Baby Chance's Mom, Kristen Bury, Denied Reduced Sentence

SARASOTA, FL — The 32-year-old North Port woman who pleaded no contest in the death of her infant son last year has been denied a reduced sentence by a Sarasota judge.

Kristin Bury entered that no contest plea in the death of Chance Walsh back in January. Chance’s body was found buried in a wood area in North Port in October 2015 after a lengthy search by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.

Bury’s plea, part of a deal with prosecutors, resulted in a 25-year prison sentence. The deal also calls for Bury to testify against the baby’s father, Joseph Walsh, who is charged with first-degree murder. Bury was initially charged with homicide negligent manslaughter in the death of her son, but the deal led to reduced charges.

Those reduced charges weren’t reduced enough, Bury contended in a request to the court for a reduction in sentence to 10 years. Bury also said she “agreed to take the plea offer of 25 years because I was afraid to take my case to trial.”

In her motion to the court, filed in late March, Bury detailed a life riddled by “numerous poor decisions,” “criminal charges” and “incarcerations.” She had her first child by the age of 19 and gave him up for adoption a few months later, the documents state. She also talked about her first marriage, drug addiction and divorce. Her early years with Joseph Walsh were also mentioned in the plea for leniency.

See Also:

• Baby Chance’s Mom Faces 25 Years In Prison
• Baby Chance’s Dad Charged With 1st Degree Murder

“Through sobriety I met my current husband, Joseph Walsh,” she wrote. Bury detailed the couple’s early years together, news they were having twins and the subsequent loss of the twins due to an ectopic pregnancy. She wrote about the birth of the couple’s first son together and his death due to a kidney infection.

“After the loss of our son, Duane, my husband, Joseph, and I began to spiral completely out of control,” she wrote. “Drugs became how I learned to mask the pain.”

Bury also spoke of Chance’s birth and his death.

“Your Honor, I am guilty of not being able to protect (Chance) from his abuser who is also my husband and co-defendant,” she wrote. “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t regret that I am still breathing and (Chance) is not.”

Bury, the court documents show, asked the judge for a reduced 10-year sentence, followed by a year in a recovery program, 2 years in drug offender probation and 2 years in community control. She also wrote that she wanted to help others, “I can turn a tragedy around and help people,” she wrote. “No mother should ever know what it’s like to lose a child much less to child abuse ultimately due to addiction.”

Bury’s request was denied on March 29 by Circuit Court Judge Charles E. Roberts.

The search for Chance began on Oct. 4, 2015, when his maternal grandmother contacted the Sarasota sheriff’s office to say she had not seen the then 9-week-old baby since Sept. 9, the sheriff’s office said. She and the boy’s paternal grandmother made a number of attempts to check on the baby’s welfare.

Chance’s parents “are longtime drug users,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a media release about the search.

Family members heard from the couple that they had been involved in a car accident in South Carolina. The couple, the sheriff’s office said, provided conflicting reports about Chance in relation to the crash. They told some relatives that Chance was unharmed, but others heard the boy died, the sheriff’s office said. Still another relative was told the baby was given to a woman at a hotel in Georgia.

“Detectives confirmed with South Carolina law enforcement that there was no baby in the vehicle at the time of the crash and no room for a car seat,” the release said. “They also confirmed with Georgia law enforcement that the couple stayed at an Augusta hotel but there was no baby with them. A woman staying at the hotel reported that Kristen tried to sell baby clothes to her and that Kristen told her the baby had died three weeks earlier.”

Walsh and Bury were charged with child neglect by the sheriff’s office and were brought into custody in Jasper County, South Carolina.

After her return to Sarasota County, Bury, the sheriff’s office said, led deputies to the location where Chance’s body was found.

Joseph Walsh’s jury trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 14, according to Sarasota County court records.

Booking photo courtesy of the Sarasota County Jail/Photo of Chance Walsh courtesy of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office