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http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=5e2865ca-2b8e-41ab-b72b-77007bab76dc Mother Sues Dairy Queen Over Death Of Son In Groton
Childs Was Shot After He Tried To Break Into Shop In 2004
By Joe Wojtas
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Published on 6/6/2006 in Region » Region News
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On June 28, 2004, former Robert E. Fitch High School basketball star Jarion Childs broke into the Dairy Queen on Route 1 in Groton about two hours after it had closed.
Childs was confronted by store manager Stephen Botchis, who shot him in the back and killed him after a struggle.
Now, Childs' mother, Eva, has sued Botchis, ice cream shop owner Matthew Botchis and the Dairy Queen company for the death of her son.
The lawsuit has prompted William Corrigan, the attorney for the Botchis family and Dairy Queen, to ask Stonington Police to release their investigation into the 2003 murder of A. Gordon Jeffrey, an 89-year-old Pawcatuck man who was tied up in his bed and brutally beaten to death.
Childs is listed as the suspect in that murder, according to court documents, but Stonington police have never made a final ruling on who killed Jeffrey. Police have said they will not release their records because the case is still under investigation and therefore exempt from the state freedom-of-information law.
The suit, which refers to Childs an “an invitee at the Dairy Queen,” alleges that Stephen Botchis intended not only to frighten Childs with a handgun but cause his death by shooting him in the upper right and left sides of his back. It also charges that Botchis used excessive and deadly force when he should have known it could cause death.
Eva Childs' attorney, Eroll Skyers of Bridgeport, said that because Childs was a victim in the Dairy Queen shooting, state law allowed him to view the investigation done by Groton Town police and the New London County State's Attorney's Office.
Based on that information, Skyers said he was able to file the lawsuit. He declined to discuss exactly what evidence he obtained from the investigation.
Corrigan said that his clients were “surprised and disappointed” by the lawsuit and that it has no merit.
The incident at the Dairy Queen was “a tragedy all the way around,” and it was the most traumatic thing his clients have ever had to go through, Corrigan said.
Shortly after the incident, a long-time friend of the Botchis family said the family felt bad for the Childs family and the suffering they were going through over the loss of their 27-year-old son.
“Now to have a lawsuit brought starts it all over again,” Corrigan said.
After graduating from Fitch in 1995, Childs went on to play basketball at American University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated with a degree in business.
The warrant police obtained a few days after Childs' death to search his girlfriend's Westerly apartment shows he was a suspect in the robbery and murder of Jeffrey, who had been tied down to a bed frame in his Jeffrey Road home and beaten so badly with a blunt object that part of his upper lip was missing.
Jeffrey's nose was broken and his eyes swollen shut, and he died two weeks after the May 14, 2003 beating from heart failure following facial surgery.
Childs' sister, Sonya Childs, told police he planned to “jack” the old man because he was bedridden and could not defend his home, the warrant showed, a claim she later denied.
Police said Sonya Childs cared for Jeffrey when she worked for a home health care business called Good as Gold Care and told a friend she “screwed up” when she told her brother Jeffrey was alone and elderly, the warrant shows.
Police said that when they asked Childs about the murder on June 9, 2003, he would not talk to them. Eleven days later he was killed in the back room of the Dairy Queen.
Following the shooting, a spokesman for the Botchis family said that after other employees had gone home and Stephen Botchis was alone, a masked man pried open the Dairy Queen's back door with a crowbar.
A struggle occurred in a narrow back hallway. Botchis, who suffered some minor head injuries in the scuffle, fired several shots at the intruder who was later identified as Childs.
The state medical examiner ruled Childs' death a homicide, but Botchis was not charged. Groton Town Police Chief Kelly Fogg could not be reached to comment Monday.
At Childs' autopsy, police took palm prints from his body. The state police forensic lab then matched those prints to a set lifted from the window at Jeffrey's house. Skyers said the Childs family does not think their son was involved in Jeffrey's death.
Stonington Police Chief David Erskine said Monday police will continue their investigation into Jeffrey's murder and at some point will release the results of their inquiry after conferring with New London County State's Attorney Kevin Kane.
Childs Was Shot After He Tried To Break Into Shop In 2004
By Joe Wojtas
Click name for author info, most recent articles ...
Published on 6/6/2006 in Region » Region News
Print This E-mail This Most E-mailed
Send Letter Send Correction Add To Cart
Increase Text Actual Text Decrease Text
On June 28, 2004, former Robert E. Fitch High School basketball star Jarion Childs broke into the Dairy Queen on Route 1 in Groton about two hours after it had closed.
Childs was confronted by store manager Stephen Botchis, who shot him in the back and killed him after a struggle.
Now, Childs' mother, Eva, has sued Botchis, ice cream shop owner Matthew Botchis and the Dairy Queen company for the death of her son.
The lawsuit has prompted William Corrigan, the attorney for the Botchis family and Dairy Queen, to ask Stonington Police to release their investigation into the 2003 murder of A. Gordon Jeffrey, an 89-year-old Pawcatuck man who was tied up in his bed and brutally beaten to death.
Childs is listed as the suspect in that murder, according to court documents, but Stonington police have never made a final ruling on who killed Jeffrey. Police have said they will not release their records because the case is still under investigation and therefore exempt from the state freedom-of-information law.
The suit, which refers to Childs an “an invitee at the Dairy Queen,” alleges that Stephen Botchis intended not only to frighten Childs with a handgun but cause his death by shooting him in the upper right and left sides of his back. It also charges that Botchis used excessive and deadly force when he should have known it could cause death.
Eva Childs' attorney, Eroll Skyers of Bridgeport, said that because Childs was a victim in the Dairy Queen shooting, state law allowed him to view the investigation done by Groton Town police and the New London County State's Attorney's Office.
Based on that information, Skyers said he was able to file the lawsuit. He declined to discuss exactly what evidence he obtained from the investigation.
Corrigan said that his clients were “surprised and disappointed” by the lawsuit and that it has no merit.
The incident at the Dairy Queen was “a tragedy all the way around,” and it was the most traumatic thing his clients have ever had to go through, Corrigan said.
Shortly after the incident, a long-time friend of the Botchis family said the family felt bad for the Childs family and the suffering they were going through over the loss of their 27-year-old son.
“Now to have a lawsuit brought starts it all over again,” Corrigan said.
After graduating from Fitch in 1995, Childs went on to play basketball at American University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated with a degree in business.
The warrant police obtained a few days after Childs' death to search his girlfriend's Westerly apartment shows he was a suspect in the robbery and murder of Jeffrey, who had been tied down to a bed frame in his Jeffrey Road home and beaten so badly with a blunt object that part of his upper lip was missing.
Jeffrey's nose was broken and his eyes swollen shut, and he died two weeks after the May 14, 2003 beating from heart failure following facial surgery.
Childs' sister, Sonya Childs, told police he planned to “jack” the old man because he was bedridden and could not defend his home, the warrant showed, a claim she later denied.
Police said Sonya Childs cared for Jeffrey when she worked for a home health care business called Good as Gold Care and told a friend she “screwed up” when she told her brother Jeffrey was alone and elderly, the warrant shows.
Police said that when they asked Childs about the murder on June 9, 2003, he would not talk to them. Eleven days later he was killed in the back room of the Dairy Queen.
Following the shooting, a spokesman for the Botchis family said that after other employees had gone home and Stephen Botchis was alone, a masked man pried open the Dairy Queen's back door with a crowbar.
A struggle occurred in a narrow back hallway. Botchis, who suffered some minor head injuries in the scuffle, fired several shots at the intruder who was later identified as Childs.
The state medical examiner ruled Childs' death a homicide, but Botchis was not charged. Groton Town Police Chief Kelly Fogg could not be reached to comment Monday.
At Childs' autopsy, police took palm prints from his body. The state police forensic lab then matched those prints to a set lifted from the window at Jeffrey's house. Skyers said the Childs family does not think their son was involved in Jeffrey's death.
Stonington Police Chief David Erskine said Monday police will continue their investigation into Jeffrey's murder and at some point will release the results of their inquiry after conferring with New London County State's Attorney Kevin Kane.
governor Lynch vetoed it.
