In a harrowing case out of Kansas, a father has been sentenced for his role in the abuse and neglect of a child, following the tragic death of his adopted daughter. Joseph Schroer, 53, received a 60-day jail term accompanied by four years of probation after pleading no contest to two counts of aggravated child endangerment and one count of Medicaid fraud. His wife, Crystina Elizabeth Schroer, 50, had previously been sentenced to over 17 years in prison for the murder of their adopted daughter, Kennedy Schroer.

The grim discovery of Kennedy’s body buried in the backyard of the family’s Rose Hill home, a small community southeast of Wichita, occurred in September 2024. Crystina Schroer admitted to second-degree murder, child abuse, providing false information, and welfare fraud after initially facing a charge of first-degree murder. Her plea followed as part of a deal in August.

Joseph Schroer’s charges are linked to the mistreatment of another child, a 7-year-old, in 2023. The charges outline a pattern of withholding food and confining the child in a basement. Despite Kennedy’s death, Joseph and Crystina Schroer continued to receive Medicaid payments meant for her care, which compounded their legal troubles with fraud charges.

During the sentencing hearing, Kennedy’s biological family expressed their anguish and disbelief. As reported by Court TV, they argued that Joseph Schroer deserved a punishment equal to his wife’s. Kennedy, originally named Natalie Garcia, was born in 2014 to her biological mother, Christa Helm.

Helm voiced her belief that Joseph Schroer was equally culpable, saying, “I feel that they are both as guilty as each other. He knows what was going on. I don’t know why he’s sitting over there crying. I think it’s probably because he’s guilty.” Her words underline the family’s pain and the complex emotions surrounding the case.

“I feel that they are both as guilty as each other. He knows what was going on,” Helm said. “I don’t know why he’s sitting over there crying. I think it’s probably because he’s guilty.”

Helm called her daughter a “good girl.”

“There was no reason for her life to be taken,” the mother said. “She was sweet, she was beautiful, and the things that were done to her were inhumane.”

Butler County Attorney Darrin C. Devinney said Joseph Schroer’s conduct was “inexcusable” whether he knew about Kennedy’s death or not.

“He may not have even known one of his children had been killed by his wife and buried outside, but what we do know is that he actively participated in the continued torture of other children in concert with his wife, and that’s what he stands here today for,” Devinney said.

Joseph Schroer told the court he was sorry for his actions and said he failed his kids. He also stated the children did nothing wrong to be mistreated.

That statement irked Chief Judge David E. Ricke.

“If they didn’t do anything wrong, Mr. Schroer, why were they so severely disciplined?” the judge asked. “And that is something that should haunt everyone that knows anything about this case, Mr. Schroer, including you.”

A 44-page probable cause arrest affidavit details the horrific death Kennedy suffered at the hands of her mother in late 2020. The investigation began in September 2024 when Rose Hill police officers responded to a home after a suicide attempt by Crystina Schroer. When cops arrived, she told them “her life was over and that no one was going to look at her the same.”

She went on to say that one night in November or December of 2020 her kids got into a fight and she was trying to separate them. She went outside and asked one of her kids where was Kennedy. The girl was looking at a box that had a crib and blankets on top of it. Crystina Schroer claimed she took the blankets and cradle off the box and opened it to find Kennedy in the box, “unconscious and without a pulse.”

The mother tried to complete CPR on Kennedy but to no avail, and she realized the girl was dead. She then proceeded to drive around with the girl’s body, and eventually decided to bury her in a 23-inch grave in the backyard of her home. She said it was one of the kids who put her in the box.

The girl said the incident occurred when her dad was at work. She said her mother would force the kids to enter a storage container box if they moved during the night. According to the affidavit, she said her mom forced Kennedy into the box. The girl had to listen for her sister to make any movements or noises. Kennedy made a noise.

“[The sister] believed her mom heard that and came back into the room, asking ‘is she still making noises?’” the affidavit said.

The defendant then placed the blankets and crib on top of the box before leaving the room.

“When mom came back into the room, [the sister] was bawling, and mom asked why and she stated she Kennedy thought was dead, because she wasn’t making any noise,” detectives wrote.

She opened the box and Kennedy fell out. The girl was “blue.” The sister never saw Kennedy again. Detectives wrote that Crystina Schroer told her husband and other family members that the state took back custody of the girl because she was unable to live in a foster home because of behavior issues.

As Law&Crime previously reported, cops began searching the Schroer home in the 1400 block of North Meeker Court after Crystina Schroer’s suicide attempt.

Cops went to the home early the next day and began their search.

They encountered some hurdles right away. The vegetation was so overgrown that they had to take a bush whacker to clear the way so cadaver dogs could search the area. Once completed, the dogs alerted investigators to some areas of interest.

Hours into the forensic dig, cops uncovered the remains of young girl inside a trash bag in a makeshift grave about two feet deep. A couple weeks later a DNA test positively identified the body as Kennedy.

Detectives learned Kennedy was born Natalie Garcia on July 14, 2014, a press release said. Her birth parents relinquished their rights to the state and she was put up for adoption. The Schroers adopted her in November 2018 and changed her name.

“She was a beautiful child, with an infectious smile,” cops said.

Since the discovery of the body, police have spent some 2,000 hours building a case against the Schroers, working with local, state and federal law enforcement, including the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and Wichita’s Exploited and Missing Children’s Unit.

“This case was built through the development of timelines spanning more than four years, which is the primary reason for the length of the investigation,” cops wrote.

Investigators also learned the suspect parents had been receiving some $23,000 in Medicaid payments after Kennedy’s death. The parents had three biological children and two adopted kids. The surviving children all have been placed in custody of the state since the discovery of Kennedy’s body.