DeMotte | Lori Wingard had no idea the dog cage she sold to her neighbor more than three years ago could have been used to confine a boy.
When she read a story Monday night about the cage Christian Choate had been locked in for more than a year, her heart sank. She knew it was the cage she once owned that contained her Alaskan malamute puppy.
She sold to cage to Choate's stepmother, Kimberly Choate, for $15.
Kimberly Choate and Christian's biological father, Riley Choate, each were charged with murder and four other charges Tuesday in connection with the death of the 13-year-old.
"I had the cage outside, and Kim asked me how much I wanted for it," she said. "She said 'I gotta talk to Riley about it, and next thing I know she was taking it out of my house."
She said she felt heartbroken when the news broke about the boy's death. She could remember living across the street from the boy's family in a Gary mobile home park.
She never saw Christian Choate and often wondered why he was never allowed outside like the other children who lived there.
"I never got to see that little boy's face until I saw the picture in the paper," she said.
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