‘Monster’ mum who murdered adopted girl, 6, by forcing her into box is sentenced
A ‘monster’ foster mum who murdered a six-year-old girl and inflicted a campaign of abuse on the children she adopted has been jailed. Crystina Schroer (pictured), 51, of Rose Hill, Kansas, killed Natalie Marie Garcia by forcing her into a confined box before burying her in the backyard. She covered up the death for almost four years and even attempted to blame it on Natalie’s younger sister in a web of lies. (Picture: 12NEWS)
Natalie (pictured), who was also known as Kennedy Schroer, moved into the home of Crystina and Joseph Schroer along with her two biological sisters in August 2017 after they were placed in foster care. The three girls, as well as two others, were adopted by the Schroers in 2019 and the shocking abuse is thought to have started shortly after that date. (Picture: Rose Hill Police Department)
Crystina – who also had her own biological children and was using the caregiving money from the state to fund her gambling addiction – forced the girls into confined boxes, fed them mouldy or ‘physically stepped-on’ bread, struck them with items including coat hangers, hung one by her wrists inside a closet and poked another with knives, Daily Mail reports. Natalie was last seen around Halloween in 2020 and disappeared before Thanksgiving. (Picture: KSN)
Police determined that Crystina had shoved Natalie into a reinforced cardboard box as ‘punishment’ for moving around in bed the previous night. She also added blankets and objects inside the box, decreasing the space and air supply while increasing the temperature. Natalie’s sister was assigned to watch and ensure she didn’t move for at least 10 minutes. Police Chief Tyler Parlier said the sister later came out of the room crying believing her sibling had died before Crystina ‘kicked the box and an unresponsive Natalie fell out’. (Picture: KSN)
Crystina is then reported to have left with the unresponsive child in her car, driving around for hours before burying her body in the backyard. Parlier said in a statement that the foster mum had told family the girl had been deemed unadoptable and taken to live in a psychiatric care facility. Investigators determined she was murdered around November 2020 but it was only in September 2024 that police discovered the crime when they were called to the home due to reports Crystina had threatened self-harm. While there, they learned there was a possible murder case. (Picture: Rose Hill Police Department)
The following day, on September 11, 2024, Natalie’s body was found. Parlier said: ‘Crystina placed the trash bag-covered remains into the cold earth in their backyard, then continued her life as if nothing happened.’ Crystina had attempted to blame Natalie’s sister, who had been forced to watch her die, claiming she had ‘choked’ her sibling. Following Natalie’s death, Crystina’s abuse of the adopted children only became more severe, and the boxes continued to be used as punishment despite the death, Parlier said, who branded the mum a ‘monster’. On Monday, Crystina was sentenced to just under 18 years (215 months) in prison. Joseph Schroer (pictured), a veteran, is set to be sentenced on December 3. He pleaded no contest on two counts of aggravated endangering of a child and Medicaid fraud. (Picture: Rose Hill Police Department)
Footage from court shows Natalie’s biological mother, Christa Helms (pictured), said in an impact statement: ‘She was a good girl who just needed love. She was so much fun to be around and her infectious smile could light up an entire room.’ Judge Jan Satterfield said of Crystina: ‘You truly treated them as if they were animals. Less than most animals get treated. There’s no explanation. There is no answer, there is no logic, there is no reason.’ (Picture: KSN)
It was reported Crystina would lie to social workers to receive more money from the Kansas government, which she then used to gamble. ‘We were able to identify that Crystina spent more than $1million more than she brought in, with total money-out exceeding $4million,’ Parlier said. Crystina had previously come to the attention of authorities after one girl ran away shortly after Natalie’s death, claiming she had been placed in boxes and hit as punishment. Parlier said they were ‘unable to substantiate her claims at that time’ and, as the foster mum’s version ‘seemed plausible’, the girl was returned to the home. (Picture: Rose Hill Police Department)
‘We, law enforcement, were fooled by the façade Crystina had created,’ he told KSN. ‘It’s a moment that the chief regrets. I will never forgive myself for what occurred.’ Following the sentencing, Parlier said: ‘While I cannot say that justice was done, I can say that a person who found perverse pleasure in placing other humans in boxes must now live in her own box. Think about the lives you have lived in the last 213 months, or 17 years. Every time you slept in, you went for a swim, ate a nice meal at a restaurant, went for a drive, changed the channel on your television, had a drink, or showered alone. At a minimum all of that will be denied to Crystina and she will have to exist with the daily knowledge that she is the architect of all her own pain.’ (Picture: KSN) Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source
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