Mugshot of Kyle Christopher Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. CROIX — Kyle Christopher has been sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of aggravated child abuse and neglect, stemming from the death of 4-year old Aaron Benjamin. The young boy was found dead in his mother’s Lorraine Village housing community apartment on October 18, 2019, his small body bearing fresh and old bruises and bite marks.
At the time, the boy’s sister told police that Christopher habitually beat both children with a black stick, and Christopher admitted to beating the boy, causing him to fall and hit his head against a chair.
Charged with Aaron Benjamin’s murder, Christopher struck a plea agreement just days before his trial was set to begin, in which he pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse and neglect, in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to dismiss the five other counts against him, which in addition to murder included charges of aggravated assault and battery and third-degree assault. Under the terms of the deal, Christpher faced up to 30 years in prison for his crime against the 4-year-old child.
Sentencing in the matter follows the submission of a new plea agreement after a similar one was accepted by the V.I. Department of Justice in 2020. However, that agreement was not filed with the court until 2022, by which time it had already been withdrawn by the then-assistant attorney general, and as such was deemed invalid by the court.
Aaron Benjamin’s mother Delicia Daniels is currently serving an 18-year sentence following her plea agreement in which she admitted to one count of child abuse.
An audit by the Department of Human Services was sparked by the discovery that the father of Aaron and his sister had been pleading with the agency to investigate the children’s suspected abuse, to no avail. DHS commissioner at the time, Kimberly Causey-Gomez, said in 2020 that personnel changes and disciplinary action came as a result of the audit, however the results of the probe have never been released to the public.
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