Kristen Tatar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kristen Tatar was born a month premature with a treatable stomach problem. Within weeks of her birth, doctors also diagnosed her with failure to thrive syndrome due to her parents’ failure to feed her properly. Tied to a chair with a pacifier tied to her mouth, her parents just wanted to keep her still. Kristen was not fed properly, she was not bathed and poor little Kristen was not loved. Kristen's parents did not bring her to her regular doctors’ appointments and they managed to avoid case workers by moving around a lot.

 

Four years old Kristen's little body was found crammed in a cooler at her parents’ home. She weighing only 12 pounds. The cooler had been wrapped in three garbage bags and stuffed in a garbage can. Kristen's body had no bruises, broken bones or other obvious injuries, she died of malnutrition and dehydration. Kristen's death was caused by her own parents, Janet Crawford and James Tatar. This was NOT the first time Janet would have abused a child. Janet Crawford had three daughters from a previous marriage, she lost custody of those three children after repeated being turned in on charges that she was abusing her children.

 

Robert and Janet Crawford were awarded joint custody of their three daughters after their divorce in 1997. Robert Crawford would file an emergency petition for custody in February of 1999. Robert had filed complaints saying that one of his daughters had missed 45 days of school and that Janet had not taken her daughter in for medical care when she needed it. Robert also said that his children were forced to sleep on the floor at Janet's house. Custody was given to Robert during the school year.

 

A court appointed lawyer for the Crawford child filed an emergency petition claiming that Janet had been allowing her 15 year old child to have sex with her boyfriend, in her home. There were also some complaints about arguments that took place between Janet and the father of her Kristen Tatar, James Tatar. Among the complaints were also allegations of neglect, improper parental supervision, anger issues and domestic violence. Temporary custody was given to Robert in November of 2001.

During that time, the Westmoreland County Children's Bureau was in the process of returning Kristen to Janet against the advice of the foster parents who told them that Kristen had suffered terribly while with her mother.

 

Janet Crawford plead guilty to homicide, abuse of a corpse and endangering the welfare of a child. She testify against James in order to avoid the death penalty. In 2004 James Tatar and Janet Crawford were both convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.