Roseville parents plead not guilty to murder, torture, child abuse in 9-year-old boy’s death

Rosalio Ahumada
·5 min read
8

A Roseville couple accused of murder, torture and child abuse in the death of their adopted 9-year-old son appeared for their arraignment Friday morning in a Placer County courtroom, where they pleaded not guilty.

Kimberly Rachel Blakley and Cory Albert Blakley, both 37 years old, initially were scheduled to make their first court appearance a week ago for their arraignment in Placer Superior Court. But only the accused mother attended last week’s hearing, because her husband refused to leave the jail to appear in court, and the hearing was continued to this week.

On Friday, Placer County sheriff’s deputies ushered the Roseville parents into court separately. The deputies placed the husband and wife a few feet apart from each other, and they stood in the courtroom behind protective glass.

The defendants only spoke to tell the judge they were waiving their right to have a preliminary hearing within 10 court days.

The attorneys representing the parents entered not guilty pleas on behalf of their clients, along with denying enhancements with their charges. Placer Superior Court Judge Angus Saint-Evens scheduled the defendants to return to court March 1 for further proceedings in their case.

The child listed as the victim in the murder, torture and child abuse charges is identified as 9-year-old “C.B.” in the filed criminal complaint.

The child abuse charge against the Blakleys includes enhancements alleging the crime resulted in an injury to a child causing death. Prosecutors said the child abuse that led to the boy’s death occurred Feb. 2.

Prosecutors are alleging the parents’ abuse caused the boy to become comatose due to brain injury and to suffer paralysis, according to a filed criminal complaint.

Cory Albert Blakley pleads not guilty during his arraignment at the Placer Superior Court in Roseville on Friday. He and his wife Kimberly Rachel Blakley are accused of murder, torture and child abuse in the death of their adopted 9-year-old son.
Cory Albert Blakley pleads not guilty during his arraignment at the Placer Superior Court in Roseville on Friday. He and his wife Kimberly Rachel Blakley are accused of murder, torture and child abuse in the death of their adopted 9-year-old son.

Along with the felony charges of murder, torture and child abuse, the Blakleys face six misdemeanor counts of child endangerment. Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire has declined to say whether the children listed as victims in the child endangerment charges are the 9-year-old boy’s siblings. He did say those misdemeanor charges stem from separate alleged incidents of abuse.

At last week’s hearing, Kimberly Blakley cried and shook her head as the judge read the criminal charges filed against her, before she sat down and bowed her head while continuing to cry for the remainder of the hearing. She was composed Friday in the courtroom.

The judge ordered the parents to remain in custody without bail. The Blakleys have been held at the Placer County Jail since they were arrested on Feb. 7.

Gire has declined to provide any specific details about the alleged child abuse that led to the boy’s death, and he said he could not provide any information on any previous involvement child protective services may have had with the Blakleys or their children.

The prosecution is asking the court to seal digital files and information gathered in interviews in this case. After Friday’s hearing, Gire said child abuse cases often involve digital evidence that includes investigative interviews with children. He said his office is seeking to seal that information to maintain some privacy of those children, and that material could become part of the public record after it’s introduced as evidence in court.

Kimberly Rachel Blakley pleads not guilty during her arraignment at the Placer Superior Court in Roseville on Friday. She and her husband Cory Albert Blakley are accused of murder, torture and child abuse in the death of their adopted 9-year-old son.
Kimberly Rachel Blakley pleads not guilty during her arraignment at the Placer Superior Court in Roseville on Friday. She and her husband Cory Albert Blakley are accused of murder, torture and child abuse in the death of their adopted 9-year-old son.

The 9-year-old boy died at a hospital earlier this month.

About 6 p.m. Feb. 2, officers and firefighters responded to medical aid call at the Blakleys’ home on New England Drive, just east of Sunrise Boulevard in Roseville, authorities said.

The officers found the 9-year-old boy unresponsive, said Lt. Chris Ciampa, a spokesman for the Roseville Police Department. Ciampa said the boy, “despite extensive efforts,” died Feb. 5 at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. Roseville police detectives, in collaboration with the Placer County Children’s System of Care, investigated the boy’s death.

The police spokesman has said the boy’s cause of death had not been confirmed by the Placer County Coroner’s Office, which may take weeks to disclose. Ciampa also said the boy’s siblings were in protective custody as the homicide investigation continues.

The six misdemeanor child endangerment charges filed against the parents list a different child for each charge, including 13-year-old “C.B.,” 12-year-old “K.B.,” 11-year-old “B.B.,” 8-year-old “K.B.,” 7-year-old “M.B.” and 6-year-old “C.B.”

Couple adopted foster children

Cory Blakley’s parents, Timothy and Ramona Blakley, attended Friday’s arraignment hearing, but they declined to to speak to news reporters as they left the courthouse.

Ramona Blakley in December 2021 created an online GoFundMe page to raise money for her son’s family. The grandmother wrote at the time that her son and his wife had two biological children, they “did surrogacy” for those children and that they had adopted one foster child and were adopting four more to keep the siblings together.

She wrote in the online fundraising page that her son and his wife now had a family of seven children, and they needed a van big enough so they could travel together in one vehicle.

“Everyone doesn’t have the heart to help even one foster child,” the grandmother wrote in 2021. “My son and daughter-in-law have room in their hearts (just not in their car)!”

Cyrus Blakley is seen in an undated family photo. The 9-year-old died Feb. 5, three days after firefighters responded to the family’s home in Roseville. His adoptive parents, Kimberly and Cory Blakley face multiple charges in the boy’s death.
Cyrus Blakley is seen in an undated family photo. The 9-year-old died Feb. 5, three days after firefighters responded to the family’s home in Roseville. His adoptive parents, Kimberly and Cory Blakley face multiple charges in the boy’s death.

The Sacramento Bee and other news outlets received statements Thursday and Friday from the accused father’s parents. They said a celebration of life ceremony was scheduled for their adopted grandson early next month at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ temple in Rancho Cordova.

“As we attempt to cope with the loss of our precious nine-year-old grandson ‘C.B.’, we wanted to take time to thank everyone who has joined us in our efforts to move forward in a meaningful manner on his behalf, as well as C.B.’s six sweet siblings who, like us, miss him immensely,” the grandparents said in the statement.

An emailed statement with details about the boy’s planned celebration of life ceremony identified him as Cyrus Blakley.

“It is the kindness and love of this amazing community that is allowing us to cope and remain clearly focused on the welfare of Cyrus’s sweet siblings,” they said.