In the early 1990s, Christina Boyer arrived in Carrollton, Georgia. She was there to collaborate on a book with psychologists Jeannie Lagle and Bill Roll about the media attention she received after her religious parents called for an exorcism — and subsequent exposure as an apparent fraud for supposed supernatural abilities, including the power of telekinesis. She said she’d recently left an abusive marriage and was dating Carrollton local David Herrin.
On April 14, 1992, Boyer returned home and found her daughter, who had been in Herrin’s care, unresponsive. Boyer left that morning to work with Lagle on the book, and both Lagle and Herrin confirmed her whereabouts. According to the medical examiner, Amber seemed to have suffered physical child abuse over several days and died from a head injury, ABC News reported. Though Boyer wasn’t around at the time, Herrin and Boyer were both arrested for Amber’s death.
Herrin was acquitted of the child’s murder but received a 20-year sentence for his role in Amber’s abuse. Per ChristinaBoyer.org, he said the apparent injuries on Amber’s head, face, and lip — which happened in his care — were accidental. He served 12 years. The medical examiner who performed Amber’s autopsy said her behavior would likely be affected by the blow to the head within minutes, implicating Herrin. It could not be ruled out, however, that the injury happened earlier — while Christina was home. Boyer took a plea bargain, and in 1992, she was sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.
