Woman sentenced to 50 years for death of Christopher Thomas

By Crocker Stephenson

Of course, the media was there, cameras pointed, notebooks opened. So were friends and family members, who tried without success to hold back tears and outbursts of frustration.

But perhaps the most unexpected person who came to the Milwaukee County Courthouse Tuesday to watch Crystal Keith's sentencing was a man wearing a dusty pair of work boots, Matt Sullivan.

Sullivan, a father of four who sells construction equipment, was foreman of the jury that in May, after a gruesome four-day trial, convicted Keith of beating 13-month-old Christopher Thomas to death and of torturing his 2-year-old sister.

The two children were placed in kinship foster care with Keith, their aunt, and her husband, Reginald, who also faces charges in the case.

"I'm here to see it through and to see if she says anything," Sullivan said.

Sullivan said he has been troubled by Keith's affectless presence throughout the trial. Even as photographs of Christopher and his sister's battered bodies were shown to the court on a large flat-screen monitor - images that Sullivan said he will never forget - Keith remained an imploded star, collapsed within herself.

"I want to hear (Keith) say something. Anything," Sullivan said.

"Such horrendous crimes," he said. "You'd think there would be some expression of emotion."

Keith, 25, betrayed little emotion throughout most of the sentencing hearing, in which Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Patricia McMahon ordered her to serve the maximum penalty: 50 years in prison and 25 years of extended supervision.

"If this case doesn't deserve the maximum penalty, then I don't ever want to see the one that does," McMahon said before announcing the verdict.

'Hole in my heart'

Among those who asked McMahon to levy the maximum sentence was the siblings' maternal grandmother, Shantrice Freeman.

She described a recurring fantasy in which, when she is in a department store, she imagines herself there to pick out children's clothes.

"I wake up to a huge black hole in my heart," she said.

Darlene and Robert Logan, who for three months served as Christopher's foster parents and who were reprimanded by the Department of Children and Families when they attempted to adopt the child, also spoke.

"He was happy and he made others happy too," Darlene Logan said.

Keith's stoicism broke as she spoke to McMahon.

"I apologize for my wrongdoing," she said, her voice muffled by tears.

"I take responsibility."

Keith also said, "I was just trying to help."

Christopher died Nov. 11, one day after being viciously beaten by Keith. His sister survived months of torture, even as Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare caseworkers repeatedly visited Keith's home.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Williams said the suffering endured by Christopher and his sister defies description.

He said, however, that he hoped the case would accomplish several things.

"I hope it will bring reform to the foster care system," he said.

"I hope and I pray that the system can be overhauled so that this case will never happen again."

And, Williams said, he hoped Keith's punishment would deter child abuse.

"If someone thinks of killing or abusing a child in the future, they will realize they are going to prison for a long time."