Horrific case behind shocking video of judge making murderer choose his own sentence without realising
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A convicted child abuser inadvertently determined his own jail sentence after telling the judge how he believed someone who murdered their newborn child should be punished.
Christopher McNabb, from Covington, Georgia, was sentenced to life in confinement without parole after a jury found him guilty of murdering his 15-day-old daughter, Caliyah, in 2019.
Caliyah was initially reported as a missing child, with McNabb and his girlfriend Cortney Marie Bell alleging she’d been abducted from their trailer park home in Newton County while they slept in 2017.
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However, her remains were found the following day inside a backpack in an area close to her father’s property, located around 40 miles from Atlanta.
Drug-fuelled and violent relationship
The court learned that the tot’s living environment was dirty, and that McNabb and Bell, whom Court TV reported were first cousins, had a relationship filled with violence and drug abuse.
McNabb, who admitted he had previously been physically abusive towards the baby’s mother, and Bell protested their innocence in Caliyah’s murder.
The former was later found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, murder in the second degree, aggravated battery, cruelty to children in the first degree, cruelty to children in the second degree, and concealing the death of another.
Bell was found guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree child cruelty, and contributing to the dependency of a minor.
She was handed a sentence of 30 years, the first 15 of which she would serve in confinement.
The Covington News writes that Bell’s murder and cruelty convictions were later reversed via the Georgia Court of Appeals.
During his sentencing, McNabb continued to protest his innocence, telling the judge: "I'm innocent, I didn't do it. I've maintained that the whole time.
"I just don't understand how you find somebody guilty of doing something to a 15-day-old baby, because there was no evidence whatsoever that proved anything about me putting my hands on those kids.
"I've never done it, I never would. I don't believe in it. I was beaten as a child and I don't agree with it at all. I would never do it. I would never do this. That's all I got to say. I'm innocent."
McNabb accidentally 'chooses' his own sentence
Following his declaration of innocence, the judge remarked that if he was guilt-free, then what sentence did he think the perpetrator who murdered his daughter deserved.
"You claim you're innocent, so you tell me what sentence the man or woman that you claimed did this should receive?,” he said.
“If you ever find out who did this, they deserve to be under the jail," McNabb responded, to which the judge replied: "So they should get the maximum sentence?”
After clarifying his position on the matter, the judge delivered his verdict: "On the crime of malice murder, I sentence you to life in confinement without parole.”
'They took pure innocence and brought that child into a life of hell'
Describing the crime in court, District Attorney Layla Zon said that Caliyah ‘didn’t do anything’ but her ‘daddy killed her’.
"All this fake crying and fake tears he did during the interviews about how much he loved his children and that he did in the courtroom are a joke.
"She was a gift to Cortney Bell and Christopher McNabb.
"That child was doomed the moment they left that hospital. They took pure innocence and brought that child into a life of hell."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
Topics: US News, Crime, True Crime
Ella Scott