Sapulpa man gets life sentence for child abuse murder of girlfriend's toddler in 2015

A Creek County judge on Thursday sentenced a Sapulpa man to life imprisonment after he was found guilty in November of shaking his girlfriend's 3-year-old son to death.

Christopher Lewis Whinery, 32, was charged with first-degree murder-child abuse in the Jan. 15, 2015, death of Christopher Jason White, who authorities said had been shaken and subjected to blunt force trauma to his head two days earlier. The toddler died at a Tulsa hospital after being found unresponsive inside a residence on the 700 block of North Moccasin Street in Sapulpa.

A Creek County District Attorney's Office official said Thursday that District Judge Douglas Golden imposed a life sentence with the possibility of parole against Whinery during a Thursday morning hearing. Court minutes indicate Whinery testified in his own defense during a six-day nonjury trial.

Christopher White's mother, Rebekah White, is also charged with first-degree murder-child abuse. She is due in court Feb. 27.

The Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, which conducts a review of all child deaths in the state, released a report on the matter indicating Rebekah White and Whinery initially claimed the toddler became injured by jumping off a bed and hitting his head. But police and the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office said that account of events wasn't consistent with the severity of injuries found on Christopher White's body.

A Tulsa World evaluation of the case in 2015 revealed the Oklahoma Department of Human Services had received a complaint about four months earlier that alleged Whinery physically abused Christopher White. However, DHS ultimately made a finding that the claim was unsubstantiated for lack of available evidence, and said Christopher White and his sibling reported feeling safe in the home.