Police: Ethan Stacy beaten to death


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Updated: 5/13/2010 2:00 pm | Published: 5/12/2010 9:27 pm
LAYTON, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Police released the probable cause statement on the death of Ethan Stacy and the investigation into Nathan and Stephanie Sloop. 

Nathan is accused in the homicide of Ethan Stacy. Stephanie is accused of child abuse in the death of her son.

The statement says Nathan beat Ethan and that the boy died in his bed after suffering from some sort of head trauma over several days.

The statement also indicated that the Sloops left Ethan locked in a bedroom at home on May 6th as the couple left home to get married.

Police say the Sloops left Ethan at home because they were afraid someone would notice the signs of physical abuse on the boy and turn them into authorities.

The statement also detailed how Nathan and Stephanie disposed of the body near Powder Mountain and allegedly desecrated the corpse to conceal identification.

And as a warning, some of the details of these documents are disturbing.

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God Bless - 11/1/2012 12:15 PM
0 Votes
I know Ethan's real father and he was a wonderful and loving and most of all protective father but, this judge forced him to send Ethan to stay with his mother even after he voiced his fears of abuse to the judge but it all fell on deaf ears....and now Ethan is dead and Joe has lost his precious and sweet little boy. Nathan and Stephanie should both face the death penalty, a simple life sentence is to kind for these two! They don't deserve to live after what they did.....the mother is just as much to blame as Nathan because she did nothing to help her son, a defenseless little angel who didn't deserve this, Ethan was such a good little boy, he was quiet and so sweet to everyone......the last time I seen Ethan in person he was wrapped around his dads neck and had a beautiful smile on his face, like he always did. What was done to Ethan was pure evil and these 2 people that took his precious smile away should pay with their lives, but even the electric chair or lethal injection is still to easy for them! His mother to this day shows no remorse for what she done, but during every court appearance she looks at her husband as he mouths to her that he loves her, it makes me sick!!! I want justice for Ethan, that sweet little boy who always had a smile on his face. I still can't make sense of what happened to Ethan, all I can do is remember that smile and pray that the justice system gives his murderers the death penalty and the judge that made the decision to send him to his mother should be punished as well,. Ethan you will never be forgotten, and your with the angels now. But, we will fight for justice for you.

photobeauty - 5/14/2010 6:58 PM
0 Votes
I don't understand how one is possessed to kill their own flesh and blood. . . But its really f**ked up and they both need to die a slow and painful death. Prison isn't enough. They need to die. Now.And take a hammer to their f**kin faces n beat the livin CRAP out of them to that they cant be recognized. OMG ITS SO F**KED UP!!!!

aghenry - 5/14/2010 4:16 PM
0 Votes
Best part about this whole thing is that the selfish poor excuse for a mother is pregnant!!!!.... I hope they put them in prison and let the inmates get a hold of them... They don't take very kindly to people who kill small children and deface their tiny bodies... What the hell is wrong with society today? They are lucky that the general public has been kept away from them because I'm fairly certain that those sick bastards would have already gotten their paybacks 100 fold...

djlaurenx - 5/14/2010 2:50 PM
0 Votes
So completely senseless and unnecessary. The real father tried to get custody. Stephanie should have just given him back if she was just going to treat her son like this. To lay in bed as a child for days with head trauma only to die without comfort and love. How brave of Ethan to come into this life as a victim so that others could learn their lessons.

crober - 5/13/2010 11:12 PM
0 Votes
I am a mother that lost my precious son two years ago. He name was Ethan as well. This tragic story really bothers me. It bothers me because I could not save Ethan. I couldn't get him help until it was too late. Ethan passed away in my arms as I was feeding him. I had fallen asleep and woke up to Ethan face down on the couch. I have beat myself up for the past two years, saying to myself, if I just had not fallen asleep, Ethan would not have died. I can not imagine how any mother or father could stand still and do nothing when their child is being abused. In Stephanie's statement she said she feared her own life if she had told anyone. They left him home so no one would hurt them, so they would not get in trouble. Do they not know what a blessing it is to have a child in the first place? It took me 12 years to have Ethan. I then had to give him back after 4 months. Do people not know that their are resources to help in crisis situations? Hospitals, Police Stations, Churchs, etc. will provide help before the situation leads to what this did. I don't think there is a parent who doesn't get frustrated. It's what we do with that frustration that really matters. We need to protect our children, they trust us to do so, they expect us to do so. When we fear what my happen to us more that what is or has happened,to our child, we have not only failed ourselves, but that child and God himself. If Stephanie had just taken Ethan to a hospital, something different would have happened. Again, having to bury a child is the most horrific pain that a parent can ever face. It is horrible to see them in a casket, dead, and then to imagine that body underground in a cold dark place is haunting. How could anyone take a dead child, desacrate the body, and them bury it in a shallow grave in a plastic bag, it's beyond me. There are places in Hell for people like them. Ethan Stacy, you will never have to hurt again, you are with our Father in Heaven. Safe and free from harm.

outraged - 5/13/2010 5:29 PM
0 Votes
If Nathan and Stephanie Sloop do not get the death penalty for what they did to poor innocent little Ethan then there is something very wrong with our justice system!! Stephanie Sloop is just as guilty as Nathan and worse she did not protect her own son who had no one else to protect him. They are both monsters. I am horrified and heartbroken for Ethan. I am sure there are alot of us that would be more than willing to serve on their jury, firing squad or give that lethal injection.

flowerpower - 5/13/2010 5:14 PM
0 Votes
Disgusting pukes! They deserve the death penalty!They are evil monsters! My thoughts and prayer are with the family members that loved this sweet little boy.

bouncier - 5/13/2010 2:58 PM
1 Vote
The Sloops, both of them, deserve punishment to the fullest extent of the law. The Florida Judge who allowed unsupervised visitation despite the verbal fears of Mr. Stacey should also be dealt with. Too often a judge will get lazy and not want to "go there" and the price paid too great. I cannot even fathom anyone doing this to a child, let alone his mother!

ccassist - 5/13/2010 2:23 PM
0 Votes
This story is especially horifying to me as we, in the mid-Michigan agrea, are still reeling from the very similar story a few weeks ago of little Dominick Calhoun, incidentally also age 4. Another mother, claiming to be too fearful to seek help for her young child stood by idly and watched him be tortured for DAYS. Little Dominick made the mistake of wetting the bed and the treatment handed to him still haunts my nearly every thought. I am outraged,both at our system and at our society's unwillingness to involve itself. As I'm sure in this case, people in neighboring apartments heard Dominick's persistent cries for help and did nothing. What breaks my heart the most, is the person we are taught from birth to trust, rely on, and love was the person most able to help little Ethan and Dominick chose to do nothing. Therefore, they both died feeling utterly unloved - thay may have hurt more than the beatings. These mothers are pathetic and no "Battered Woman Syndrome" justifies their actions. I as a mother and WOMAN, will not allow this to be the "abusive man's" fault only. One final thought, whether you're religious or not, believe in Heaven or not, something has to tell use that these two little boys have found in one another the love they lacked here on earth. Their new life is everything a 4-year old's should be. God bless them both. They're safe now.....

OneVoice - 5/13/2010 2:11 PM
2 Votes
Personally I think that everything they did to this child should be done to the both of them. I think prison is way to easy for people like this. They should have the same abuse done to them. They should have to lay in a bed dying and suffering for days. If we practiced eye for an eye there would be less abuse.
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