Sat, Jul 04 2009
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Published February 03, 2006 09:31 pm - Youth found dead in closet By Jimmy Simms The death of a 10-year-old boy found hanging in a closet at his grandparents' home in the Crane Hill community Thursday evening has been ruled accidental.
Lt. Phillip Lambert, chief investigator with the Cullman County Sheriff's Office, said the victim, Caleb Jordan Holt, was found by his 12-year-old brother hanging by a belt looped around his neck around 6:15 p.m. at his grandparents' home on County Road 942 in the Crane Hill community in southwest Cullman County. "The brother found him hanging in a walk-in closet and ran and got his grandfather, Stephen Byrd. The grandfather ran in and cut him down and immediately called 911," Lambert said. "Of course it's just speculation on my part, but it appears to me he was in the closet playing amongst the clothes hanging from the bar and was suspending himself off the floor with the use of a belt that apparently got entangled around his head." Lambert said the youngster possibly lost his balance and slipped off the hangers he was using to suspend himself off the floor and his weight tightened the belt around his throat, strangling him. "We don't believe it was intentional and Coroner Gary Murphree concurs with that finding," Lambert said. "The cause of death has been ruled accidental asphyxiation." Deputy Ryan Robertson was one of the first deputies on the scene. He reported that when he entered the bedroom where the closet is located rapid responders with the Crane Hill Fire Department were administering CPR and working feverishly to revive the youngster, who was unresponsive. The Byrd's have custody of the boys, Lambert said. "The boys lived there and were also home-schooled there," Lambert said. "It's just a very tragic accident." A veteran of the sheriff's office, Lambert has worked his share of homicide and death cases over the years as an investigator and back-up coroner for Gary Murphree. For obvious reasons, he said Friday, deaths, even accidental ones involving children, "impact you in a different way." "It takes an emotional toll on you whenever children are involved," Lambert said. "These types of cases are the most difficult." Dudley Brock, a chaplain with the sheriff's office, accompanied officers to the Byrd home Thursday evening to help provide comfort and counseling for the grieving family. Lambert said the family's pastor, Ronnie Gilbreath of Livingston Chapel in Crane Hill, was also there to help provide spiritual comfort and support. By Friday, word of the tragedy had spread throughout the community. Gina Clark, a clerk at D.J.'s Texaco at Crane Hill, said she overheard several customers discussing it. "I was working at the store Thursday night when he was found and it was just awful," Clark said. "I have a 12-year-old son and it's very upsetting to me. It's such a tragic thing." and my heart and prayers go out to the family." 
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