with his mommy..and another fact for you ...That friend of the sisters is now the wife and they have 2 absolutely beautiful little boys and an angelic daughter that will never ..i mind you people never get to see their older brother,play with him,laugh with him,share a birthday or Christmas ,or Easter with him... funny not one of these children have ever suffered from a broken bone,gone nasty,went unfed or had to be afraid of mommy or daddy...Get off your high horse and scream for justice if you feel the need to do something..STOP BLAMING PEOPLE THAT TRIED TO HELP HIM!!!! and just for the information of some that daddy is my Heaven sent son-in-law,and the wife is my beautiful baby girl..They are wonderful parents with 3 beautiful,happy and very healthy baby's!!!!! If people find my post offensive then there must be a reason you are offended by the truth..How much more obvious can it be than to realize that if someone tells the police Shawn did this and this and that to Christopher..it means you were there,you were watching and you did nothing to stop it!!!!!!It does not mean that because the daddy was in juvenile detention and couldn't be out to protect his child that it was o.k for Heater to let someone hurt him...Stop making it justified for what she did by saying oh yeah the daddy was locked upit so that makes a big difference so lets not blame Heather because she didn't get her baby away from the man that killed him..From what some of you are posting..I'm pretty sure Heather could stand in your faces and flat out say oh yeah i killed him myself and you would say oh poor mommy,she was young and daddy was young and in juvenile detention..no wonder she let her boyfriend kill her son..poor little girl..Well i was a single mother that lived with an extremely abusive man..he beat me,put a loaded gun between my eyes and shot at me and his mother standing right beside me...But he knew from experience that if he tried to touch my baby's i would kill him or he would have to kill me to get close to them..when he tried to spank my daughter i told him if you ever touch what is mine i will cut your throat he knew i meant it..God gave me these angels on borrowed time..they belong to him..he chose to entrust me with their lives and i meant to fight for them..I was told the night before i left to get out of bed or he would shoot through the house and the gun didn't care who it killed..I got out of bed and took my beating all night till i got my baby's on a school bus the next morning and out of his path before i tempted the hand of fate so if he did shoot i was the only one in his path...Don't sit up there at your computer and preach and feel sorry for a woman that would let someone hurt her child instead suffering at his hands herself..I am a battered and abused survivor..but i never allowed him to touch my baby's..I chose to put my baby's well being ..the importance of their lives before my own...because their lives were more important!!!!!!!!! I chose to get my baby's out of the devils path...You can sit up there holier than thou and blaspheme the daddy and the families all you want if it makes you feel important to try and justify Heather letting a man torture her child..if it makes you feel better as a person to say oh it's daddy's fault because he was in a group home and she had such a hard life..Heather Collins had a good life..two wonderful loving parents that gave her a good home, a wonderful family life and would never have allowed anyone to hurt her..why should she have given her son any less???So justify her actions if you must Mrs Long..your trying to justify that it's o.k to kill a child because your tired of playing mommy...Hey if you have such faith in Heather, if you have any children or grand children why don't you send them to Heather to babysit for you...you can sit and worry and wonder if they will make it back alive or without being harmed..I mean you are trying to insinuate that because the daddy was in detention he is to blame in some way for Christopher's death..so trust your own with poor little misjudged Heather..It doesn't seem to matter to some of you that she knew and watched the devil beat and torture her son..Make excuses for that no good excuse of a mommy....Why don't you petition the system to make it the law that if the daddy is young or hell even if the daddy is truly in jail for something it's o.k for mommy to let the new boyfriend kill their child..The child don't deserve to live if the daddy isn't there!!!! Sick minded individuals think it's o.k to torment ,torture and kill children...as long as we can say mommy was young and alone..Heather was not alone..she had a loving family and their support and she had the support of the daddy's family and the daddy told her to move in with his mother if she didn't want to go to her parents...So get over making excuses for what Heather allowed to happen,what she participated in and made possible to happen to that baby..Get off that Holier than thou throne of yours and do something worthwhile...Why not be an advocate against Child abuse instead of an advocate for it.. If you make excuses for a person that abuses a child,you are condoning Child abuse.... There is no excuse to harm a child..i don't care how bad of a life you had..Maybe you should go out and buy the book..A boy called it..Now there is a sure fire case of a person that had reason to be an abuser..but he isn't..He was tortured and suffered horribly at the hands of his mother as a child..he doesn't abuse his child!!!!!!! THERE IS NO..I MEAN ABSOLUTELY ,POSITIVELY NO EXCUSE FOR CHILD ABUSE OR ALLOWING IT TO HAPPEN IN YOUR SIGHT AND NOT TRY TO STOP IT!!!!!

oh yeah you rirhgt now your getting started...let me tell you something the time that the father was sent off his family still saw the child and second he did have somewhat visitation..heather controlled it all and let me tel you somethign I know this so called judiacial system money talks bullshit walks and dont try to tell me other wise I haev seen soo many bad people end up with things because they have that money to throw around in court...the father wasnt a bad mna and noone ever thought anything bad of hether untill this abuse started and noone thought bad of her then either it was up untill she would im so scared blah blah and she was offered safe places to go and she wouldnt and then started ignoring everyones phones calls and attempts to see him..DO NOT come on here trying to make him out to be a bad person HES NOT REGARDLESS OF WHAT ANYONE SAYS ...and no
a group home isnt a jail for juveniles mountain view is as i recall he wasnt in that place..noone ever said heather was a bad [parent or anything else for that matter till she sat down and watched her child be abused and didnt do anything to help him

as a matter of fact, i don't care if the baby wasn't being abused.

if i was a father and the mother was taking excellent care of my baby, i'd STILL be fighting like hell to get joint custody or at least visitation. why? because that's how it should be. christopher wasn't two weeks old, he was two years old. why didn't the father have visitation and/or custody already? even if the mother was the mother of the year, he should want to have rights to his child...no?

the mother is sorry if she knew what was going on which it seems that she did. i just don't buy it that the father was father of the year and did everything he possibly could. doing everything you possibly could would include filing for visitation/custody by filling out that free piece of paper at the courthouse.

two YEARS? no papers filed? tell yourself whatever you need to tell yourself to clear your mind. the fact is that the mother is guilty and the father who stood idly by for TWO YEARS without filling out a piece of paper is no saint.

mothers are held to a higher standard, period. why didn't his father have custody of him? are fathers not capable of raising children? that's a yes or no answer. working out of town or working nights or whatever is no excuse. mothers (single mothers) go to work every day and still have to take care of their children. the only difference is that the mother doesn't have the luxury of doing what they want or taking the jobs that they want. they have to take jobs that will work with their child's schedule. god forbid the dad be placed in a situation where he had to reconsider his job to care for his child. women do it every freaking day.

it keeps getting more and more intense!

i thought the dad didn't try for custody because he didn't know that he could...and because he was in the dark because he was working out of town...

but he was in a group home. yeah, a group home isn't JAIL...a group home is pretty much the same thing as jail for juveniles though, right? yes.

to everyone that says the mother is the one who sat by and watched her baby be abused...watched him have smoke blown in his face, etc. you are RIGHT. that is sorry as hell.

but it seems the only reason the father didn't sit by and WATCH those things happen is because he wasn't around! does that make it any better?

i'm so sick and tired of fathers being portrayed in a different light than mothers. it happens every day. how many single mothers do you know? they are everywhere! people don't give a second thought to single mothers. if they do, it's not a good thought.

oh, but let someone see a single daddy out and about with his kids. he'll get stopped every few feet to be praised for raising his child alone. how great of a father he is...etc.

it makes me want to puke.

fathers are every bit as capable of raising their children as mothers are. i don't see people ooohing and aaahing when they see a single mother out with their child, so why do they do it when they see a single dad?

dads are every bit as capable of caring for their children. what would be the opinion of the mother if she were in a group home and the father's girlfriend was being abusive? i know what it would've been. people would be talking about what a sorry piece of crap the mother was for letting herself be put in the situation to be placed in a group home when she had a child. afterall, having a child should make you grow up, right? when females are in jail and they have children...they are looked down on as the scum of the earth. for some reason, people think it's different when fathers go to prison.

the fact that the father was in a group home says a lot though. it sounds like children were having children. i was under the imression that a MAN was the father.

either way, the whole situation is sickening. he should've gone to court and filed for visitation and/or custody. the fact he was in "juvy" explains why he didn't. i'd dare someone to tell me there was nothing i could do if a grown "man" was BEATING UP my BABY! screw dcs, screw the cops, screw the system...

i'd grab my baby and run like hell.

Mrs Kennedy..thank you for your words and it does help to know i didn't disrespect you..As i said before i don't intentionally set out here to hurt anyone...I just want people to understand that my son-in-law and his family and Heathers parents did everything within their power to save Christopher..You are right unless you have been in an abusive relationship you don't understand the control the abuser has..but the difference is this...i understood that to put myself in danger was one thing..but to put my children in harms way was another..I felt that it was only right that my children came before me..They looked and depended on me to keep them safe and protect him..I knew if i left that he may get to me but i also knew that once he came for me it would be on my ground..with my family to stand in front of me and protect my baby's and that's all i cared about..I would never and can not understand nor find compassion in my heart for a woman that would sit and let a man hurt her baby..It kinda seems like in her mind it was better to let Christopher suffer than for him maybe to turn his anger on her...Me i am a mother..I love my children and if this man was angry i done everything possible to keep his anger focused on me till i got away..It was better foor me to carry bruises and beating rather than to possibly let him hurt my baby's...That's what a real mother does right..She will fight till her last breath leaves her body to protect her baby..Mine are grown and have kids of their own but i would still stand in front of my baby's and fight till death to keep anyone from hurting them..


To Lady Liberty..yes Heather has been implicated form the start..that's why she gave statements against Shawn...we are assuming she thought that would make her look innocent....but if you can give the statements she did to police about what someone did to your child then you obviously sit there and saw it..We are hoping the arrest comes soon and she is indicted on charges for child abuse and neglect..At least we are praying for it....Me i believe she should be indicted for accessory to murder..Like i said she gave the police statements saying Shawn did these things to Christopher so how could she make those statements unless she saw it..I don't think he should have to do the time alone..he didn't do the crime alone!Someone had to make it easy for him to constantly be allowed to abuse Christopher..and no mother could live with her child day to day and not know it's little leg was broken or it had several broken bones in various stages of healing that had never been treated.....That's just a bunch of crap and someone is trying to hide facts..No one could be around a child period and not know it was in horrific pain with broken bones..and yes i know these facts are true..I personally read the autopsy report and some things i didn't understand so my cousin is an EMT and i asked him to explain it..He read the first couple of pages and threw it down with tears in his eyes and said he didn't want to read anymore of what that baby suffered through..He said i should be thankful i didn't understand all of the report because him being a medic he couldn't stand to read it all..How could a woman let her child be tortured that way...He is gone..his little laughter silenced forever by monsters...They took away his rights..so why by the Grace of God should they have any?? BEWARE TO THOSE THAT HURT GODS CHILDREN...FOR HE SAYS WHAT YOU DO UNTO MY CHILDREN YOU DO UNTO ME FOR THEY ARE THE APPLE OF MY EYE...The only way i can stand to live with the knowledge i have is to believe that when they thought they were doing their worst to that Angel..God had his arms around him and was taking the brunt of the pain they were inflicting on that innocent body....Rest in Peace Christopher...your in the arms of the God almighty..and justice will be served baby boy..The worst justice is to come when they answer to God for torturing his Angel on earth...If i was in Heathers place i would fall on my knees and ask God for forgiveness..but to be forgiven you have to admit the truth..It will set you free spiritually but you will still answer for your crime against this baby...Justice for Baby Christopher....Society needs to let these kind of people know we will not tolerate them killing these gifts from God or abusing them...society needs to be screaming for Christopher's other abuser be held accountable for what she let the other abuser do to him..She had him in her custody..she let it happen..Like we all said..Christopher died on Wednesday night..Heather and Shawn was suppose to report to the D.H.S office with him that Friday..isn't it odd people..2 days before they have to go in for the abuse allegations and take him that baby dies??Seems to me that maybe some people were hoping that it would be chalked up to sids or something if he died before they could take him in so D.H.S could see the signs of the abuse..Maybe it's just me that finds it odd...

This is to Yvonne Collins..lady check your facts before you post and make sure what your saying is the truth..You are her family so you know the daddy wasn't in jail..he was in a juvenile group home for being truant..which is not going to school ..just wanted to clear it up for you that a juvenile group home is far from Jail..Number 2 the daddy wasn't at a bar in Johnson City partying and living it up the weekend after his son was buried!!! but Heather sure was..poor heart broken mommy had to drown her sorrow by going out and getting drunk and dancing!!!You want facts...I can give them to you in a heart beat and they will be truth not made up to make an innocent person look bad..Yes the daddy was in a group home for teenagers until December 04..that"s why his family was fighting in his place for his son to be taken out of Heathers care..Heather's mom and dad were fighting for their grand son....Fact...yes the daddy's sister stayed with Heather and Shawn until they made her leave because she tried to keep him out of their path..The sister felt like as long as she was there she could keep Christopher away from Shawn when he was angry..but what did Heather do..once again instead of letting someone help protect her baby..she did what Shawn wanted and made the daddy's sister leave..That's why the sister and the daddy's brother and them went to Heathers apt in Miller Village to check on Christopher and was told by the police to leave the property or they would go to jail!!!! Fact yes we all have been young and made mistakes..but i don't know of any woman that carries a child for 9 months and suffers to bring it into this world and call herself mommy that would sit on their ass and let a man blow marijuana smoke in their baby's face,force it to drink alcohol,and watch a piece of trash put his hand over her baby's mouth to shut it up or for that matter stay with a man that says he hates the *******..at least not until Heather...and let's remember this fact..these are statements Heather told the police so therefore we can safely assume mommy dearest saw these things happen to her child since she told the police this stuff!!!!! As for where the Smith family picked Christopher up the last several times they got to see him was at Heathers parents house...Don't try to make the daddy look like the demon monsters that Shawn and Heather are..The daddy didn't hit his baby or sit on his ass and watch someone else hurt his baby..He wasn't in jail for committing a crime..He was in state custody ..a group home for not going to school....So Yvonne let's tell the truth here..You know Heather let a man torture her innocent baby till he killed it....She knew to many facts to tell the police to not know her son was being tormented ad tortured..so like it or not she is the guilty party here not the daddy so stop trying to make him like a bad person or he committed some horrible crime that sent him to jail..I mean it isn't that hard to find out that he has never spent one min a jail house....I'm sorry that you have to admit your related to a woman that helped a man kill her baby...sorry that you felt the need to get on here and post something about the daddy that is a bare faced lie and all of Heathers family knew the daddy was in juvenile custody and they know it wasn't for a criminal offense....

First of the father wasnt in jail check your facts first he was sent to a group home for not going to school..and the reason eh didnt go to school is because he quite because heather wouldnt let him see the baby so dont be on here trying to insinuate he was in jail for anything bad cause he wasnt...and yet a group home isnt jail and second yes his sister stayed with heather and shawn but it wasnt long after she moved to miller village she was told she couldnt stay there any longer cause shawn wouldnt let her wonder why he wouldnt let her...hmmmm...and ms kennedy to the ? how did he pick him up and things like that ..alot of times i can recall right at the end he was picked up at her mothers home and returned to her paretns home....But noone needs to come on here talking about the father being sent off cause it has nothing to with it and it wasnt for anything bad..

Mrs. Branham, you have not disrespected me. I completely understand your pain, and can empathize with your situation. I have been there with my nephew. The situation was compounded by him living in another state, and my sorry, good-for-nothing brother (the only one with legal rights) refusing to do anything. We were lucky that the abuser was in the military, and could use that to our advantage. My family spent years fighting for legislation to give grandparents rights.

I have what I call the "Pollyanna Syndrome." I try to find something good out of everything bad.

I apologize if some of my questions seemed harsh or accusatory. That was not my intent.

You and I both know that it is easy for someone who has never been in an abusive situation to simply say, "I wouldn't put up with it." It's not so simple when you are the one being abused. It use to upset me greatly when someone who ask me why I just didn't leave. I then realized that they didn't mean anything bad; they just didn't understand.

By answering some very painful questions and admitting mistakes I made, I have been able to help other women get out of abusive relationships sooner. No, I am not saying I did anything to deserve the abuse. I am saying that now that I am out of the situation and can look at it objectively, I can see things that I could have done to escape sooner.

I heard the last minute information that came in is now also implicating the mother. So when is she going to be arrested?

Mrs Kennedy..I do respect the fact that people have questions..and i will respectfully answer them the best way i can if they are posed as a question instead of coming off as an insult or blame to the Smith family or Heathers mom and dad...but alot of the things people are saying are questions are actually insinuations that they failed Christopher and didn't care or they would have done more to help him..If someone on here ask a question in a question form instead of saying why didn't the daddy or family try to do more then i will be respectful in my response..f you feel i have disrespected you then i do apologize,but will i ever say i'm sorry for defending the people that are Shawn and Heathers victims...Absolutely not...I will always defend those that tried to intervene and their hands were tied..I will say to anyone that has asked a question to try and understand the circumstances but if you are pointing a finger and accusing two families of sitting by and willingly letting Christopher be abused and killed..then be prepared for the response you get..Again if you ask a decent question and are asking with an open mind and truly want to understand then we will be more than happy to respond and hope that we can answer your questions to the best of our ability.Respect the hurt and torment that these families have had to suffer through and we will respect you and your opinion.....

When a tragedy occurs in a family, it is natural instinct to say, "If only I had done this or that." The "if only's" cannot change what has happened, but they CAN prevent a similar tragedy from happening to someone else.

I think everyone on here sympathizes with the pain both families have endured and will continue to endure.

Our questions are not a personal attack on these families. Our questions are legitimate questions in which the answers could give valuable information to someone else in this situation. More could have been done to save this child. By saying that, I am not saying the families didn't care or didn't try.

Instead of jumping down our throats over our questions and becoming defensive, help us to better understand the obstacles you felt you faced.

There are a variety of people who post on here. People who have faced a variety of situations and could render assistance. There are also ones who could be in the same situation as you, and learn ways to prevent such a tragedy.

Here is just one example of what can be learned: I had the problem of sheriff claiming they were unable to serve papers. When I knew he was going to be at a certain place for at least 45 minutes, I called the sheriff and let him know so he could serve the papers (they have to). If DCS could contact the mother, then there is no excuse for the sheriff not being able to serve visitation papers on her.

This is in response to Mrs Jane Adams..I have dealt with the system repeatedly..My ex-husband filed the correct papers with juvenile court to get his ex in court for visitation with his child..we went to court several times but funny the hearing was always reset because they couldn't find her to serve her papers to appear in court for the hearing..we were told repeatedly there is nothing that can be done till we can serve her to come to court..Hmmm...imagine a father that is paying CHILD SUPPORT through the court,but can't see his child because mommy can't be caught to be served the papers ..so it's not that damn easy to get visitation...It all depends on the mother being served papers and brought to court and they have to be served first...and as for snide remarks that any one in that child's family let him down besides his mother..that's a load of crap..If you have never been in that situation..it's not in your world..then all you do is read or hear about it so don't sit around all high and mighty and say i would do this or do that...You would do what the system is telling you to do to get that baby to a safe home..The family's did everything possible..Do you honestly think Heathers parents wasn't devastated to have to give that baby back to their own daughter knowing what she was letting happen to him..Do you think it was a walk in the park..Mr. and Mrs Collins were devastated,their hearts were in agony just as was the daddy's family and the daddy himself..As i said before Heathers parents begged her to come home and bring him,the daddy's family begged her so don't be using your words to try to hurt these families... they are not guilty of hurting that angel in any way..His so called mommy kept him from even her own family,not just his daddy and his family..Heather is guilty ..as guilty as Shawn Mullins because she sit there and let him hurt that baby..If you want to get on here and have a discussion and lay blame..then put it where it belongs..not on the people that trusted the courts and social services to help them..My God how cold hearted to blame the family when they were trying to get him in a way where he wouldn't be given back and punished even more for what they did...These families trusted the system,they trusted they were going to get the help Christopher needed..So until this kind of Horror is in your home,your own family..I will ask that you please stop adding to the tragedy that the Smith family and Mr.and Mrs.Collins live with..I am an abused woman...i still protected my children..the man i was with threatened to shoot through my uncles house where my bed fast grand mother was,he threatened to set my brothers house on fire with him and his wife and children in bed if i ever left..I was pretty much beaten on a regular basis...It took my brother and my cousin telling me to leave that they would make sure he never hurt me again..i trusted my family and wanted my baby's out of that mess..I was afraid of this man..he terrorized me.my brother told him to fight a man not his sister..Did my brother hurt him..seriously...I am saying Heather had to many options..chances to get away from Shawn and protect that baby..She didn't want to...The difference in a mother ..is a mother loves her child more than anything..Did i love that man that beat me..yes..i'm not sure if it was out of fear or if i truly loved him..but i loved my baby's far more than i loved myself or that man and keeping them away from harm was the only thing i saw or cared about...Heather and Shawn are the monsters...the abusers and the killers..Not the family of Christopher...For the love of God..the daddy's family took pictures and handed them to D.C.S..Heathers own mother took him to the hospital,the Dr called police,the police called D.C.S and the D.C.S office made her parents give Christopher back...So the blame lays in three places,D.C.S,Heather Collins and Shawn Mullins...and that's the only place the blame or the shame should be placed..I thank God for my son-in-law..he is an exceptional daddy..and i thank God he is more intelligent than i am..because he won't stoop to the level of getting on here and reading this foolishness..He says he loves his son,he knows it,Christopher knows it and God knows it so he doesn't care what anyone thinks or says..He is right..everybody can say what they want..all that matters is the ones that are important..and that's his baby boy..knew he loved him and cherished him..My daughter told me to stay off here and leave it alone...but it tears my heart to pieces to know that people that had or has no clue what him and his family and Heathers family have had to endure because of her and Shawn want to try and make their pain worse..well guess what...there is nothing you or anyone on here can post that will ever come close to the pain they have had to suffer through or continue to suffer through..so let your words flow freely,say what you will..It doesn't matter anymore..the only opinions that matter are the ones of the people that love that little Angel and tried to help him...None of the Smith family blames Mr and Mrs. Collins or their family...and none of them blame the Smith family because both sides were in the fight together to save Christopher...so go ahead like i said and put your words on here..The ones that matter know the truth..they and the people closest to this know they did everything possible to try and save him and all were failed..All i ask is stop saying the families let Christopher down...because God in heaven knows that isn't true..They were desperate to save him and protect him..and as for remarks about the conversations between myself and Mrs Lane..I answered her questions with as much respect as i could..I tried to explain about the father and what he was told..I also told her i meant no disrespect nor did i mean to hurt anyone with my words..but will i go on defending the other victims of Shawn and Heather..yes i will always defend my son-in-law and the Smith family and Heathers parents..until hell freezes over and guess what..according to the good book..The Holy Bible..that will never happen..so yeah i will continue to defend them..at least till my last breath is gone..mind you that could be today ,tomorrow or next week...but i will defend the ones i know that did everything to try and save Christopher..so if anyone feels the need to bad mouth someone or point fingers..i'm here and i'm strong enough to handle it so give me all the crap you want..just be strong enough and respectful to the family that tried to save him..if you feel the need to blame someone or bash someone..then say it to me or about me..I will gladly carry the load because in my heart i know just like God knows that the family's fought hard and long and tried to have faith in a system that obviously doesn't feel these angels are worth the time or effort needed to help protect them....If you want to slam someone..do it to the ones that willingly hurt Christopher..the ones that abused him and killed him..not the ones that tried to save him...

I have another question that is bothering me. You claim you did not know where the child was living. When you saw him the weekend before Easter (less than 2 weeks before his death), how did you get him? Did she bring the child to you or did you go pick him up? How did he get back to the mother? How did she let you know you couldn't have him the following weekend as well for Easter? Did she call from a home phone?

When I first read about this, I was certain both the boyfriend and mother were equally guilty. I also thought that no one other than these two knew the extent of the abuse. That neither DCS, the police, the father, the father's family, nor the mother's family knew how bad it was. Now family members post on here that they did indeed know the details of what was happening to this beautiful little boy. How can anyone NOT expect us to question the actions or lack of action by any and ALL adults who were in a position to possibly save this child's life?

Keep posting your nasty commments to the father that you know nothing about you do not even know the situation If you were not there you didnt know what was going on never heard the conversations that took place and so on ..then yeah you can have your opinion but as i haev seen on most of these post everyone has an opinion about the father who reported all this not the person who sat and watched their son be abused...So keep posting cause noone cares about your opinions the police know what they need to know and justice will be served sooner or later...and again jk longs question was answered as i read earlier so leave it alone its been answered so why keep asking the same thing over and over..she hasnt so why do all the rest of you insist on going on and on

I'm sorry, but I cannot read some of the poorly written screeds posted here. I did try, but after a few sentences, if one could call them sentences, my eyes cross and my head pounds.

This is a discussion board. Telling others to keep one's opinions to themselves causes the poster to lose all credibility. JK Long was kind in her posts considering to whom she was posting her reply. To insult her was detestable in my opinion.

I will not be so kind as JK and Lana in my post. Everyone connected to this poor child is just as guilty as the monster that killed her. You all had a hand in this child's death. You will never convince me that sitting idly by and allowing this child to remain in the hands of this monster when you KNEW about the abuse was a decision made in the best interest of that child you loved.

Worried about jail? I would have gladly spent the rest of my life in jail to protect a child from such abuse. I certainly wouldn't be thinking about the consequences to myself as opposed to the consequences to my grandchild. Some things are worth risking everything. I consider my children to be in that category.

While I do have some sympathy for your family running amok of the system, my sympathy ends because you were content to sit back and wait on them when it became apparent they were not going to act in a timely fashion. That is the moment when the onus fell upon you.

Ordinarily, I would not create such a judgmental post, but for the family to be publicly ragging on the child's mother when you are just as guilty, is over the top. While you nail her to the cross, I suggest you do a little soul searching yourselves. Like Lana, I hope others learn from this tragedy.

anybody who thinks that questioning why the father didn't take the boy from the mother means that they are on the mother's side or that they feel sorry for her are WRONG!

i think it's disgusting if she knew what was going on (and i don't see how she couldn't have known). she should be sitting right up there with shawn mullins.

that doesn't make it crazy for people to wonder why the dad didn't take his son. visitation really isn't hard to get. go to a visitation hearing, show them the evidence of abuse...and leave with custody. sounds simple i know...that's because it IS!

but you say he didn't know that he could do that. okay....well, if he didn't know then he didn't know.

but people like me and lots of other people that DO KNOW are going to naturally wonder why he didn't do it. it even makes me wonder why DCS or a friend didn't suggest that he do that? i just don't see how a child could be getting BEATEN UP and the parent not ask the steps to take to get custody, visitation....something. but if you say he didn't, then...ok.

and just because i find that odd doesn't mean that i would piss on the mother if she was on fire. i wouldn't.

Mr. Damned, that is much easier said than done. How would you get to the child if you didn't know where to lookEspecially being accused of abuse, don't you think someone would be looking over their shoulder double time? How would you support the child the few days that you were on the run, especially considering you would be leaving your job? Where would you take them that no one would look? How would you hide them? The child would be found and returned to the mother, and the father would be on the front page of the paper.

I wish the punishment could fit the crime, but unfortunately that seldom happens. When my ex-husband was sent to jail not only for a mere 7 years, but to a country club jail, I was furious. After much thought, I realized that by the time he is released, our girls will both be over 18. With his history, they can get a restraining order to keep him away if he does try to contact them after he is released. He may not have gone to jail for life, but he is out of their life forever. He will be a registered offender for life, so anyone else he comes in contact with can easily learn his history. Again, he may be released from jail in a few years, but his life as he knew it has been completely destroyed.

Little Christopher's killer will have to live in fear every day just like he made that precious little boy do. Also, he will likely be the recipient of some of the same abuse that he inflicted on that baby. Thirty years may not sound like a lot, but when you think about how he will be living those 30 years, it does make it sound like life and could end up being such.

Changes must be made to a system that repeatedly fails to help children in need.

Mrs Kennedy i appreciate the fact that u have an opinion and the fact you do to some extent acknowledge the father and other peoples battle to save Christopher...Yes i also hope that this case brings to light that the system and everyone else needs to do more to help these children and protect them..Just as i had hoped the death of little Scotty Trexler or the infant killed by the Godsey boy would bring child abuse to the fore front as a horror..I believe with all my heart that the judicial system needs to step up in the fight for these children and their lives..I do not intentionally set out to hurt anyone with my words...I do not intentionally set out to upset anyone..I just want everyone to stop trying to say my son-in-law could have done more than was being done..The entire family on both sides was waging a battle for that baby and his rights..The system and the case worker over him let him down..they pretty much put him back in the hands of his abuser and the woman that called herself mommy to him and may as well have said go ahead and do what you want..when it gets to bad maybe..just maybe we will help this child...Well when they finally decided to help him..it was to late..As i said The Dr at Indian Path did his part,the Kingsport City Police tried to follow up with the case worker from D.C.S but she never returned the calls...The families tried and the system failed to let us help him..The system failed that baby and his loved ones..Your right the Judicial System needs to do more..Their part!!!! The laws need to be changed and stiffer prices made to pay for anyone that abuses a child or elderly person...Our Judicial System makes life to easy for these monsters that commit these crimes against children and elderly..Big Deal i get T.V and cable in prison,3 meals a day,time to go outside and fool around and don't have to work to pay for any of it..Oh yeah that's real serious punishment! They should be confined with the barest means to survive and punished daily..Stop making a life of brutality against children and elderly o.k..Stop letting these monsters live pretty much a simple easy life..They should be made to work in chains to earn a piece of bread or drink of water..They should not be allowed one thing to bring them happiness or joy..after all they didn't hesitate to take away a defenseless persons right to live,breath,laugh,and be happy..so why reward them???They are the worst criminals...why not let the punishment fit the crime???

Ms. Branham, I am quite familiar with the justice system. The sisters, aunts, uncles, etc. had no rights unless granted by the court (those are the rules). Had the child been taken from the mother, he would have been awarded to the state. A family member would have to request temporary custody (those are the rules). They don't just take the child from the mother and drop him off with the father.

There is no excuse for what this "mother" allowed or helped happen to her child. She knew her child was being abused, but did nothing to stop it. The father's family made an attempt, but not enough in my opinion. I would like to see this child's death used to change some of the laws so that no other child has to suffer as he did. Make it mandatory for weekly doctor or DCS visits when abuse is reasonably suspected (such as a doctor reporting the abuse).

No one is saying the father did not love his child.

Ms. Smith, I have never said the mother was innocent. In fact, I have stated the total opposite (note my comment on 11/3 at 12:27 pm). I feel she should be charged as well.

If the mother had filed papers for child support, then he should have filed for visitation or custody. He would have had the doctor's statement from the Dec. 4 hospital visit to back him up.

Think about it this way. If someone is being beaten in your front yard, do you simply call the police and sit back down to watch TV, or do you make some attempt to stop the beating until the police can arrive? Left uninterrupted, the beating will likely continue until someone is dead or police arrive. Someone turning on their porch light, yelling, beating on pots/pans, alerting neighbors who in turn do the same things to bring attention to the fight, will likely cause the attacker to cease.

Mrs.Kennedy..no one was bad mouthing anyone on here except the ones who deserve it..You and people like you with your opinions about a father you know nothing of need to do a reality check...If it makes it easier for you people to rest to sit there and say poor little Heather..then so be it..Have at it...My son-in-law nor his family need or care to justify themselves or their actions to you or anyone else...They don't have a guilty conscience..they can live with their selves and their actions..They reported the suspected abuse repeatedly and Heathers own family tried to do the right thing...My son-in-law loved that little boy,my daughter loved that baby..we all loved him..If u haven't personally dealt with the system then you don't have an open opinion..Once again my son-in-law was out of town working ..his brother,sister and uncle tried to get involved because he was gone out of town,the police was called by Shawn and Heather because they wanted to see Christopher and make sure he was o.k..They were told to leave the property that it had nothing to do with them..If you have not followed this case from the beginning,are not involved in any way.. yes you have a right to an opinion but you have no right to cast stones at people for trying to obey the law and trust that the judicial system and the system that is suppose to protect children will do their jobs!! Simple fact...We trusted people with higher Authority to do what we were told we could not do unless wanting to go to jail...what good would it have been to Christopher then..We did not fail this baby..he was not in his daddy's care,his grand parents care,aunts or uncles...He was in his mothers care...Fact..Heather should have taken her child to a safe home..Her parents,The father and his mother,a safe house..They all offered to take her and Christopher in...any where except where she chose to keep him and let his life be taken....His laughter shut up forever...I will continue to defend my son-in-law and his family and yes Heathers daddy and mother because all of these people tried to help her protect Christopher...My son-in-law does not deserve to be trashed by people that have no knowledge of him or the love he carries for all his baby's.. My son-in-law was even willing to go to Heather and Shawn's house just so he could see his son and spend time with him..They moved from house to house,place to place with Christopher so no one ever knew where they were from one day to the next...Leave my son-in-law free of nasty remarks..You did not travel to bring this boy home to bury his baby,you did not see his soul being torn from him,his heart breaking...you did not see the horror and pain in his eyes when he carried that baby to his grave!!!!! He was following the rules to try to get his son..that's not his fault..his family and Heathers family were following the rules..The blame doesn't lay at the door step of any of these people..It lays at the door of Shawn Mullins and Heather Collins..Shawn for being a monster and hurting Christopher and Heather for not leaving him and allowing him to hurt her child daily!!!

First off lana kennedy the mother had already been to the courthouse and filed papers on the father for child support and what not...all half of you people know on here is what the paper has told you and quite frankly they make heather look good when shes not..like I said in another post put your nasty comments about the father who cares we sure dont cause at least we can lay our heads down at night and sleep ...cause we know we didnt sit and watch someone abuse this baby liket eh mother did..so anyone who wants to take up for her feel free to do so and we will do as we feel but anyone who sits and say she didnt know aww i feel soo sorry for your just as sorry as her and shawn..and you can keep saying bad things about teh father thats fine but i was a witness to her being begged on several occasions to move in with the father and his mother and she cant tell the story i was sooo scared of shawn please stop blowing hot smoke up my a$$ cause i dont buy it..I know of several times shawn got his things and left heather and she would go runing after him so now you tell me was she a mother who was trying to protect her child..HELL NO

This is a discussion board. A board set up for people to discuss the story, give their opinions, ask questions, etc. It is NOT a board in which only certain opinions are allowed. I think it is very juvenile for people to tell others to shut up or keep their opinions to theirselves on a DISCUSSION board.

Ms. Long and I do not always agree, but we disagree respectfully. From what I have gathered from her posts, she is a very intelligent and caring woman. I believe a few on here owe her an apology.

Now I have a question based on comments posted by the father's family. Are you really expecting us to believe that neither the father, none of his family, friends, co-workers, etc. knew that you have to go to court to get custody, visitation, and child support? That all of these people thought the only way to get legal custody or visitation was by making complaints to DCS and getting the child taken from the mother?

From the comments the family have made, they knew about the abuse at least 4 MONTHS prior to his death, yet state that DCS waited weeks (not months) after they called.

Had this been my child, the DCS, the police, newspapers, tv stations, child advocates, politicians, etc. would have seen my face or heard my voice (as well as my family's) every single day from the moment I found out about the abuse.

I want to thank mother of 2 little boys for your comments first and your true understanding of just what rights a father does have..To J K Long i am glad that you now know at least why the father went the route he did..No one is blaming Heathers mother and Father...The daddy's family knows they tried to have Christopher removed from Heathers care..We acknowledge the fact that her mom took him to the hospital...the fact that Mr and Mrs. Collins both loved that little Angel..Now the only thing i have a problem with is the fact that they would be willing to defend her now...Why offer her support when they knew what was happening ...what she let happen..Heather was grown and could tell people if Shawn hurt her like he did that beautiful Angel...Christopher couldn't tell everything that was being done to him..Heathers parents offered her a way out..They asked her to bring Christopher and come home..she could still see Shawn but at least Christopher wouldn't be in this monsters presence..Would you as a parent...defend your daughter or son if you had this knowledge..if you knew your child willingly kept their baby in a place with someone that was hurting them?? As i said before..Yes i love my children desperately and would gladly and willingly give my last breath to defend them and protect them..I would willingly give my child my last breath so they would have one more of their own..but would i defend or help hire defense for them knowing they deliberately let someone repeatedly hurt an innocent child that could in no way protect or defend itself..not no but hell no...Yes my heart would break...but it would break for the fact that my own child didn't even come close to loving her or his child the way i loved them and therefore i could not defend my child..I would still love them yes because i carried them and suffered to bring them into this world,i struggled through life to make sure they were taken care of,they are a part of me..my heart and soul...They are my child but i have to help make sure that the child they brought into this world and let suffer at the hands of a monster has justice..and if i uphold and defend my child for it then i can't say anything bad about any monster that hurts a child..They are no worse than my daughter or son..You can't call one abuser a monster for doing a or allowing it to happen and then defend the other simply because it's your child...Heather knew..it's not humanly possible to not know that a child is in agony and definitely not possible if you are with them daily..Even a person with limited abilities can sense things...how do i know this..I lived with a young man that had full blown Autism and helped take care of him..If i felt bad this boy sensed it,he would come and put a pillow behind my head or sit on my lap and cradle my head against his body.if i had trouble getting out of bed in the mornings he would come in and take my hands and help me up..now mind you once again this young man had full blown Autism and yet he could sense if something was wrong..now tell me someone that has all their capabilities fully in use could live with a child daily and not know..Your hiding behind lies if you say this and you are protecting a monster..Don't let the people that helped him abuse this Angel for so long and finally kill this beautiful Angel get away with it...They need to be brought to Justice for Christopher...so he can finally have the respect and love he so deserved..Do not make justifications for a woman that knew and allowed her son to be tortured and killed...There can be no true justice for Christopher until she has to answer for her role in his death..I'm not saying she killed him with her own two hands..but even if she never struck that baby..she let someone else do it and therefore is as guilty as Shawn..That man would have had to kill me before he touched my baby after the first time because i would have killed him to protect my child..I would not have put my child at risk because i wanted to shack up with a low life that thought it was funny to put his hand over my child's mouth in an attempt to shut him up,to make drink alcohol to put him to sleep or blow pot smoke in it's little face...What kind of monster are you Heather to sit on your fat a** and let him hurt your little boy..I hope that when you have to look upon the face of God and answer to him for letting your son be tortured just so you could pile up in a bed with a sorry excuse for a man and satisfy your bodily lust that he makes you live through the hell you allowed that child to live through..You don;t deserve to be called mommy because you don't have the heart of a mother..You don't even have the heart of a decent human being that has compassion for others..You and Shawn should both be fixed so you could never hurt another child in an way..You should be sterilized and never allowed to have another child and they should cut off his arms and feet..The two of you should be forced to watch videos of that Angel everyday all day long and have someone sitting their hitting you and torturing you every time that baby laughed or smiled or spoke...You should have to be reminded every breath you take of what you destroyed..What you had no right to harm in any way...Because of two monsters that enjoyed hurting a child..those of us that cherished that little boy have to live with the horrors everyday of what you did to him..My grand babies have to grow up without their brother,my son-in-law has to look at his babies everyday and know he is missing one of his children and Christopher will never be allowed the joy of a child or an adult..Why because he is the little boy that mommy and the system didn't protect!!!!I have a cold hatred in my heart..a place for Demons like Heather and Shawn. Some are born to be kindling for the fires of hell..Well here are two that were born just for that purpose..Shawn Mullins and Heather Collins...Society wants justice for Christopher...We want justice for Christopher and everyone that loved him..The system failed this Angel in life..Don't allow it to fail him in death as well..Bring Heather to be held accountable for her role in the loss of this precious little Angels life!!!!!!We love you Christopher.Rest in peace baby..

Samantha Webber, You are so mistaken. If you had custody of my child and I suspected he/she were being abused, I would first try to end it legally. I'd give the state 48 hours to act. Then I'd take my child. I'd take my child by what ever means nessecary or I'd lose my own life trying. Legal isn't always Right and in that case I'd choose right. I'd remove my child from harm and not feel any remorse whatsoever about who I harmed doing it. Am I a violent person? No. But over my childs safety I'm sure I'd create a bloodbath.

"Putting blame on Heather is no different than putting blame on the father."

The father was not living with someone who was abusing this child. The father did not choose to stay with a person who did this to his child. The father did not choose a monster over his child.The father did not even live with the child.

So how can it be said that they are both to blame equally? I can't believe the father is even being brought into these accusations. As a single mother, with a father's name on the certificate, I know my rights. I can control how often my child's father sees him, if at all. I do not abuse this power, my child's father is very active in his life, but should I so choose I could keep him from him completely. His father could file custody papers, which would be a long process, months. He could call DCS on me and say that I abuse my child (which I DO NOT) and of course they would sit on their fat a$$es behind a desk for a while before they came to check on my child. I don't think anyone blaming the father has any idea of these types of situations and how little control the father has.

If anyone is to blame, it should be DCS. They make me sick. They take kids from good parents, and give them back to horrible "parents". They do not protect the children like they are supposed to.

I hate this had to happen to this precious little boy.

WATCH THE DAMNED; you wanna know the reason their hasn't been any accusations with her babygirl? she knows she's in alot of shit over christopher. why would she wanna make herself look like a liar & abuse or mis-treat the little girl. she wants everyone to think that she really didn't know anything was going on with this angel. when i know for a fact that she knew something was going on. anyone with a right mind would know that their child was being abused. a broken leg which was just starting to heal? how do you explain that? didnt she have to carry him around? or did she just leave him in bed all day while she sat on the couch watching tv. she didnt care if this child ate; i was a witness to this. she didnt care if he got a bath. if it wasn't for other people, he probably would have starved. when he came to my house, he'd eat the whole time he was there. she lied to us about how he got the bruises. i honestly think she believed her own lies. she didnt wanna look bad in front of anyone. she wanted people to think she was the same "heather" that she was when she was with my cousin [the father]

i think people needs to open their eyes. if she didnt know why did she sit & tell my family that she was "terrified" of shawn? they didnt wanna take Christopher to the DCS meeting on April the 2nd, 2005 because she knew they'd find out that what people were telling them were right, & christopher was being abused. she knew she'd get in trouble. she needed someone to finish the job. thats what i think. just an opinion. it makes me sick to my stomach knowing that this beautiful baby boy sit and suffered for as long as he did before his little fragile body just gave up. watching my cousin carry his baby boys casket to the place he's buried at today was one of the hardest things ive ever seen before. if you wasn't there you didnt see the pain he held in his eyes. heather may miss christopher. BUT she should have thought about all this before. i hope this haunts her for the rest of her life. what is she gunna tell her babygirl when she grows up wanting to know where her brother is? is she gunna blame it on shawn? still sit & say she didnt know anything was going on? probably. if she does, thats the lowest thing she could do. she knew the night she left christopher with shawn what was about to happen. she wanted to get outta there before she could be blamed with it. that's not much of a mother. i dont care who you are, as a mother your supposed to watch over your kids. not let a monster abuse them!!!

becky,

that response makes sense. he didn't KNOW the rights that he had or what to do. that makes more sense.

i think that's what people are wondering. people want to know WHY the father didn't do something.

you answered the question.

simple enough.

i'm not questioning whether or not the child's dad loved him. i think that part is obvious.

all i'm saying is, it's not a crazy thought to have when people wonder why he didn't take him. i'm not the one who posed the question, but i don't think the people who did ask are out of line.

robyn, i never saw anyone say that the couple was never married. how do you know they were never married? i don't know that. i don't remember it being published. it could be true, and if it is, then you are correct...the father has NO rights. i know that VERY well.

but that still means (as i said before) that the only thing keeping a man from his child is his effort to fill out a piece of paper. i know that because i've sat in court and heard the judge say it.

i don't see how a mother could sit back and be oblivious to abuse. i don't know the details, but that is crazy IF it is the case. HOWEVER, it's no better for a father to do the same. and...the whole point in the first place is...that fathers DO have rights (wed or unwed) IF and only IF they take the steps to get those rights.

if they were married at some point, then they both had equal rights to the child...no court order needed. if they were never married...all that had to be done was walking into the justice center and filling out a piece of paper. they WILL give the father visitation or even custody depending on the circumstance. i've seen fathers who have been out of the picture for 10 years get visitation at the drop of a hat. it's almost disgusting how easy it is to do so. i KNOW because i've SEEN it.

regardless, i would get my child out of the situation visitation rights or not. bruises? broken bones? drug abuse? i'll be damned if i'm going to sit around and wait on an "agency" to tell me when it's okay for my child to leave that situation. i'd rather be the one in jail for murder than to let some idiot do those things to my kid. police, a judge, DCS, and god himself could not keep me from breaking down doors and killing the people who were doing that to my child. that's irrelevant because none of that is necessary....all that is necessary is going to where the child is and taking him...if you're the parent. nothing illegal about it.

To J K Long....Just to set the record straight...The daddy didn't know at the time he had certain rights..He did not know he could do anymore than what they were doing..He thought that if they reported the abuse that they would turn Christopher over to him...He thought trusting the system to help him was the right way to help Christopher...The legal way to get him and have him with him..If you could see him with his children...if you could have seen him with Christopher..you would know that song Daddy's hands has true meaning....When i see him with my grand baby's i see love like i felt from my daddy...I wasn't lieing when i said he is never to tired for his baby's...when they see him pull in the driveway they get excited..when he comes through the door he always has time to play with them..and when he takes his baby girl in his arms she always smiles for her daddy...my grand baby's love their daddy and he loves them ..Do i know he would fight till his last breath is gone to protect his children..This man gets out of bed no matter how sick he is and still goes to work because he wants to make sure his children have what they need and he plays in the yard with his sons,goes to sleep at times with his kids laying on top of him...If you could see him with his children..you would know if he had known any other way to get his son and keep him..he would have done it..he just wanted to do it in a away that would keep Christopher with him so he wouldn't have to go back and be punished for what he did....

O.k once again i am going to say..if you were not part of this and you no nothing about what really happened..then keep your opinions and advice to your selves...Those of us that are saying the truth about Heather aren't saying it to be mean..It's the truth..So many times she was offered security..a safe haven for her and her baby...would she take it...NO! She chose to willingly and with deliberate action put Christophers life at risk..Once again"Watch The Damned" and J K Long...If you give a statement to the police saying a person did these things to your child..how can you in all honesty in the next breath say..Oh i had no idea he was hurting my baby..Do either one of you have a child of your own??The daddy confronted Heather..He and Heather both were under age when they had Christopher...I was at the hospital the night that baby died..It wasn't just the daddy's family that was outraged...the mothers father was distraught with rage..not just at Shawn but at his daughter too....If they admit the truth now,then they would admit they wanted Christopher away her.Her own daddy was desperate to get that baby out of the grasp of the monsters he was with!!!My son-in-law did everything possible to get to be with Christopher..He loved that baby more than anything in this world..In your small minds do you think because he buried his son it's over for him or any one else that loved Christopher..well it's not...he lives and breathes this horror everyday!!!!When he looks at his 3 baby's he has now ..do you think he doesn't think of his firstborn son?As for the baby girl that so called mommy has now..she is safe because her daddy is in the house with her...Heather isn't with a jealous man now..How can any of you in good faith and honesty sit in front of your computers and say poor Heather...she was with that baby on a daily basis..now what kind of mother..a true mother can say oh i lived with my son but didn't have a clue he was in pain or being beaten..I didn't see the bruises or hear my child whimpering and screaming in his agony...You are insane if you believe that..Let me tell you what i have told my children...When they both had their first child..I told them..your wants,your needs,your desires are completely and totally irrelevant to me or you now..all that's important is this defenseless little child...Both of my children also know if they ever hurt one of my grand children or allow anyone else to hurt them..I WILL BE THE FIRST PERSON ON THEIR FRONT DOORSTEP WITH THE POLICE!!!! I would stand in a court room not for my child because hey they are big enough to tell someone they are being hurt...they are big enough to fight back..Christopher wasn't!!!!!!!If my child hurt a child or allowed someone to hurt their child then they don't deserve to have me to defend them because they didn't defend the angel God gave them!!! Am i a cold hearted person?maybe so when it comes to monsters that hurt children and the monsters that live with that child daily and allow it to happen...Put the blame where it truly lays..Fact..Christopher lived with his mother..fact.she was there with him daily and allowed her child to be terrorized by that monster..fact that makes her an accessory...she should have gone to jail and been tried for the same thing..The daddy and his family did what the system says to do...The D.C.S office and his mommy failed him...not his daddy,grand parents,aunts or uncles..The daddy was out of town working and his own brother and uncle and sister went to the apartment wanting to see Christopher and had the law called on them..they were told by police it was none of their buisiness to leave..They told the police they thought he was being abused..Now you tell me....who failed this baby..It wasn't his daddy or his family!!!!The people that were with Shawn and Heather at the house where that baby died should fall on their knees and ask God to forgive them for not helping that beautiful Angel...and then they should help him now by telling the police what really went on..They can't say they didn't know anymore than Heather can say she didn't know..If none of them knew that baby was suffering then they must have been so messed up on drugs for those two weeks prior to his death that they didn't know they were in this world!!!!!!!!Leave Christopher's daddy and his family alone.........They have suffered enough at the hands of Heather and Shawn! They had to bury a precious gift from God..a perfect Angel...

I think situations like this are best dealt with by the family. Then, of course, comes the dilemma of how to deal with it when the families divorced and broken. Even so, I think it is best delt with by the family. Getting the government involved only complicates matters. It sounds like they were draggin' their feet on this one (imgine that). Unfortunately, this case ended in tragedy. Hopefully, everyone will read this and try to learn from it. That's all we can do from here.

ashley,

that was my point from the start.

you are not kidnapping when you take your own child.

unless christopher's father had court orders stating that he couldn't be around him....he had just as much right to take him and keep him as the mother did.

that's why people are wondering why he didn't.

Oh and for everyone who is saying we should have kidnapped him..why? so we could have been caught in a few short hrs a couple days a week at the most and he would have been put back in the home where the abuse was happening and we would be in jail no way to try and make contact with them no way of knowing anything..How would this situation have helped..It wouldnt have contrary to what everyone else believes kidnapping doesnt solve anything and in most cases makes it worse and I am most positive it would have made this situation worse considering the DA themselves said "evidence would show Shawn was jealous of the child"

First off JK long the home where Heather Chistopher and Shawn were residing noone knew where this was..To which they had been staying from my understanding for a few weeks..Now yes we could have went on a wild goose chase trying to find them but what good would that have done we wouldnt have..noone knew where they were at phone calls were ignored and the reason they were staying at this home is sooo noone could come toher apatrment to check in and i strongly believe this why would you stay several weeks in someone elses home when you haev your own with lights and water..hmmmm beats me..and the father did report things as the rest of the family did also and i will say up to this point i had nothing against the mother but Im telling you now I am a mother of 3 and it wouldnt take someone else having to come get my child if i thought and most defiantely if I knew I would not be living in the same home nore would I have my child around an abuser...and watch the damned i had feelings you were in some way connescted to the mother this is where that stands you believe the story or stories you haev been told and we will beleive the ones we have been told.and most the storied I know is the ones that the detectives have been told.HOw would all of you like to be working out of town trying to make money to give the things your child needs then get a phone call late one night saying you need to hurry and get home that your child has been murdered now come on guys I could careless where any of you put the blame but I love my husband and I know how he felt about that baby..Christopher was always put first noone else...But it's ok we love the father and we love Christopher unconditionally to no end and judgement day will come and who was responsible will be held accountable..So put your blame whereever you feel you need to put it but I know alot about this and I have read the autopsy report so regardless whether Heather ever touched him or not and noone has ever said she did but she is still just as guilty for not leaving with hiom and going to her mother and fathers or soemwhere else instead of running to a friends home to hide out..Oh and further more he laid with a broken leg and arm for a good week or more why was he not taken to an emergency room?.Now all is said and done post your nasty comments say what you please but everyone will know the truth someday and I hope that day is soon...The good lord above is the only one who tuely knows what happened to this baby and of course the people who were in the home where they were staying and none of them will tell the complete truth but someday soon god will and I believe that

I know Heather. I'm not sure if she's pregnant again, but I do know she's had another beautiful child since then. There have been no accusations of abuse with this child. As far as Christopher's father goes, I'm sorry for his loss. Christopher was a beautiful child. Putting blame on Heather is no different than putting blame on the father. You say he suspected abuse, even knew about it. If I thought my ex-girlfriend or her boyfriend were abusing my child, I'd go get my child. Custody wouldn't matter a bit to me. I'd have taken my child and gotten as far away as it took, to save him from 1 day of abuse. I'd deal with the legal consequences later. Everyone needs to quit slinging blame, except of course at Shawn Mullins, and deal with remembering Christopher. I agree some mistakes may have been made on Heather's part, but she paid for it by losing a child. She's no more to blame than the father for leaving the child there. Why does death make such enemies of people. If Christianity is correct, then God called Christopher home. If thats your bag.

ashley,

i'm just saying in response to everyone else who is questioning where the father was - why didn't he take him?

he was the father and he had rights, didn't he? i would think if my children were living with their father and i knew they were being abused, i would skip the phone calls and go directly to his house and take them. unless there is a court order saying that a parent can't have custody of their own child then there is nothing stopping them from taking the child.

the only thing that would make sense as to why the other PARENT wouldn't take the child out of the situation they were in is if there was a court order saying that they weren't allowed to. if that's the case, then it makes sense. if that's the case then say so. if it's not the case, i still don't get it - sorry.

well JK long, lemme tell you a few things and maybe you'll know why we didnt take Christopher! first things first, and this doesnt just go out to you, this goes to everyone else thats asking the same thing. Chrisophers father is my cousin. We tried everything we could to protect this baby. We called Child abuse hotlines. Took pictures of every bruise he had on him. Called the police & DCS. And since obviously you havent read the newspaper, ill tell you the story. DCS had an appoinment to meet with Heather, Shawn, and Christopher April the 2nd, 2005, over the calls we made to them. Their the ones that didnt act fast enough. They should have taken the baby out of the home as soon as we called them. but they wanted to wait weeks after we called them. the last time we saw this beautiful baby boy was the weekend before easter. thats the last time we got to see his beautiful smile. hear his voice, or was able to hold him. his father was outta town working after this. thats when we got the terrible news that Christopher was in the hospital suffering from cardiac arrest. by the time we got to the hospital, he was gone. heather didnt even look like this bothered her. and still shows no emotion, whatsoever. at the funeral, the sick so called "mother" was smiling as soon as she got outta the car.

I dont know why someone would get on here and talk like they knew everything that went on when they obviously dont know the whole story.

JK LONG; if you dont know the father, which obviously you dont, then you wouldnt know how loving he is. he loved this baby with all his life. you can see the emptiness in his eyes. we tried everything in our power to make this child safe. we even offered his "mother" to come stay with us because at one point she said she was terrified of Shawn. She had places to go. Dont get on here bad-mouthing the father if you know nothing about him. he loved christopher. none of us recall yanking your chains and asking for a smarta** remark either.

as for everyone else; thank you for the support.

i don't understand why the dad and or dad's family didn't take the boy if they knew?

i had to go to court for child support several years ago, and when the judge asked my ex if he had visitation, he told her that he didn't, but that he wanted to.

it was hilarious when she told him that all he had to do was walk downstairs and fill out A paper..."A" paper! a FREE piece of paper. they would set a court date...and set up visitation. so, it wouldn't have mattered if i avoided phone calls or didn't answer the door, etc. it's not hard to get visitation and even custody as long as you're not an UNFIT parent which is obviously just about impossible to prove. problem in my case is that he didn't want visitation. it just sounded good in court...so he thought.

i don't know. the whole situation sounds nuts. if my son's dad thought for a second that someone was beating on HIS son and i knew about it, he'd break their bones, probably my bones, and then take my son. what could i do about it? NOTHING. it's not kidnapping when you take your own kid (unless there's a court document saying you're not allowed to have them).

I literally vomited when I read this story. There are no words to describe the anger I feel. 30 YEARS?

CPS? The police? Our justice system? There is failure to be spread around everywhere it seems.

I can only say that if it were my child or grandchild, I would have gone on the run with him out of the country. Call me crazy, a lawbreaker, or whatever... I would have risked all if I'd known even a fraction that went on with that baby. I cannot believe so many let this child down. I am heartsick.

This Makes me Sick i am a friend of the fathers family and it digusts me that anyone could do something so cruel to innocent little boy! you know actually it makes me very angry cause one of my best friends is ashley smith and she commented on here and the mother who will pay eventually wouldnt let the father have anything to do with his son it was so sad you know the smith family is actually a very big family and there is alot of children in it and if i do say so myself they are all very well taken care of and ive been around them my whole life. so nothing needs to be said about the father or his family because they were doing the best they could do by trying to contact dcs and other authorities.
Rest In Peace Baby Christopher

I have an opinion for Watch the Damned...I know this man you call the Father...He is my son-in-law...and a wonderful father..For your information..he wasn't married to my daughter at the time of Christopher's death so lets clear that one up first so u or no one else can say he was to busy with another woman for his child!He worshiped his baby boy and would have gladly fought to his death and given his life for that angel..He begged and pleaded to see Christopher and Heather kept him hidden from him..now we know why..Heather promised he could see Christopher for Easter that year..my son-in-law went out and bought the stuff to make a basket with his son and color eggs and bought outfits so they could have their pictures made together and she wouldn't let him have him then...I personally know that the fathers family reported the abuse..her own mother took him to Indian Path hospital in Dec 04 and a Dr there called the Kingsport City police who i do commend on their actions..they in turn called D.C.S..This is where the breakdown started..D.C.S gave him back to her...don't you find it peculiar that Heather and Shawn were suppose to report to DHS office on Friday with Christopher for allegations of child abuse and suddenly he dies the Wednesday before..Get a reality check...They couldn't take him in on Friday because surely they would have been found out and could not hide what they were doing to this Angel...I am a mother of 3..my first born was stillborn..I have a son that has given me 2 beautiful grandsons and a beautiful daughter that has given me 2 beautiful grandsons and a beautiful grand daughter that will never get to know their brother because one woman brought him into this world and decided her wants,her needs and her bodily desires were more valuable than her sons life..Who gave them the right to decide Christopher should be beaten to death??Had to be satan..it wasn't God..I always knew if my children were sick or hurting and i know if my grand babies are sick or hurting! So any mother that says i didn't know is hiding the truth...this is from Heathers mouth,,she gave the statement to police and told them Shawn forced Christopher to inhale Marijuana smoke and ingest alcohol..I do believe by law that is child abuse and neglect..so now tell me once again after she gave these statements to police that poor mommy had no idea he was abusing her son..If you believe that one then i own the London Bridge and am willing to sell it dirt cheap today!Stop trashing the daddy..He loved that baby more than life and had to carry his son to his grave..He wasn't smiling that day but mommy had a smile on her face..I know i was there and everyone else asked what i did..how can someone get out of a car with a smile on their face and walk to their child's grave??If she didn't know her baby was being abused then he must have been an invisible entity in her warped world..I guess she couldn't see her baby because she was blinded by her love for his abuser huh....Christopher's daddy is a wonderful father..Yes sometimes he and my daughter have their disagreements but then what married couple doesn't...but i have always said from the minute my first grandson was born up till my grand daughter was born..If i could search this whole world over..I could not have found a man more worthy of my grand babies..I would not have found a better daddy for them..I thank God he is the father of the babies i cherish because i know he is a loving,caring,giving daddy...He is never to tired to play with his children and when they are sick it's not just up to my daughter..I see the love in his hands,hear it in his voice,see in when he holds his children or sits up very late with the oldest one at night even though he has to get up at 6 in the morning to go to work..Tell me is this a bad father..a daddy that doesn't care..If you know none of the facts or have not seen this man love his baby's....then keep your opinion to yourself..

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? This has got to be a joke. A pretty sick one at that... He'll be out when he is 54 and the mother is pregnant again. That' just perfect --- let's just keep spinning & spinning in this toilet - we call the justice system because we all know what it is full of... ATTN: Attorney John Eldridge - your statement "We’re pleased with the outcome. And I think our client, Shawn Mullins, is quite resolved and glad that this episode is over,” is appauling. In other words, Shaun and I are happy he got away with murder and now you suckers paying taxes will have to take care of him for 30 years. Yeah - thanks for the statement --- I know it's your job but really --You were better off saying nothing at all..

The story about the dad leaving the loaded gun in a cabinet says, "Tennessee’s child neglect law allows the first-degree murder charge “as a result of aggravated child neglect for not providing a safe and secure environment and properly supervising his child while in this unsafe environment.” Since the autopsy proves the abuse had been ongoing and any reasonable person having contact with the child could be expected to realize this, couldn't the mother be charged under this law? Leaving that child with this man was just as dangerous as leaving him with a loaded gun.

I hate this situation all the way around. It's easy to lose your temper and do things like this. I've been mad and done some dome things. myself. Some times you just take things for so long till one day you just explode. Forcing the kid to do drugs and drink is more than just anger, though. That's kinda like malice or cruelty.

watch the damned for your information the father does care and he is a very good father...the mother lived in the home with this child and tried to lie and say she didnt know this was going on yeah it is a bunch of CROCK on her part...this isnt Ashely writting this comment this is the fathers wife I have 3 children with this man and wouldnt trade him for anyone else...the fathers family reported abuse to the law and dcs while everyone sat on there hands..She should have given her own life for her child..I knwo I would...I watch my children very close I know every little things that is wrong with my children because I love them and noone can tell me Christopher laid with a broken leg and arm and mommy didnt know it ...ok whatever..and further more the home where they were staying noone knew where that was we only knew where the apartment she rented was at..I think people need to be cleaning there own back yards before starting on anyone elses my husband is a dam good man contrary to anyone elses beleif..Noone who truely cares will ever let abuse happen to there child and try to say they didnt know I do not care who you are/who it is Heather or not She should haev gotten her child and left there was plenty of homes for her to go to..I know for a fact she was offered on several occasions and begged to move in at the fathers mothers home and wold she no and i know she could haev went to her mother and fathers but did she no she chose to keep her and her son in this situation and now they both shall pay the ultimate price

Tie a rope from a tree in the middle of the town square, get rid of him

Even better! We get to pay for his room and board for the next 30 years! Awesome! That's exactly where I want MY tax dollars to go, to pay for food and shelter for this punk to live! Yeah NOT REALLY THOUGH!

I hope he drops the soap his first day in there!

Ashley Smith. If the father cared so much, where was he? Blame it all on Heather? What a crock.

This makes me sick to even read. How could anyone hurt a baby? I'm with Robyn. When my daughter gets a bruise, I'm calling anyone who was around her, talking to her sitter and everything to figure out what happened. This poor child. My heart goes out to him. The mother should be held responsible also. She is just as guilty as him. They both should be hung from a tree.

There are more people who should be held accountable here. The system failed this child as they continue to do with many others. DCS and CPS is a joke, it is just a paycheck to them. A mother should defend her child at all costs; so where was she. Is she blind???

30 YEARS? DAY F0R DAY? i H0NESTLY THiNK THAT HE DESERVED S0 MUCH M0RE. N0THiNG iN THiS W0RLD C0ULD EVER BRiNG CHRiST0PHER BACK. HE WAS SUCH A SWEET BABY. THiS SiCK MAN, AL0NG WiTH 0THERS, NEEDS T0 SUFFER. THEY D0NT DESERVE T0 GET FED 3 MEALS A DAY. TALK T0 ANY 0F THEiR FAMiLY. SEE ANY DAY LiGHT AT ALL. THEY NEED T0 G0 THRU THE THiNGS THEY PUT THiS PRECi0US BABY WENT THRU. AS A WiTNESS T0 AL0T 0F THE THiNGS THAT WENT 0N, ME AND MY C0USiN HAD TRiED T0 TELL PE0PLE WHAT WAS G0iNG 0N. N00NE W0ULD BELiEVE US. i BLAME MYSELF F0R AL0T 0F iT. i FEEL LiKE iF i W0ULD HAVE T0LD THE RiGHT PERS0N iN TiME, CHRiST0PHER W0ULD STiLL BE HERE. i MiSS HiM S0 MUCH. N00NE C0ULD EVER iMAGiNE WHAT HiS FATHERS SiDE 0F THE FAMiLY HAS WENT THRU iN THE LAST 4 1/2 YEARS. THE TRiAL WAS PUT 0FF S0 MANY TiMES. WE'VE HAD T0 SiT AND LiSTEN T0 S0 MANY DiFFERENT ST0RiES AB0UT WHAT HAPPENED. WHATEVER REALLY HAPPENED THAT NiGHT, THE M0THER SH0ULD HAVE TAKEN A STAND. N0T SiT BACK & LET THiNGS HAPPEN. H0W C0ULD SHE N0T KN0W THESE THiNGS WERE G0iNG 0N? i ASK MYSELF THiS EVERYDAY. iM A M0THER 0F TW0. iF MY KiDS G0T BRUiSES, BR0KEN B0NES, ANYTHiNG, i THiNK i'D WANNA KN0W WHERE AND H0W THEY G0T THEM. iT MAKES ME SiCK T0 KN0W THAT SHE'S STiLL 0UT HERE LiViNG HER LiFE AS iF N0THiNG EVER HAPPENED. ALREADY HAViNG AN0THER BABY, WHiCH SHE D0ES N0T DESERVE! SHE WiLL GET WHATS C0MiNG T0 HER. AND THEN THiS P00R CHiLD WiLL FiNALLY GET S0ME JUSTiCE. i CANT WAiT T0 SEE HiM iN HEAVEN. BUT UNTiL THEN, i WANNA SAY THAT THERE iSNT A DAY THAT G0ES BY THAT i D0NT THiNK 0F HiM. HiS FAMiLY MiSSES HiM M0RE THAN ANYTHiNG. i L0VE Y0U CHRiST0PHER. REST iN PEACE.

Where is Dexter when you need him?

Sadly Reading, he will not get what he deserves in prison. They have protective custody for monsters like him. He shouldn't be allowed it though, it was his job to protect that child from harm and he failed. Hopefully they will fail him.

Mullins lawyer, John Eldridge, stated “We’re pleased with the outcome. And I think our client, Shawn Mullins, is quite resolved and glad that this episode is over. The death of a beautiful, defenseless child by a 22-year-old monster is considered an "episode." And we wonder why our nation is in such a pathetic, miserable state. Maybe if some of these child abusers and molesters could receive the same torture they inflict instead of people minimizing it to an "episode,", it would make them think twice about committing these crimes.

A 26 year episode begins. 30 years at 100%. He's been in jail 4 and a half years, so he'll be out in 25 and a half. He'll be 54. He'll still enjoy some sort of life. Alot more than Christopher got.

Episode : an incident, sequence, or scene that forms part of a narrative but may be a digression from the main story. This episode is over but a 30 year episode begins.

How could someone do that to a defenseless little child?

In the immediate term, he'll be punished on a regular basis in prison. Even thugs and other murderers dont tolerate child killers well.

When does the mother stand trial?

It seems that there are many people who should also be held accountable for what happened to this child.. IF the suspicion of abuse was reported early on as the article reads and nothing was done or investigated . Mr. Mullins killed that poor child but why did DCS wait until April to have a meeting to "discuss" the alleged abuse.
Yes, Marine Sniper.. he will one day shut his eyes ............

He avoided death for now, but one day he will shut them eyes, and I hope that little boy, that he so gruseomely, and cowerdly killed, comes and torments his sorry soul, forever!