Christopher and Cameron Ervin

In my last case I touched on the issue of parents who have been forced to testify against a child and how it is not unreasonable to believe that they would lie for their child or in some way lessen their culpability. For most of us it is just instinct to protect our children from harm and to believe the best in them. I recently watched a television show that discussed a case that is still in the courts that went so far away from that theory of parental protection that it stunned me. I will surely be blogging about that one day after a conclusion in the case is made. But, I was stunned at how adamantly the parent in that case was going after their child to get him charged with murder. Now, I am not saying that a parent should lie for their child necessarily but I also do not feel that they should go out of their way to help a prosecution. But, while the case I mentioned above went so far one way, this case went in the exact opposite direction.

On the night of September 5, 2015 a 911 call was made by Yvonne Ervin. She was calling to report that her sons were attacking her and her husband, Zachery. While she was making the call Zachery was distracting his attackers, leading them to the garage where he intended to possibly honk the horn to the car to draw attention. When authorities arrived at the suburban Atlanta Georgia home they found a bloodied and stabbed Zachery and a severely beaten Yvonne. By all accounts it appears that their sons, twenty-two year old Christopher and seventeen year old Cameron were still at the scene. They were reportedly arrested with little incident and each were charged with two counts of felony aggravated assault and first degree attempted arson. Zachery would be in critical condition for a time at the hospital but both he and his wife would recover from their injuries.

The boys were interviewed by police after their arrests and some information was released to the press. Early on the police announced that one of the boys, although they never said which one, had allegedly been planning the attack since the age of eleven. I have to question this statement a bit as I could find nothing to back this story up completely. There would never be a trial so information is a bit scarce. Trial and appeals from convictions are the best sources of information. When it is a high profile trial often there are updates reported daily as to what happened in court. Sometimes on more rare occasions there are articles with published every few hours during a trial. Then there are the appeals that for the most part go over the facts of the crime and discuss what had been entered into the courts.

In November 2016 both Christopher and Cameron would plead guilty to all charges that had also ultimately included kidnapping charges. Cameron had been charged as an adult. The judge would sentence them to twenty years in prison with thirty years of probation to follow. While it could be argued that both boys seemed to use addiction and drugs as an excuse a bit more than they should have, they both seemed truly remorseful at their sentencing. Their parents were with them asking the judge to be lenient in their sentences. They could have been sentenced to as little as ten years and that is what both Yvonne and Zachery asked of the judge. They were both overly forgiving almost to the point that I felt as if they too were making more excuses for their sons than they deserved.

So what led up to that September night and what actually happened? By all that I read it appeared that at least Zachery was a fairly strict parent. I do not mean in an abusive sort of way but in a way that a parent is pretty much expected to act. The boys both seemed to have had decent grades in school and the family did not appear to be living in poverty in any way. And yet both boys it seems gravitated to drugs. To what extent it is not clear. One incident had both made an impact on both boys. It was not clear exactly when this incident occurred but it appears to have had to have happened sometime within the last year or two leading up to that September 2015 night. By then Christopher had attended a few colleges. Nothing indicated that he failed or was kicked out for any behavior or even academic issues but indicated that he simply could not afford to continue where he had been going. He had apparently lost a job due to failing a drug test and the same had happened in his attempt to join the Air Force, but there did not appear to be any legal ramifications or issues there. At the same time Cameron had also began to dabble in drugs and it was said that he and Christopher partook together sometimes. But, to be fair I saw little to indicate that this drug activity was anything more than marijuana use. But at some point it appears that Cameron had also taken to stealing from his parents, particularly money and like most teenagers it seems that he was not going to readily admit it. Being a mother and a former teenager myself, I remember those days in both positions. As a teenager you could tell the most outrageous lie and completely believe that it sounded plausible no matter how much your parent knew. As the parent it was extremely frustrating when you knew they were lying and told them so yet they continued with their story. I picture this as being the situation when Zachery confronted his boys about money that had gone missing from his dresser. Neither boy would admit fault so Zachery went to the lengths (although it is unclear how) to make both boys take a lie detector test. The results showed “deception” when it came to Cameron. But in the end both boys held resentment for this for a long time. I would gander to guess that the threat of a lie detector test initially came about as a way to get one of the boys to confess but they were not about to take that bait and turned it around on Zachery, never imagining he would actually do it. The joke seemed to be on them, although to them it was not a joke.

Yvonne would later say that on the night of September 5, 2015 the boys had asked if they could make dinner. Looking back Yvonne said that was odd for them but I am sure at the time it just seemed sweet. The family ate dinnerbut soon after both Yvonne and Zachery felt uncharacteristically tired very early. They did not know that the boys had drugged their drinks with Xanax. While the parents went to bed the boys had cut a gas line in the house and had lit candles in the downstairs area. They apparently waited outside for a while expecting their home to blow up with their parents inside. They figured it would all go down as some sort of as leak and nothing would lead back to them. After a period of time, I cannot say how long, and nothing happened they decided to go inside and take care of the issue themselves. This is when the attack would begin. They hit Zachery on the head with the butt end of a shotgun and at some point began stabbing him. Yvonne was not only beaten but had plastic wrap put around her head apparently in an attempt to smother her. This is when Zachery may have started to get away and the boys went after him while Yvonne was able to free herself and call 911.

As I said, at their sentencing both boys seemed truly remorseful. Cameron mentioned how his parents came and see him every week and they all just sat and talked and he liked that. It is reasonable to believe that with all that goes on in one's every day life and how busy and consumed it becomes that maybe communication was not a high priority. I know this happened enough in my household over years. Trying to juggle work, home, athletic practices, homework and just every day life can be a challenge that we all eventually fail for at least short periods of time. The Ervin's did not seem to be any different, but their boys saw things differently at the time, and with maturity it seems they have discovered that life was not at all what it seemed to them at the time.

Yvonne sent a letter to the presiding judge before sentencing that suggested her sons were “given some type of hallucinogen, like PCP, without their knowledge” as for her reasoning for the attack. Zachery could simply say this act was not how they were raised, and I believe that. However, I do not believe they were given any kind of drug, especially not without their knowledge. This was a purposeful act that they intentionally committed no matter how ill-guided it was. I cannot fault Yvonne for wanting to believe that though. No one wants to think that at any point their child would resort to murder at all, let alone commit that act on them.

I supposed there were some good things to come out of this situation. Along with the issues of drugs the boys had also expressed issues and bouts with depression. Yvonne and Zachery started a non-profit organization called Fighting for Forgiveness. The organization focuses on helping those who have suffered trauma or are fighting depression, giving them a voice and an ear. The other good thing to come out of this was that it appears as if both boys realize just how much they are and really were loved by their parents. I mean come on, what makes this more evident than the fact that these two boys attempted to murder their parents and yet they have continually stood by them? I have to say as much as I would like to say I could be that strong, I am just not sure that is true. I would gander to guess that I would not have advocated for the lowest possible sentence for them, but I cannot say I would have gone and asked for the maximum either. I would like to think that I would have probably just walked away and let a decision be made on it's own merits without my input. But I suppose this is one of those situations that you should not judge until you are faced with it and in the same respect you hope to never have to face it.

I did a search, as I almost always do, at the Department of Corrections website. I was hoping that Georgia was a state in which would show a date for a possible parole hearing, but it is not. It only showed that the max time that either of the boys could be held was September of 2035. I suspect they will be released long before then. It appears that with all of the charges they pleaded guilty to they ran concurrent (at the same time), except for the two charges of aggravated assault to which they each received ten years for each count, making that the twenty year sentence they were given.

Maybe it is the mother in me but when I looked at the Department of Corrections site and I first saw the mugshot of Cameron I was taken aback at just how young and innocent he looked. I reminded myself that he was seventeen at the time of the crime and nineteen by the time he pleaded guilty, so yes, he was young, then and now obviously. Then I went to Christopher's picture and I could not help thinking what a nice looking young man he appeared to be. Of course you do not often see someone smiling in a prison picture as Christopher was and I suppose part of my reaction could be because of that. But I had a reaction I did not expect and it may have given me a bit more understanding of his parents. If I can feel this way as a stranger, I cannot imagine what their own mother felt. And maybe that is a lesson for all of us.