CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha County man admitted in court Thursday he placed a two year old boy’s body inside a freezer after the boy stopped breathing.
“I didn’t call the police, but I placed him in the freezer,” said Jarrel Stricklen, 25, of South Charleston.
When Kanawha County Circuit Judge Charlie King asked why he did it, Stricklen replied, “I was scared. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in prison.”
Shortly after, King sentenced Stricklen to life in prison with mercy. He is eligible for parole after 15 years.
The incident occurred at a home in South Charleston in May 2015. Stricklen was babysitting Gavin Aldridge, 2, when he claims the boy died and then he failed to seek medical help. Kanawha County Assistant Prosecutor Maryclaire Akers blamed Stricklen for the boy’s death.
“Part of the state’s evidence would be that it is the defendant himself who caused the child to stop breathing, which is why he needed medical care,” Akers told the judge.
According to the state Medical Examiner’s Office, Aldridge died from “physical assault with fetal asphyxiation.” They say something had stopped the boy from breathing, but no water was found in his lungs or nose.
Stricklen previously told authorities Aldridge drowned in a bathtub, but when pressed with why the boy’s body was so cold, Stricklen admitted to placing him in a freezer.
Stricklen was scheduled to go on trial Monday, but entered a guilty plea Thursday instead. Before he was sentenced, he pleaded guilty to murder of a child by parent, guardian, custodian and other person by refusal and failure to supply necessaries.
During Thursday’s hearing, the boy’s mother, Meghan Aldridge, broke down in tears telling the judge she hopes Stricklen will never get out of prison and that his actions have completely destroyed her.
“It will never be the same. He literally ruined my life forever,” she said.
Aldridge said her son has a twin brother he will never get to know.
“I have a little boy who is never going to know his twin brother ever. He has to live with that every day,” she said.
Prosecutors said Stricklen barely knew Gavin and Meghan Aldridge at the time. Stricklen’s attorney Troy Giatras previously questioned why the boy was left with Stricklen in the first place.
After apologizing to the Aldridge family, Stricklen told the court he “will carry this burden for the rest of my life.”