For 25 years, Debra Jean Milke maintained her innocence after being convicted of her four-year-old son Christopher’s murder. Her life took a catastrophic turn on December 2, 1989.
That day, Milke received a devastating phone call from her flatmate, Jim Styers. Milke and Christopher had moved in with Styers after her divorce.
Styers had taken young Christopher to a shopping center in Phoenix, Arizona. While Milke was doing laundry, Styers reportedly went to the mall’s restroom and returned to find Christopher missing.
A search of the mall proved fruitless, and a missing person investigation began. Milke, then 25, was advised to stay home in case her son called. Tragically, this was just the beginning of a nightmare.
Little Christopher was just four years old when he died
Christopher’s body was discovered buried in the desert, having been shot three times in the back of the head. Before Milke could fully grasp the horror, she was arrested.
Styers, who had joined the search for Christopher, mentioned seeing an old friend, Roger Scott, at the mall during his police interviews. Scott was then questioned for 14 hours by Phoenix Police Detective Armando Saldate Jr.
Scott confessed to knowing the location of Christopher’s body. Detective Saldate also claimed Scott admitted that Styers murdered Christopher under Milke’s direction.
When Milke was interviewed by Detective Saldate, the conversation was not recorded or witnessed. She was unaware of her son’s fate at the time.
Detective Saldate alleged Milke confessed, but stated that interrogation notes were destroyed and her statement was not taped. Milke recounted the moment she was told: “He just looked at me and said, ‘We found your son. He was murdered, and you’re under arrest’. Just like that, in one breath.”
Milke faced charges of conspiracy to commit murder, child abuse, kidnapping, and first-degree murder. Prosecutors contended she plotted the killing with Styers and Scott to collect on Christopher’s £30,000 life insurance policy.
Styers and Scott also received death sentences for first-degree murder. Styers’ testimony, considered the most credible account, detailed a different sequence of events.
According to Styers, he and Christopher drove to Scott’s home to deliver a gun before going to the desert for target practice. Scott, who had a history of firing weapons in public, shot Christopher and then turned on Styers. Styers managed to de-escalate the situation with Scott, and they fabricated the story of Christopher vanishing from the mall at a pizza restaurant.
Throughout her trial and years on death row, Milke maintained her innocence, filing numerous appeals. She stated, “I’m not the heinous one, I’m not the depraved one, I’m not the cruel one. Nothing makes sense. I did not deceive my son by telling him he was going to see Santa Claus. I know there are women who kill, but I’m not one of them. I’m not guilty.”
In 2013, Milke’s conviction was finally overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The court ruled she did not receive a fair trial, citing the prosecution’s failure to disclose Detective Saldate’s history of misconduct. An investigation revealed Saldate had lied in eight other cases.
Milke, now a member of Witness to Innocence, remarked, “I always believed this day would come. I just didn’t think it would take 25 years, 3 months and 14 days to rectify such a blatant miscarriage of justice.”
