Haywood man pleads guilty to first-degree murder of baby following ongoing abuse

Aug. 26—The Haywood County man responsible for murdering 10-month-old Chloe Evans, who suffered horrific and ongoing abuse before her death, was locked away for life in prison without parole on Friday.

Dylan Green, who was 22 at the time of Chloe's murder in 2019, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and accepted the life sentence in exchange for prosecutors dropping the death penalty case against him. Green, the live-in boyfriend of Chloe's mother, Channing Evans, was caring for the baby while Evans was at work.

Kimberly Freeman, Chloe's paternal grandmother who was never permitted to see Chloe during her short time on this earth, supported Green getting life in prison.

"I didn't want him to get death because it would be over for him, and we have to continue to live with it — every day, for the rest of our lives," Freeman said through tears following the hearing. "He should have to live with it also and suffer for what he did."

Being on death row would have offered Green protection from the general prison population in a separate confinement area, a comfort he doesn't deserve, Freeman said, nor does he deserve the comfort of a painless death.

"Chloe didn't get that easy of a death, so why should he?" Freeman said.

The wishes of the victim's family are part of the calculation for prosecutors when deciding whether to accept a plea.

"It was a difficult decision to accept a plea," said District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch. "This was an innocent child at the beginning of her life viciously and senselessly killed."

Horrific life of abuse

The court hearing Friday morning was both emotional and heart-wrenching. Green's family lined the bench behind him, crying and praying throughout the hearing.

Meanwhile, Freeman, two of her sons and two close friends sat on the other side of the courtroom, trying to muffle their sobs as Prosecutor Jeff Jones recounted the cruelty Chloe suffered.

After Chloe was rushed to Haywood Regional Medical Center by paramedics the day of her death, medical examinations revealed signs of ongoing abuse covering her entire body — including a human bite mark, strangulation mark, cigarette burns, multiple skull fractures, multiple breaks to her arms and legs and broken ribs.

"Chloe's injuries were consistent with acute and chronic physical abuse," Jones said. "In addition to four recently broken ribs, she had eight different rib fractures in the healing process, and five different rib fractures that were already healed. The child was covered in abrasions and bruises at various stages of healing, which indicates sustained assault."

The same was true of leg, arm and skull fractures.

Despite the horrific injuries, strangulation by ligature was ultimately the cause of her death, according to the autopsy.

When detectives carried out a search warrant on the Jonathan Creek home where Chloe lived, they found a white paracord rope with red stains on the side of the bed where Green slept. There were also red stains in Chloe's crib, on her stuffed animal and on a polkadot toddler shirt.

"The red stain on the paracord was positive for blood and it was a DNA match for Chloe Evans," Jones said. "It was also her blood on the stuffed animal and polkadot toddler T-shirt."

Finding strength

A toxicology report later found that Chloe had meth and alcohol in her system when she died.

Tragically, that provides a small ounce of comfort to Freeman as she thinks about what Chloe went through.

"Maybe she was intoxicated enough that she didn't feel the pain," Freeman said. "It's terrible that's what you have to hope for."

Freeman had no idea what Chloe was being subjected to.

"They never let me see her, and now I know why," Freeman said. "The whole time they were doing this to her. They knew if I got to see her, I'd see what was happening and put a stop to it," Freeman said. "But there's no grandparents' rights. There was nothing I could do."

Chloe's biological father and Freeman's son, Kaleb Clark, was largely out of the picture and only got to see Chloe a handful of times, Freeman said. Only once, did the mother Channing Evans sent Freeman a picture of Chloe.

"She told me I'd never see my granddaughter, and a month later she was dead," Freeman said. "That's the only picture I ever got."

Freeman is currently raising her granddaughter, Madison, who is Chloe's half-sister. The three years since Chloe's death have obviously been difficult on Madison, a fifth-grader at North Canton Elementary.

"She cries sometimes that she never got to meet her sister. She saw me crying one day and said 'Mamaw, I hurt, too,'" Freeman said. "She doesn't understand it, and I don't understand it either. So I can't explain to her how there's that much evil in the world."

Raising Madison helps Freeman fight off the despair and keep going.

"She is a strong little girl and keeps me strong. I have continued to push on because I owe it to her," Freeman said. "She's lost her sister, she was took away from her mother and daddy because of drugs. She's lost everything because of drugs. But she's not going to lose me. I let her know that nothing is going to get me like that."

Chloe isn't the only grandchild Freeman has lost. Aurora, the first child born to Channing Evans and Freeman's son, also died as a baby. She was in Evan's care when she died, but the cause of death was never determined.

F

ighting for her life

That fateful day in July 2019, Evans left Chloe in Green's care while she went to work. They lived under the same roof as Evans' parents, Shannon and Dawn Evans, in the Jonathan Creek community.

Shannon and Dawn weren't home the day Chloe was left with Green.

Around 4:30 p.m. Green contacted Evans at work and told her Chloe wasn't breathing. He claimed Chloe had fallen out of her crib — which later proved to be far from the case.

Evans called 911 and left work to head for home. In the meantime, Chloe's grandmother, Dawn, had also arrived home and called 911.

Dawn was attempting to do CPR on Chloe when law enforcement and paramedics arrived.

When Chloe was rushed to Haywood Regional Medical Center, her heart was still faintly beating but she was cold to the touch and unresponsive — a condition she remained in for another four hours.

"The child still had a pulse and was breathing but was essentially brain dead," Jones said.

Eventually, Chloe was taken off life support.

"It was clear she wasn't going to make it," Jones said.

An autopsy later revealed the extent of the injuries Chloe was up against.

"The medical examiner confirmed multiple skull fractures, swelling of the brain, bleeding in the eyes, and abdominal bleeding. There were contusions and bruises all over her," Jones said. "The examiner said these were the worst injuries she had ever seen inflicted on a child in all her years."

Chloe's mother, Channing Evans, was also charged in connection with Chloe's death. She pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and child abuse for leaving Chloe in Green's care and is serving seven years in prison. It's not nearly enough time to Freeman, who is certain Evans had to be aware of the ongoing abuse based on Chloe's injuries over time.

It has since been found that both Green and Evans were drug users of meth, according to court records. Chloe's biological father, Kaleb, was also a drug user, and was only permitted to see Chloe a handful of times, Freeman said.

Freeman can't fathom how Shannon and Dawn Evans — the maternal grandparents who Green, Evans and Chloe all lived with — didn't see what was happening.

"Everyone who was around Chloe is responsible," said Freeman's son and Chloe's uncle, Cole.

Shannon and Dawn Evans came to the court hearing Friday and sat in the front row on the prosecutor's side. They declined to comment for this article, claiming that "everything that's been reported in The Mountaineer is wrong." They didn't elaborate on what was incorrect. Articles have all been based on law enforcement and court records.

Locked away

Green was represented by court-appointed attorneys Joshua Neilson and Mark Melrose, both of Waynesville. Green didn't speak in court, but his attorneys offered a comment on his behalf.

"This is obviously an extremely emotional case and situation for all the families involved," Neilson said. "We are very sorry and regret we are here under these circumstances today."

Freeman's son, Cole, said Green should have offered a better apology for what he did.

"That should have been him apologizing in court," Cole said.

Judge Bill Coward posed a litany of questions to Green to ensure he had the mental capacity to understand what he was agreeing to when pleading guilty and accepting the sentence of life in prison.

"The state shall no longer seek imposition of the death penalty and the parties agree the defendant shall receive an active sentence of life without parole. Do you personally accept this arrangement?" Coward said.

Had the case gone to trial, Green's attorneys planned to argue that he was mentally impaired and thus not eligible to get the death penalty. It was revealed in court that his IQ was in the 60 to 70 range.

"If the case had reached the death-penalty phase, jurors would have faced questions about his intellectual capacity," according to the district attorney's office. That was another factor that led prosecutors to accept the plea deal.

Green's attorneys had previously made a plea offer over the summer, but it was rejected by prosecutors. The terms of the rejected plea are not known as it was sealed by the court.

Prior to the final sentencing, Jones imparted to the court how tragic the case has been

"It's been devastating to Mrs. Freeman and is something she'll never really recover from," Jones said.