Her Mother Just Ignored What Was Happening- The Story of Sophia Acosta

Her Mother Just Ignored What Was Happening- The Story of Sophia Acosta

Those excuses seemed like exactly that—excuses. Last weekend, when Sophia was rushed to the hospital unconscious, the story that I was getting was that she was choking on her food, on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, when she was asleep. But doctors said Sophia was bleeding in her brain and had other injuries. Exeter police are now treating her death as a murder.

The story I have for you today is one about a little girl who lost her life to a very sick man—a man who should not have been left around her and her little sister in the first place. And in my opinion, not everybody who was responsible for her death was held accountable and punished. But let me know what you think at the end. This is the story of Sophia Acosta.

Background and Family Dynamics

Sophia Acosta was born on February 5th, 2008, to Erica Smith and Obadia Acosta. She also had a younger sister named Alexa. Sophia showed love to everyone she came in contact with; she was known to be happy, lovable, and silly. Some of Sophia’s favorite things included princesses, coloring, and dressing up.

At some point, Sophia’s parents went their separate ways. However, Sophia’s mother, Erica, was granted full custody of her along with her little sister. In September of 2010, Erica let a man by the name of Christopher Cherry move into their apartment, which was located in Exeter, California.

Erica would say that the reason she had let Christopher move in with them in the first place was because she was trying to help him kick his heroin habit. The two would begin dating a few months later, and regardless of the reason why Erica said she originally let Christopher stay, they soon started using heroin together. This is about the time that the abuse of Sophia started. Erica would also later claim that Christopher had forced her to use heroin—though I certainly doubt that.

The Fateful Day: May 7, 2011

On May 7th, 2011, Christopher had given Sophia a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When she was done, he brought her and her little sister Alexa upstairs for a nap. After laying the girls down, Christopher returned downstairs. But less than two hours later, Christopher discovered Sophia unresponsive in her room. He yelled down to Erica, who came running up.

911 was then called, and Erica and Christopher began performing CPR on Sophia. When the first responders arrived at apartment number nine at the Exeter apartments, Sophia was lying naked, wet, and in the middle of the living room floor on a towel. Christopher was standing only a few feet away from her, while Erica was just outside the apartment crying. While Erica visibly appeared upset, Christopher appeared rather nervous and fearful.

One of the police officers who had been first to respond to the scene found that Sophia still had a faint pulse, and she was immediately taken to the hospital. She would later be life-flighted to Children’s Hospital Central California, and her little sister Alexa was taken away by Child Protective Services.

Hospitalization and Medical Findings

When the toddler arrived at the hospital, she was completely unresponsive and would have to be kept alive on a ventilator. She had bruising on her buttocks and bleeding coming from her mouth as well as her private areas. In addition to the likely sexual abuse, Sophia also had some traumatic head injuries: her brain was bleeding and it showed a lack of oxygen and blood flow, which was consistent with shaking plus impact.

Little Sophia was brain dead. On May 11th, after Sophia had been in the hospital for four days, as her father Obie sat by her side, she was taken off life support and pronounced dead.

Now, Sophia’s father Obie had been told by Erica that Sophia choked on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when she was first brought to the hospital; he didn’t find out anything else until later on.

The doctors at Children’s Hospital reported to the Exeter Police Department the extent of Sophia’s injuries, including that she had internal brain hemorrhaging, and they believed her death was non-accidental. The doctor who treated Sophia said it was one of the worst cases he’s ever seen in his career, and he believed it looked like she had been tortured. This doctor had also focused on child protection and child abuse for more than 25 years. He also believed that Sophia was sexually assaulted, likely struck in the abdomen hard twice, and subjected to severe impact to her head by some kind of object. An autopsy later revealed that Sophia had died from blunt force trauma and, as doctors had suspected, she had been sexually assaulted. Sophia had bruises on her scalp, underneath her scalp, and on her abdomen. She also tested positive for marijuana.

The Police Investigation

Around 9:00 p.m. on the night that Sophia had been rushed to the hospital, police searched the apartment where she had lived. They said the entire place was a mess. There was also some blood spatter found in the children’s bedroom, and Sophia’s comforter was covered in vomit and feces. Downstairs, investigators discovered a pillow and blanket pile, and some of the items in this pile appeared to have dried blood stains on them.

Erica would tell officers that it was odd that these pillows and blankets had been stacked because Christopher normally didn’t clean up anything. She also said that a few of these blankets and pillows had actually belonged in the master bedroom, and she was unsure why they were down in the living room. During their search, police would also find drug paraphernalia as well as heroin residue, though not enough of it to charge Christopher with any drug-related crime.

Conflicting Stories and Interrogations

Christopher and Erica were brought down to the police station and questioned on the night of May 7th.

When police spoke with Erica, she said that after lunch that day, Christopher had brought Sophia and her sister Alexa upstairs for a nap. Christopher then went back downstairs, however, he would go upstairs two other times because he said he heard noises. The second time he went up, he called for Erica, saying that something was wrong with Sophia. She ran upstairs and saw Sophia lying on the floor with just one eye open. They had put Sophia in the bathtub with cold water in an attempt to revive her. Erica also called 911 at this point, and the pair attempted to perform CPR on Sophia.

When a detective asked Erica about the bruising that was found near Sophia’s buttocks, Erica told him that it was from when she had tripped down some stairs earlier in the day and fallen on some play blocks. But she hadn’t even been home—it was Christopher who was watching her at the time! Erica had actually gone to Save Mart around 8:30 in the morning to get some quarters, she told police.

When it was his turn to be questioned, Christopher told police that he and Erica were down in the living room when suddenly they heard a thump from upstairs. After they both ran up to Sophia’s room, Christopher said that they found her lying on the floor in her panties and a t-shirt, wrapped up in a blanket, covered in vomit. He said she was not breathing and also appeared bloated, so he had pushed on her stomach a few times and some vomit had come out. Christopher told police officers that he had then picked up Sophia and put her in a bathtub of cold water trying to revive her. After that, he put her clothes back on her, wrapped her up in a towel, and brought her downstairs to where she was laying in the living room. He couldn’t really provide a good explanation as to where the bruising on Sophia’s body had come from, other than maybe she fell out of bed and landed on some of the toys that were lying around.

Christopher’s Side of the Story

Later, we met Chris Cherry at a park in Stanislaus County. He feared for his safety and didn’t want anyone to know where he was staying; he wanted to tell his side of the story of what happened the day Sophia Acosta was found critically injured:

“We were just downstairs smoking heroin. We had smoked some pot and that’s about it—like, that’s all we were really doing, like, and the girls were upstairs in the bedroom sleeping. I had found her on the ground next to the bed and she had vomited and she was knocked out with her eyes—like, she was unconscious, but with her eyes open.”

Chris says he washed Sophia off in the tub while the child’s mother ran for help. Chris says there was a miniature metal shopping cart next to Sophia’s bed; he believed Sophia hit her head on the cart:

“It was exactly right at the head of her bed on the floor where her head was and she was still wrapped in the blanket and everything. So, it either seemed like she had rolled off or had either like… you know what I mean… like fell somehow.”

When asked point-blank:

Did you kill Sophia? “No.”

Did you beat her? “I’ve never—never laid hands on Sophia to harm her.”

Did you molest Sophia? “No, I would never ever touch Sophia. I loved her more than anything.”

To those who believe he killed Sophia, he claimed: “I would honestly give my life for that little girl to be alive… like, I would gladly switch Sophia’s position, like, in a heartbeat.”

Just shy of a month later, on June 2nd, a warrant for Christopher’s arrest was issued, and a day later he was arrested in Turlock. Christopher was charged with one count of murder with special circumstances of torture, sodomy, and lewd and lascivious acts. He was also charged with assault of a child causing death, sodomy, and forcible lewd acts on a child. The murder charge made him eligible for the death penalty.

Babysitter Testimonies and Warnings Ignored

Little Sophia’s babysitter said that she had noticed signs of abuse on Sophia months prior to her death. The sitter said that she had seen Christopher spank Sophia really hard, and when she had gone to Erica to say something about it, Erica just didn’t listen. Another sitter had seen her with black eyes, and Sophia had told her that her butt hurt on a number of occasions. In addition, she would always be scared and tell the babysitter, “Don’t tell my daddy”—Sophia referred to Christopher as her daddy at that point.

This sitter had also spoken to Erica about the things that she had noticed, but she also was ignored by Erica, because if you ignore it, then it’s just not going to happen anymore, right? Christopher and Erica on a number of occasions tried to blame this babysitter for some of the injuries that little Alexa had, including when she had broken her leg and when there was blood in her diaper one time.

The Trial

Christopher Cherry’s trial would not take place for over five years after Sophia’s murder. On September 26th, 2016, the district attorney began with a photograph of Sophia, describing her as lively and always happy. They then spoke about how Sophia had suffered blunt force trauma, causing her to bleed excessively in several parts of her body as they showed jurors graphic photos of the child’s bruises. The prosecution’s argument was that Christopher had sexually assaulted and then beaten Sophia.

The defense, on the other hand, argued that while it’s a tragedy when any child dies, in this case, there was no rape, no murder, and no torture. They called Sophia’s case a “medical mystery” because there were no ligature marks where someone would have held her down, no bite marks from fighting back, or any evidence of torture. Christopher’s defense team argued that if she had been raped, there would have been more blood found in the apartment and her injuries would have been more severe. They claimed that some of the blood police later found was due to a rare blood-clotting disease that Sophia had—which is a massive stretch!

They also made claims that constipation as well as the paramedics’ resuscitation efforts had something to do with a few of her injuries. The reason the defense was saying Sophia could have been injured due to resuscitation efforts was because when she was in the ambulance, a paramedic had tried to intubate the toddler, but after two failed attempts, doctors took over. The doctors, however, also had a difficult time intubating Sophia as she had a blockage in her lungs. But the prosecution claimed this would not have caused the injuries that Sophia had suffered.

In response to the defense’s blood argument, the prosecution presented evidence that there was blood found on Sophia’s mattress, and they noted that Christopher could have washed off any other evidence while in the shower. The detective who had searched the apartment the night of Sophia’s murder had not found any fresh blood, but he did say there was the possibility that a small amount of blood had dried by the time he got there.

A Tulare County firefighter and part-time EMT testified that he remembered seeing the little girl’s body lying on the floor while paramedics tried to find a pulse. He had actually been the first one in the ambulance to notice a small puddle of blood underneath Sophia. Medical experts then found lacerations as well as bleeding around Sophia’s rectum. The firefighter who testified said he never forgot the scene; his daughter was around the same age at the time. He said out of his 16 years as a firefighter, he usually doesn’t take things home, but this one had really stuck with him.

More than 10 medical experts testified that Sophia’s death was caused by extreme force, with one of them stating there is no way on God’s green earth that these injuries could have been caused by a blood-clotting disorder. Dr. Philip Hyden, who had examined Sophia the day she was brought into the hospital in May of 2011, described in graphic detail the extent of her injuries: Sophia had several bruises noted on her scalp, external signs of trauma on her back and buttocks, abdominal injuries, and a contusion to her diaphragm. While the doctor agreed that Christopher had sexually assaulted Sophia and then beaten her to the point of unconsciousness, he noted that on the night she was brought to the hospital, her mother Erica told a different story—claiming Sophia had fallen downstairs two days prior and then fallen into a metal toy shopping cart that day. Neither of these could have caused those injuries, the doctor testified.

Christopher’s DNA was also found on a bed skirt in Sophia’s room, though the defense claimed this was not unusual as that had once been Christopher’s room. The defense also brought up the fact that none of Christopher’s DNA had been found on Sophia’s body, and none of hers on his. However, showering would have been able to get rid of this vital DNA evidence, and Sophia had been soaking wet when first responders arrived.

Erica Takes the Stand

Erica then took the stand during Christopher’s trial. She said her ex-boyfriend Christopher was a typical addict who was teeming with anger, violence, and abuse when he needed a fix. She said he had previously choked her out, pushed her up against a wall, threw picture frames at her, and made death threats when she asked him to leave a few times.

The first thing Erica remembered about May 7th, 2011, was that she and Christopher had gotten into an argument, though she claimed she didn’t remember what it was about or if it had gotten physical. (Though I feel like if it had gotten physical, that’s something you’d remember, so my guess is she’s hiding something there.) Erica said this argument only ended when she left the apartment to go get some heroin, because when Christopher was coming down, he was a much different person, and she figured the drugs would make things better.

In order to obtain these drugs, Erica took two buses to Visalia, where she purchased twenty to thirty dollars’ worth of heroin. When she returned back home to her apartment in Exeter, Erica said she went upstairs to check on her two girls sleeping in a twin bed. She said she could not remember if Christopher ever went upstairs to check on the girls, but she remembered watching a movie with him.

Erica then testified that she heard a thud come from the girls’ room upstairs, but she thought Sophia had just fallen off her bed. When she went to investigate, Erica found Sophia lying on the floor naked (though later she would say she had panties on). Right away, Erica noticed her daughter was covered in vomit and said she went to call 911. After the phone call, she went back upstairs and found Christopher washing Sophia off in the bathtub. Erica then wrapped her daughter up in a towel, brought her downstairs into the living room, and went over to her neighbor’s house to ask for a ride to the hospital.

Erica admitted she had lied to police about certain things during her first interview because she was afraid of having her children taken away or going to jail for drug use. She was then asked if she had trusted Christopher with her children. She said that she did trust him; she had seen nothing to prove otherwise.

During her testimony, the district attorney asked Erica about the time Sophia’s younger sister had broken her leg back in March of 2011 when she was just an infant. Erica said Christopher had told her at the time that they had been at the playground and the baby had twisted her leg while on the slide. But the doctors at the hospital who examined baby Alexa said the injury had likely been caused by a fall. When Erica confronted Christopher about this, he changed his story and said she had actually been dropped at a birthday party. I don’t know why Erica would even believe that at that point.

Supporting Testimonies

Also testifying was the maintenance man at the apartment complex where Sophia had lived. He had gone into the apartment after police left to further clean things up and had found a condom wrapper as well as what he believed to be a sexual device in the children’s bedroom.

A neighbor at the apartment complex spoke about the changes she had seen around the time Christopher had moved in with Erica and the girls, noting she suspected drug use was going on in the apartment. There were also many complaints from neighbors about the couple, and she stopped seeing Sophia, Alexa, and their mother altogether.

A woman named Karen Baby testified about a conversation she had previously had with Erica. Erica had told her that Christopher was hitting her and that one day he had pushed her up against a wall while holding her by the throat. When Karen asked her why he had done this, Erica said it was because the kids were not calling him “daddy.”

During closing statements, Christopher’s defense team asked the jury to stick to the facts and not speculate, but the prosecution maintained that the facts clearly showed Christopher had murdered Sophia Acosta.

Verdict and Sentencing

After weeks of listening to testimony, on November 14th, a jury found Christopher guilty.

Following the conviction, the jury was given testimony to determine their recommendation regarding the death penalty. Christopher’s defense argued he should not get the death penalty because he had never been given a chance at a normal life; the slow and steady decline of his parents’ relationship and his father’s drug use during his adolescence was devastating to him. Yeah, but a lot of people have problems like that and they don’t go around murdering children! By the age of 15, Christopher was already addicted to heroin and left to live alone with his brother in an apartment.

Yet during his 2,000 days of incarceration over the last five and a half years, the defense said Christopher behaved well because it was the first time in his life he had a supervised and structured environment. The prosecution argued against that statement, pointing out that Christopher was indeed not a model citizen while in jail: far from it, he had thrown feces at another inmate, been caught with a two-inch needle in his cell, and had 300 days added to his sentence for his inability to follow rules.

The most damning piece of evidence was presented during sentencing: a jail call from Christopher’s father, Charles Cherry. Charles told his son not to smile in court, even if the jury wasn’t there, because Sophia’s family was still present. Christopher’s response? “Screw them.” He showed no sympathy and no respect for Sophia’s family whatsoever.

The jury made its decision and recommended the death sentence for Christopher Cherry, and the judge agreed. He is now being held on death row at San Quentin State Prison in California.

A woman named Jacqueline Perez, who used to be Erica’s friend, was in the courtroom during the trial. She said she was no longer friends with Erica and felt she needed to be held responsible for Sophia’s death as well—and I agree. Christopher’s father, who was also in the courtroom, said afterwards: “They won this part of the battle, but the war isn’t over. I know my son is innocent and we’re going to keep fighting until he gets a fair trial.” Okay, good luck with that.

Aftermath and Memorials

After a custody battle with Erica, Obie Acosta was finally granted full custody of his daughter Alexa. Due to how Sophia had died, Obie had to undergo anger management and domestic violence classes in order to be eligible to gain custody of his daughter again.

On May 14th, 2011, more than 60 people gathered in song and prayer at Memorial Park in Livingston, California, for a candlelight vigil. Many wore t-shirts with Sophia’s picture on them. Her father, Obie Acosta, said about his little girl: “Sophia was a happy kid. She always brought smiles to people’s faces. Everyone was happy around her.” He spoke about how when he was at the hospital with Sophia, all he wanted to do was pick her up and hold her, but he couldn’t—they allowed him to hold her hand, and that was about it. A memorial with flowers and candles was also set up at Triangle Park for Sophia.

On May 24th, 2011, dozens of mourners gathered at Ivers and Alcorn Funeral Home to say goodbye to Sophia Acosta. During the ceremony, songs were sung and family members released white doves. Sophia was then buried at the Winton Cemetery.

Conclusion

Thank you for listening to all of Sophia’s story today. This little girl was so viciously attacked by yet another boyfriend, and while I’m glad that Christopher got the maximum penalty for what he did to Sophia, I don’t think it’s fair that her mother didn’t get punished at all. At least she was not able to get custody of Sophia’s little sister Alexa, because she is clearly not a fit mother for letting that man be around her children alone in the first place.