Ga. man ordered to die for molesting, killing boy

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man was ordered to die Tuesday for molesting and strangling a 6-year-old boy in his mobile home.

Jurors in coastal Brunswick deliberated for two hours Tuesday before sentencing 61-year-old David Edenfield. He was convicted Monday of child molestation and murder in the March 2007 slaying of Christopher Michael Barrios.

Edenfield is the first of three family members to stand trial for sexually assaulting and killing the boy in their mobile home. His wife and grown son have also been charged.

Edenfield confessed to police that he and his son molested and choked the boy while the wife watched. His defense attorneys urged the jury to spare his life.

In a fiery argument to jurors, a prosecutor said Edenfield deserved a death sentence, noting the man later confessed to police that ``It felt good.'

Defense attorneys, meanwhile, urged the jury to consider mercy for Edenfield, arguing a life sentence would ensure he dies in prison and that no punishment could resurrect his young victim.

District Attorney Stephen Kelley spoke with palpable anger as he recounted the crime as described by Edenfield in a videotaped confession with police — how Edenfield and his own son ignored the boy's pleas as they molested him inside their mobile home while Edenfield's wife watched.

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