A 41-year-old Christiansburg man has been given 45 years in prison in the 2024 death of his girlfriend’s toddler.
This past week, Montgomery County Circuit Court judge Michael Fleenor sentenced Eric Raymond T. Callis to the same sentence given to the child’s mother, Heather R. Bentley. Fleenor suspended 25 years after each have served 20 years of their term.
The couple were charged in the death of two-year-old Raelynne Bentley. During a previous hearing, prosecutors pointed out the child had died in a “death trap” situation. The child had been placed in a playpen covered by a quilt, a high back chair and a large box of toys, which weighed in excess of 70 pounds.
Police investigation revealed the child had in the past crawled out of the playpen during the night and walked around the apartment shared by the couple. Thus, the cover was put in place to avoid this from happening. But investigators say the child managed to get partially out of the “death trap”, and the weight of the items collapsed and choked her to death.
Bentley and Callis had both pleaded guilty to the accidental murder along with child abuse and neglect.
